These Blueberry Cookies with Lemon Glaze are packed with fresh blueberries and complemented with a light lemon glaze. Soft and cake like cookies, they are a version of my Nanny's old fashioned recipe that she used to always have in her cookie box.
Jump to:
Soft cookies: this is an old fashioned soft cookie recipe that is almost cake like and are the best cookies!
Blueberry flavor: if you love blueberry desserts, this blueberry cookies recipe is the best way to enjoy them.
Simple ingredients: these cookies are made with simple pantry staples you probably already have on hand.
Ingredients
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Please refer to printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions
Large eggs
All-purpose flour: flour should be sifted then measured by lightly spooning into flour into a measuring cup and leveling the top with a knife.
Fresh blueberries: wash and pat dry to remove any excess water. If using frozen blueberries, they must remain frozen.
Powdered sugar: I recommend sifting the powdered sugar to prevent clumps of sugar in the icing.
Lemons: you will use the juice and lemon zest
🔪 Instructions
To make the cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, or hand whisk, mix together sugar, egg, canola oil, and vanilla and milk until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Make a well in center of dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into well. Stir until almost combined, then add 2 cups fresh blueberries.
- Continue to gently fold ingredients together being careful to not stir too hard in order to keep blueberries intact.
- Turn dough out onto well floured hard surface and gently knead dough to form a soft dough, adding more flour as needed.
- Using the palms of your hands, or a rolling pin lightly coated with flour, gently roll out cookie dough to about ¾ inch thick. Cut cookies with biscuit cutter that has been dipped in flour and place on parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until cookies have puffed and no indent is made when top of cookie is touched with your finger.
- Remove cookies from oven and cool completely on wire rack
To make the icing
- In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest until lemon glaze is smooth and slightly thick.
- Frost cookies with glaze and place back on cooling rack until glaze has completely dried.
Top Tips
- Don't skip sifting the flour before measuring.
- Scoop the flour lightly with a large spoon into the measuring cup. Then, level it off with a knife being sure to not pack the flour tight into the cup.
- If your mixture is too wet, add a little more flour at a time until you form a dough ball.
- If your mixture is too dry, add a little more milk at a time until it forms a dough.
- Be gentle when folding the blueberries into the dough so you don't crush them.
- Try not to handle the dough too much. Doing so will make the cookies drier and tougher.
How to roll and cut the cookie dough
- Be sure you have a pastry mat on your surface that you have generously sprinkled flour over top of.
- Pat the dough into a ball. Be gentle when doing this so you don't burst the blueberries.
- Flatten the dough out with the palms of your hands.
- Flour your rolling pin and applying light pressure, gently roll the dough out, keeping it fairly thick. About ¾ of an inch.
- To prevent your cookie from sticking to the cookie cutter, be sure to dip in flour before you cut each circle.
Icing Tips
- Be sure you cookies have cooled completely.
- Your glaze should be thick enough to spread, but thin enough to drizzle down the side of the cookie.
- Let the icing dry completely before storing the cookies.
- If stacking the cookies in a storage container, place a sheet of wax paper between the cookies to prevent them sticking together.
Storage
Room temperature: not recommended
Refrigerate: store cookies in an airtight container up to 1 week.
Freeze: store in a freezer safe, airtight container up to 3 months.
📚 Related Recipes
Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins are a great grab and go breakfast.
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This is the best Blueberry Coffee Cake!
Check out my Top 10 Blueberry Recipes.
You will love this delicious Blueberry Pound Cake recipe!
This Blueberry Crumb Cake is great for brunch or dessert.
The Last Word
These cookies are very soft and tender due to the fresh blueberries. Because of this, they will tend to weep a blue color through the cookie onto the icing. The longer they sit, the more they will do this.
It does not affect the taste, just the visual. If you prefer, you can add the lemon glaze to the cookies right before serving. This way you will have a visually perfect cookie every time!
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When you make this recipe, please comment below and let me know what you think. I'd love it if you tag me on Instagram @grumpyshoneybunch or #grumpyshoneybunch so I can see your photos!
If you love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating
📖 Recipe
Blueberry Cookies with Lemon Glaze
Equipment
- Electric hand mixer , or hand whisk
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
For the Cookie Dough
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
For the Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 lemons juiced
- 1 lemon zest
Instructions
To make the cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, or hand whisk, mix together sugar, egg, canola oil, and vanilla and milk until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine 3 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into well.
- Stir until almost combined, then add 2 cups fresh blueberries. Continue to gently fold ingredients together being careful to not stir too hard in order to keep blueberries intact.
- Turn dough out onto well floured hard surface using remaining flour and gently knead dough to form a soft dough, adding more flour as needed.
- Using the palms of your hands, or a rolling pin lightly coated with flour, gently roll out cookie dough to about ¾ inch thick.
- Cut cookies with biscuit cutter that has been dipped in flour and place on parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until cookies have puffed and no indent is made when top of cookie is touched with your finger.
- Remove cookies from oven and cool completely on wire rack
To make the icing
- In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest until lemon glaze is smooth and slightly thick.
- Frost cookies with glaze and place back on cooling rack until glaze has completely dried.
Video
Notes
- These cookies are very soft and tender due to the fresh blueberries. Because of this, they will tend to weep a blue color through the cookie onto the icing. The longer they sit, the more they will do this.
- The texture of your cookie dough will depend on how much flour you are using. For those who say they are too dry, it is likely that the flour is being packed into the measuring cup without sifting, and/or you are tapping the cup to fill it up.
- You cannot use extra large blueberries in this recipe and expect them to not break! Use regular sized blueberries or wild blueberries (which are naturally smaller).
- Lastly, I created the video for a visual aid. Please refer to the video if you have any questions or concerns about how the cookies should be made.
Fabiola Jimenez says
hola se puede utilizar arandanos deshidratados
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Sí, puedes utilizar arándanos secos. También puedes usarlas frescas, si lo deseas, le darían un sabor agrio a las galletas que creo que quedarían deliciosas.
Martha says
Can these be made Keto by using Almond milk and almond flour ?
Shelby Law Ruttan says
You can make these keto, I have done it and took the photos, but wanted to perfect the recipe before posting it. I will work on getting it done as soon as the holidays are over so I can share the method.
Jeanna says
This recipe yielded a slightly sweet, more "scone-like" flavor. We had just picked very large Michigan blueberries and they did NOT work well. I think it may have turned out better with much smaller berries. The recipe was unworkable with the called for amount of milk and was better with doubling the milk, but it was still very difficult to work with. I think if the batter was MUCH wetter, it may have yielded better results.
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Jeanna, it's too bad the recipe did not work out for you. I have never had any issues with this cookie recipe and unfortunately you are the only one to respond they were too dry and scone like. In the video within the recipe card, I indicate that if needed, to add more milk. As for the issue you had with blueberries, it sounds like smaller berries should have been used. The ingredient list does not indicate to use large berries. As always, a recipe is a guide and this is why there are tips within the post and video to share information that does not show up in the recipe card itself.
bella says
i tried this and the dough was really crumbly. Mix a LOT. other than this it was great though!
Kelly says
Just made these and they're absolutely amazing
colleen says
Can you use other fruit like red raspberries?
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Colleen, yes, you can use raspberries. Shelby
jana says
I just made these Blueberry Cookies im waiting for them to cool so that i can glaze them. Easy to follow recipe and they already taste great without the glaze. Thank you for posting.
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Jana, thanks for letting me know. I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe! Shelby
Kathleen says
My family really loves these cookies. I have one family member who is particularly fond of blueberries, so anythting with blueberries makes her day. I plan to make a double batch so I can have some take some to church.
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Kathleen! Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing with me! I think it's awesome you are making a double batch and will be taking some to share with your church family also! ˜Shelby
Cherie Moyer says
Cookies look wonderful! I will be making them for my daughter's wedding next year. One question though: do you think I can freeze these? Thanks so much!
Shelby says
Hi Cherie, yes, I think you can freeze them. I would do so immediately after cooling and I would not glaze them until they were defrosted and then not glaze them until the day of your event. I also would not freeze them more than 6-8 weeks. I would be concerned about freezer burn and them drying out if they were frozen for any longer than that. I definitely suggest giving them a trial run before your daughter's big day! 🙂 Congratulations!
JenBird says
These are wonderful! I added extra juice and zest to the icing because I'm crazy about lemon. Also baked them until they were a little brown around the edges because I prefer firmer cookies. That said, make these with or without changes; they're fantastic! Thank you, Shelby
Shelby says
Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me know how they turned out! Glad you liked them!
Lovelyn says
Thank you for sharing your recipe. These were AMAZING! I would never have thought to make blueberry cookies, however, after blueberry picking, I needed to get creative. So glad I found your recipe. Easy to make. Happy it didn’t require any butter. LOVE the frosting. So refreshing and delicious!!!
Shelby says
Hi Lovelyn, thank you so much for stopping by to share your experience! I'm so glad these turned out for you and that you loved them!
Cynthia | What A Girl Eats says
Love how big and fluffy those look! Lemon and blueberry? Yes, please!
Chef Markus Mueller says
Blueberry season is almost upon us here in PEI Canada, I absolutely can't wait to try these with my homegrown blueberries! Pinned it for later too!
Heidy says
Lemons and blueberries are one of my favorite flavor combinations. These would be perfect to make for our church potluck.
kim says
Love the blueberry lemon combo! Will definitely be giving these a try! Yum!
Julia says
Lemon and blueberries? What a heavenly flavor combo! I would definitely have hard time sharing these with someone 🙂 🙂
Sylvia says
These were a hit with my co-workers. Cakey and moist. I added a little milk until the batter looked more like it does in the video. I also cut the lemons in the glaze back by half. Used the zest of half a lemon and the juice of one and that was still almost too tart.
Shelby says
Hi Sylvia, I'm happy to hear these were a hit! Thank you for stopping by and sharing!
Richa Gupta says
Wow I love anything that involves Blueberry!
Rebecca | Let's Eat Cake says
Yum! I'm going to save this one for when I get get delicious fresh berries!
Jennifer says
Blueberries and lemon are my favorite combo!
Lindsay @ The Live-In Kitchen says
Such a great combination!
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
Blueberries are the best!
alyssa | everydaymaven says
My kids would love these!
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
These cookies look amazing!!
Leia says
Blueberries in a cookie, I like your thinking!
ashley says
Beautiful cookies!
Diana says
Followed your tip with carefully measuring flour and these are delicious!! And easy...
Shelby says
Hi Diana, thanks for letting me know! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Tash says
Hi from NZ! I'm wondering if you had any tricks on how to deal with the dough when you use frozen blueberries? It all siezed up and was impossible to work with. I did coat them in flour first. Would love to make these properly! Thanks 🙂
Shelby says
Hi Tash, I haven't made these with frozen blueberries but my suggestion would be to let them thaw some prior to using them (still coat them in a little bit of flour first. Also, maybe use a little less flour in the dough at first. I will have to give these a run with frozen blueberries so I can come back in here and update. Please let me know if my suggestions helped and watch for an update to come in the next month! (It's about time I made these again anyway!)
Rachel says
These cookies were delicious & everyone loved them!
I was careful to not pack the flour, used 3 cups & used out of the 1/2 cup for
flouring the board & the top of the dough (only using about 1/4c). The dough
was nice to work with. Just a little more time consuming when cutting out as I
didn't want to cut the blueberrie!!
Thank you for the recipe!
Shelby says
Hi Rachel! So happy you let me know how you loved them and for sharing how you put them together 🙂 Thank you!
Sheila says
Hello Shelby,
These blueberry cookies look amazing and I am sure they taste even better than they look. I would love to make them.
One request; is it possible to add a step by step video or pictures making the cookies? That would be awesome to watch/see and would make more admirers brave enough to attempt baking them.
Pretty please. Sincerely, Sheila
Shelby says
Hi Shelia, Yes, I will do this! It may take me a few weeks because I have a lot going on this month, but I will make it my goal to do this for you!
Jolene says
These sound delicious! QUESTION - do you think its possible to turn these into a scoop cookie? Even a scoop that you roll in your hands? I'm not a big fan of anything I have to roll out. LOL
Shelby says
You can try! I know, I'm not the biggest fan of rolling out cookies either. I'm kind of lazy about that, but when I make Nanny's cookies I usually do it the way she did, but for sentimental reasons more so than anything. If you do, let me know. I would love to know how they turned out for you!
RACHEL WHITE says
HI, I just made these, thankyou for sharing the recipe! I never thought to add blueberries to a cookie before.
They came out pretty good, although next time I will probably tweak a couple things to my liking. I think they could use more sugar..possibly less flour. mine came out kinda doughy. these remind me of mini cakes. (I didnt even attempt to roll them out. I just spooned them onto the baking sheet. they were messy) But I had fun making (and eating) them.
Shelby says
Hi Rachel! Thank you for letting me know how it worked for you. I'm sure when you make them again you can perfect them to your liking 🙂
Gail says
I tried these and I was disappointed. They didn't turn into a cookie but more of a flat muffin. To fold this without breaking the blueberries was impossible 🙁
Shelby says
I'm so sorry you were disappointed Gail. If you tell me what you did, maybe I can help you figure out what went wrong.
Gail says
I followed the recipe. After mixing the dry ingredient a with the wet it was pretty firm so when I folded in the blueberries they started to burst and only got worse as I pressed the dough to 3/4"
Shelby says
I would maybe decrease the flour and only add a little at a time until you had a soft dough and add the blueberries when it's still soft. When rolling them out they will be really soft and delicate like, but they will bake fluffy and tender. I would treat it similar to a biscuit dough - that you don't want to handle too much. If you do try again, I'd love to know and hopefully they turn out for you.
Julie says
I am going to try these but wondered how your grandmothers recipe with pineapple was used? Thanks for sharing
Shelby says
Hi Juilie! My grandmother's recipe with the pineapple is one of the original cookies in my Soft Cookie eBook that is free to subscribers of my blog and you can find the recipe there. I hope you enjoy these soft blueberry cookies!
Barbara Schieving says
These sound like a must try!
Priyamvada says
Cani use dry blueberries ?
Shelby says
Yes! You can use dried blueberries. Naturally the texture of the fruit is different, but it will still be delicious! 🙂
Carrie says
Mine ended up being extremely messy and sticky. I followed the recipe but maybe too many blueberries?
Shelby says
Hi Carrie, it could be one of several reasons however one way to fix a messy sticky mess is to add more flour, which will help draw up that moisture. If you think you may have put in too many blueberries, you could reduce the amount you add. Blueberries do release a lot of liquid when cooking so even though you could use fresh or frozen, I would tend to go fresh just because of the water in a frozen blueberry.
Priscilla says
Ahhhh these were so great! My son has a milk allergy, so I love recipes that only have one dairy item that I need to substitute for. I ended up needing about 1/2 cup almond milk as a substitute for the milk. They turned out great! I even made them with a star cookie cutter for the Fourth of July and that worked just fine! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Shelby says
So happy these worked for you! Thank you for letting me know!
Pat says
Cookie dough is very dry, not able to roll it out and cut the cookies. I had to get some in my hand and pat them out, very messy! But they were delicious!
Shelby says
Hi Pat, not sure why the dough was dry but likely too much flour. I would cut back on the flour some and only add a little as needed if you make these again. Glad you enjoyed them though and I hope you do try to make them again! Thanks for stopping by to let me know. 🙂
Alina says
Followed the recipe exactly and they were very crumbly. I couldn't really rol them . There were too many blueberries. They tired out okay. Didn't really look like cookies tho. The icing I found very lemony and I only used the juice from one lemon. All in all dissapointed
Shelby says
Hi Alina, I'm sorry these didn't turn out for you. When you find you have a dough that is too dry, you can always add a little extra milk. Also, how you scoop the flour can make a difference in the texture, I always stir my flour in the canister then spoon lightly into a measuring cup so as to not pack the cup. Depending on how you measured your flour could have made a difference in how dry they were. Good luck finding your perfect cookie!
Heather says
These look absolutely scrumptious! My family will adore them. I am betting they won't last a day in my house!
I am wondering if the canola oil can be replaced with another type of oil and it still yield the same amazing results? Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe!!!
Shelby says
Yes, you could use vegetable oil or you could try butter or even coconut oil. I would stay away from corn oil or peanut oil though. They would have a definite flavor change.
Shelby says
If I used butter, I would melt it...as well as the coconut oil.
Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
This looks so delicious! I wish I could grab these cookies out of the screen!! Thanks for sharing the recipe
claudia says
Well I have to say I am very surprised I didnt at least comment on how fabulous these were last year when I made them ... these were the best cookies with blueberries I ever had. I made a different recipe I posted no where near as good. Sorry it took me so long to visit this and thanks for posting to remind me its time to make them soon! XO take care
Shelby says
Thanks Claudia! Those word mean a lot to me, I know how fabulous of a cook you are! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Britni says
I don't think I have ever had blueberry cookies before and this looks like the perfect recipe to start with!
April @ Girl Gone Gourmet says
It's the recipes passed down that mean so much, right? I love how making certain things brings back memories -- loved reading yours about your Nanny. Beautiful cookies 🙂
Diana says
These blueberry cookies looks amazing! I wouldn't be able to resist 🙂
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables says
These look amazing! I loooove soft cookies, especially with blueberries! 🙂
Nola says
PART 2: They WERE delicious!! Thank you, Shelby!
Shelby says
So happy to hear this!! 🙂
Nola says
This was just what I was looking for! A little lemon with some blueberries, so refreshing and light. I can't wait to make them. Thank you for a great recipe!
Elena Salika says
Please can i replace the freshh bluberries with frozen? thank you!!!!
Shelby says
Hi Elena, Yes, you can replace the fresh blueberries with frozen. Enjoy!
Lisa says
How do you make the icing on the blueberry cookies
Shelby says
Hi Lisa, it is the last step in the recipe card. I updated the card so it is easier to see the step. Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Sandra says
I wouldn't be able to resist a handful of these cookies either! I love blueberries and lemon together. What a special recipe, Shelby!
Carrie @Frugal Foodie Mama says
I just adore lemons and blueberries together, and I am sucker for thick, soft cookies. These look delicious, Shelby! 🙂