Lemon Blueberry Cookies

by Ashlen Leonard on May 29, 2025

These Lemon Blueberry Cookies are perfect for spring! Vibrant flavours from the lemon zest and pops of fresh blueberries and perfectly chewy in texture.

lemon blueberry cookies stacked on top of a white ceramic plate on top of a wooden cutting board

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Why you should make these Lemon Blueberry Cookies

Bright, zesty, and bursting with flavor, this Lemon Blueberry Cookie recipe is the ultimate way to welcome spring. Fresh lemon zest infuses each bite with a vibrant citrus kick, perfectly balanced by the sweet burst of juicy blueberries. It’s a combination that feels like sunshine on your taste buds—light, refreshing, and totally irresistible.
What sets these cookies apart isn’t just their bold, seasonal flavor—it’s their texture. Soft and chewy in the center with the pop of cooked berries, they strike the perfect balance for cookie lovers of all kinds.
Whether you’re baking for a brunch, a picnic, or just craving something sweet and uplifting, these cookies are the perfect way to capture the essence of spring in dessert form. I can’t wait for you to give them a try!

Ingredients needed

Here’s what you need to make these homemade Lemon Blueberry Cookies:

All purpose flour
Salted butter
Light brown sugar
White granulated sugar
Egg
Lemon zest
Blueberries
Vanilla extract
Baking soda and salt

Substitutions and add ins

If you don’t have some of the ingredients or you would prefer to make some substitutions, here are my recommendations:

Gluten free flour
- To make these cookies gluten free, use gluten-free all purpose 1:1 flour in the same amount that’s recommended for the all-purpose flour. You may not get the same chewy texture with the gluten free flour but the flavour will be very similar!
Unsalted butter
- I use salted butter in baking because I feel like a little extra salt goes a long way in amplifying the flavour. However, you can use unsalted butter if that’s what you have or if you’re being mindful of your sodium intake.
Coconut oil
- This can be used instead of the butter and for extra coconut flavour. Make sure that it’s at room temperature before mixing it with the brown sugar.
Other types of brown sugar
- Any kind of brown sugar will work in this recipe.
I do NOT recommend using frozen blueberries in this recipe, since they will add too much liquid to the cookie dough batter during the baking process and create an undesirable texture and flavour. Dried blueberries won’t provide the delicious burst of flavour we’re looking for either so stick to fresh berries!

raw cookie dough in a large glass bowl

Add-ins

Extra lemon zest
- If you absolutely love the flavour of lemon and want your cookies to be extra zesty, add in an additional teaspoon of lemon zest to the batter.
Sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut
- You can use whatever product you have available. This can also be a way to adjust the sweetness of the cookies. If you want them extra sweet, use sweetened shredded coconut.
Flaked coconut
- If you want larger chunks of dried coconut in the cookies, use flaked coconut instead of shredded!
Chopped nuts
- Nuts such as almonds, pistachios, pecans and walnuts could all be chopped and added to the cookie batter for more crunch. Just make sure to buy the unsalted version.
White chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
- Add some white chocolate chips or chunks for an added level of sweetness and texture.

How to make Lemon Blueberry Cookies

Here’s how to make these chewy Lemon Blueberry Cookies:

First, make sure to preheat the oven to 350F so it has time to heat up. Next, prepare your baking sheet. You can either grease it with a little bit of butter or coconut oil or line it with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Set this aside while we prepare the dough!
In a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter and brown sugar. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, mix on medium-high for 1-2 minutes or until the butter and sugar are creamed together. Add the white sugar to this and mix it again until everything is well incorporated and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix again.
Next, it’s on to the rest of the dry ingredients! Add the all purpose flour, salt and baking soda and mix again.
We can’t forget about the stars of the show: lemon zest and fresh blueberries! Using a wooden spoon or spatula, fold in the lemon zest for that bright lemon flavour and fresh blueberries until they are just incorporated. Try not to overmix the batter!
Using a small or medium cookie scoop or spoon, distribute 1-2 tbsp of dough onto the prepared or lined baking sheet. Make sure the cookie dough balls are all evenly spread apart on the tray. Use a fork to gently flatten each cookie. It helps if you run the fork under water to wet it so it doesn’t stick to the batter when flattening.
Place them in the oven for 10-13 minutes. The cookies may look slightly underbaked but this is what we want! Remove them from the oven and allow them to cook for 5-10 minutes. As long as the bottoms of the cookies are a light golden brown, they’re done! Enjoy!

cookie batter with lemon zest and fresh blueberries

Baking tips

There are a few key steps in the baking process that, if done correctly, will help make the most perfect and delicious cookies!

Getting butter to room temperature: if you forgot to take the sticks of butter out of the fridge in time for it to warm up, I actually place the wrapped stick of butter in between my pant waist band for several minutes. The heat of your body will warm up the butter without melting it. Just rotate it every few minutes so it warms it up evenly.
Baking large cookies: If you choose to use a large cookie scoop to make extra big cookies, you just may need to adjust the baking time slightly. Depending on the size of the cookie, it could require an additional 2-3 minutes of bake time.
Underbake!!!: If you take one tip away from this recipe, it’s to underbake your cookies. Not to the point where they are still raw, of course. But enough that you’re a little unsure whether they’re fully cooked. They will continue baking when you take them out of the oven and leave them to rest for 5 minutes. But this method ensures the baked cookie is irresistibly soft and chewy!

Should the cookies be hard or soft?

Everyone has their own personal opinion on how soft, chewy or crunchy a cookie should be. There is no judgement from me on your preference, but this Lemon Blueberry Cookie recipe creates the most perfectly soft and chewy cookie at room temperature.

If you prefer your cookies to be hard and crunchy, I recommend lightly flattening the cookie dough on the baking sheet before placing it in the oven. You may also want to bake the cookies for 2-3 minutes longer to achieve that texture.

raw cookies on baking tray

Why did my cookies spread so much?

There are a few baking mistakes that could make your Lemon Blueberry Cookies spread too much and end up flat. The most common is that there is too much fat in the dough. The fat element in baked goods is typically butter or oil. Make sure you follow the recommended ratio of butter to dry ingredients!

Another reason why the cookies could spread is because there isn’t enough flour or there is too much liquid. Melting the butter could cause the batter to be liquidy, which we want to avoid. Use room temperature butter and add the suggested amount of flour.

As long as you follow the instructions step by step, these cookies should come out of the oven perfectly fluffy and chewy!

Make these cookies gluten free

If you want these Lemon Blueberry Cookies to be gluten free, there is just one main substitution to make to the ingredient list. Instead of all purpose flour, opt for a gluten free flour. My favourite gluten free flour to use in baking is the Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour. There’s no need to adjust the amount, just use it in the way you would use regular flour!

Gluten plays a role in binding the cookie dough together, so you may notice a slight change in texture if you use gluten free flour but it should be quite similar to the original.

zoomed in overhead shot of lemon blueberry cookies stacked on top of a white ceramic plate

Storing and freezing

The storing method of these cookies depends on when you want to enjoy them.

If you plan on eating them within a week, I would suggest leaving them at room temperature for 2-3 days. In my opinion, the texture and flavours are the best when they are at room temperature. After this, pop them in an airtight container and store them in the fridge until they’re gone!

Alternatively, you can freeze them. If you ever plan on baking ahead of a big holiday or event and want to store the cookies until the celebrations, you absolutely can! Or perhaps you just want to have one every once in a while but keep the rest of the batch fresh.

Here’s how to do that: once the cookies have baked and cooled to room temperature, transfer them to an airtight container. This could be a glass or plastic container or even a freezer bag! Store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, either take them out 1-2 hours in advance or microwave them for 15-20 seconds, or until they reach your preferred temperature and texture. Enjoy!

Dietary considerations

As a dietitian, I try to create recipes that can be made in multiple ways to suit various dietary restrictions.

To make these cookies gluten free, see my suggestion above.
Dairy free: opt for dairy free butter.

This recipe is already nut free and vegetarian.

overhead shot of lemon blueberry cookies stacked on top of a white ceramic plate

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