- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 large lemon, zested
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- Combine sugar and lemon zest in a food processor and pulse several times to bruise lemon zest. Transfer 1/2 cup sugar mixture to a bowl.
- Beat butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl until creamy and well-combined; mix in remaining lemon-sugar mixture, egg, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Use an electric mixer to beat baking powder and salt into moist ingredients; gradually beat flour into mixture to make a dough. Freeze dough for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
- Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll in reserved 1/2 cup lemon sugar. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Press cookies down slightly to flatten and sprinkle each cookie with about 1/8 teaspoon of the remaining lemon sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are firm on bottoms, 10 to 12 minutes.