These lemon cookies don’t require any baking. They are just 3 ingredients and don’t need any flour, eggs or butter. The cookies are sweet and lemony. They can be made ahead of time and store well.
a stack of five lemon cookies.

The weather has been so warm lately that I haven’t wanted to turn on the oven much so I’ve been working on a few no bake recipes, like these lemon cookies.

Ingredients

  • White chocolate chips
  • Lemon
  • Unsweetened shredded coconut

White chocolate chips: The cookies use white chocolate chip as the base. When the white chocolate is melted and mixed with the lemon juice, the lemon juice prevents the white chocolate from completely solidifying again so it stays soft.

Lemon: The cookies use fresh lemon juice and zest to give the cookies a nice zesty lemon flavor.

Unsweetened shredded coconut: Shredded coconut acts as a binding agent to hold the cookies together and adds some texture to the cookies. I recommend using unsweetened coconut because the cookies are already quite sweet from the chocolate. Also, unsweetened coconut is usually more finely shredded, which is what is needed to bind the cookies.

How to Make No Bake Lemon Cookies

The white chocolate is first melted and then mixed with the lemon juice until a smooth batter forms. The zest and coconut are then stirred in until the mixture becomes a thick batter (or a wet cookie dough).

Scoop the cookie batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use the back of a spoon to make the cookies round and flatten them slightly. Then place them into the fridge until set.
lemon cookies lined up.

Cookie Texture

These cookies are firm on the outside but are soft when you bite in. The lemon juice added to the chocolate keeps the chocolate very soft, almost like a truffle filling. The shredded coconut adds a little chewiness to the cookies.
two cookies in a stack.

More No Bake Cookie Recipes

4.85 from 13 votes

3 Ingredient No Bake Lemon Cookies

These lemon cookies don't require any baking. They are just 3 ingredients and can be made ahead of time.
Servings: 11 cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup (164 g) white chocolate chips
  • 2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice + 2 tsp lemon zest, from one large lemon
  • 1/2 cup (34 g) unsweetened finely shredded coconut

Instructions
 

  • Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  • Add chocolate chips to a large microwave-safe mixing bowl. Heat chocolate in 15-30 second intervals, stirring in between with a spatula until chocolate is completely melted and smooth. You can also melt the chocolate on the stove using the double boiler method.
  • Add in lemon juice and whisk until lemon juice is fully incorporated and mixture becomes uniform in color and smooth. Adding the lemon juice will initially break up the chocolate but if you continue to whisk, the mixture will become uniform again.
  • Stir in the zest and coconut until they are evenly mixed in. The batter should thicken when you add in the coconut. It will resemble something like a very thick batter and a wet cookie dough. The batter should be thick enough that if you scoop it out with a cookie scoop it will mainly hold its form and won't spread much.
  • Use a 1 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop up cookie batter and place onto the prepared cookie sheet, spacing cookies 2 inches apart. Use the back of a spoon to flatten cookies into a thick round disk (about 1/4 inch thick), smoothing edges and top as needed. Cookies will not change shape so shape them as you would like your final cookies to be.
  • If desired, garnish top of cookies with additional zest. I recommend doing this because it adds more lemon flavor and makes the surface of the cookies look nicer. Place cookies into fridge to set. This can take about one hour. When cookies are set they should feel firm and you should be able to peel the cookies off of the parchment paper. Cookies can be eaten straight out of the fridge or let them sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes for a softer inside. Store uneaten cookies in the fridge.

Notes

  • You will need approximately one large lemon. You likely will not use the whole lemon. This recipe works best with fresh lemon juice and zest.
  • When measuring out the lemon juice, make sure you strain out any pulp so you have 2 full tbsp of just lemon juice.
  • This recipe works best with unsweetened finely shredded coconut. Most unsweetened coconut is finely shredded and so its not usually labeled finely shredded but just check to make sure. There may be some unsweetened shredded coconut brands out there that make thicker/wider shreds. I used Let's Do Organic Unsweetened Shredded Coconut.
  • I don't recommend using sweetened shredded coconut. Sweetened coconut will make the cookies too sweet and sweetened coconut is usually only sold in bigger/wider shreds which don't work as well as a binding agent.
  • You can make the cookies bigger but I kept them small since they are quite sweet. 
Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 144kcal, Carbohydrates: 17g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Sodium: 16mg, Fiber: 0.5g, Sugar: 16g, NET CARBS: 17
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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