Lemon Blueberry Cookies with White Chocolate

Lemon Blueberry Cookies make the magical and delicious combination of lemons and blueberries shine. They're delightful with your morning coffee, a satisfying sweet afternoon snack, and of course they're a most excellent after dinner dessert.

To start, Lemon Blueberry Cookies are just so pretty.

These blueberry cookies are naturally purple, with a deep blueberry flavor and the essence of lemon in every bite. On the thinner side, they have slightly crispy edges and bottoms with soft cake-like centers, and melty little bundles of white chocolate and blueberries.

There is a little "trick" in this recipe, that's reminiscent of the trick in my cookies with raisins, that make these blueberry lemon cookies a notch above others.

I think you're going to love them!

The Ingredients

(I often suggest brands I love and use — these are only suggestions and this is not a sponsored post.)

• fresh blueberries - Look for blueberries with smooth, unbroken skin that are deep purple to almost black in color.
• granulated sugar
• lemon zest - We use a lot of zest in this recipe, and it really makes the fresh lemon flavor shine.
• lemon juice
• pure vanilla extract - I like this one.
• unsalted butter - I always bake (and cook) with unsalted butter so I can better control how much salt goes in the recipe.
• brown sugar - Both dark or light brown sugar work.
• Kosher salt - I bake (and cook) with Kosher salt because I like its larger flake size and it usually doesn't contain additives. If you use table salt, use half the amount.
• eggs - The eggs will be separated. The yolks get mixed into the batter with the butter and sugar, while the whites will be whipped and added at the last moment. We whip the whites to use them as a leavener/rising agent.
• all-purpose flour
• white chocolate chips

(See recipe card below for quantities.)

Substitutions and Variations

If I don't list an ingredient with a substitution, it means I think it's best not to substitute it.

• Fresh blueberries. I love using fresh blueberries when I can, but using frozen blueberries instead is okay, too. Frozen wild blueberries are excellent, though a bit smaller. Whichever you use, thaw them first, and if there's excess liquid, drain them, too.
• All-purpose flour. This can be substituted with Cup4Cup Multipurpose Gluten-Free flour.
• White chocolate chips. I like how the white chocolate chips look against the purple color of the cookies. They can however, be substituted with milk chocolate chips. You can also use dark, but I find their flavor competes a bit too much with the other ingredients. I recently spotted cream cheese chips and lemon chips, which, if you can find them, would be quite tasty. (FYI, both are -- or are likely -- artificially flavored.)

Recipe Tips

• There's a good reason there is no baking soda or baking powder in this recipe for blueberry cookies. Baking soda turns the beautiful blue-purple color of the blueberries to a greenish-brown. (Not appetizing!) This is a bit less likely to happen with baking powder, but there's still a good chance because baking soda is actually an ingredient in baking powder. Lemon on the other hand, enhances the blueberry color. 🙂
• Be sure to let the blueberry mixture cool completely before mixing it into the butter mixture. If it's too warm, it will melt the butter which will change the consistency of the batter.
• It's important not to completely mix the flour into the batter at first -- you should still see some white areas. This is so that when you add the whipped egg whites, you don't end up over mixing the batter, which can make for a tougher cookie.
• With a darker colored cookie like this one, it's more difficult to see the edges turning golden, so keep a close watch towards the end of the baking time.

How to Make Them

- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.

- After the blueberries are washed and dried, add them to a small pot with the granulated sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir to blend and place it over low heat.

- Once the sugar has melted, turn the heat to the lowest setting for about 4 minutes. Then let the mixture cool to room temperature, about 35 minutes.

(To speed up the cooling process, pour the mixture into a small bowl, use a rubber spatula to get every last bit out of the pot, and place it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, stirring about halfway through. It must be room temperature before it’s incorporated in the next step.)

- Add the softened butter, brown sugar and salt to a large mixing bowl. Use an electric hand mixer (or Kitchen Aid with paddle attachment) to blend until it’s as smooth as possible, and slightly lighter in texture, about 1 minute on high. If you don’t have an electric mixer, just use a spoon (and muscle) until you think you’ve reached the right consistency.)

- Add the cooled blueberry mixture and mix again, until most, but not all, of the blueberries are broken and the batter is smooth and magenta in color.

- Separate the eggs, adding the yolks to the batter and the whites to a small mixing bowl. Mix the yolks into the batter with a large spoon until smooth. Then add the flour and white chocolate chips. Stop mixing just before the flour is fully incorporated — you should still see some white areas.

- Now use the electric mixer again to whip the egg whites until you have soft peaks. Quickly fold them into the batter with a spoon or rubber spatula.

- Use a 1 ¾-inch cookie scoop to scoop cookie dough balls -- the bottom of each one should be leveled off. Place them about 2-inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheets as you go. Bake in the preheated 375°F oven until they're slightly golden along the edges, about 14 minutes.

- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes. Then transfer them to a cooling rack and wait to serve them until they’re room temperature.

More Blueberry and Lemon Desserts

• Mini Lemon Berry Pavlovas
• Peach-Blueberry Cobbler
• Meyer Lemon Crinkle Cookies
• Blue Corn Blueberry Chocolate Muffins
• Gluten-Free Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake

How to Store Them

• Once they're completely cooled, the lemon blueberry cookies can be stored in an airtight container, at room temperature for up to 3 days. (They might loose a bit of their crispness, but will still be great.) If you don’t plan to serve them within the first couple days after baking them, you can freeze them.
• They can be kept frozen in an air-tight container for up to a month. (Longer is okay, but the longer they’re frozen, the more moisture they’ll loose.)

I hope you love my Lemon Blueberry Cookie recipe, and that they become one of your go-to cookie recipes.