Soft and buttery lemon shortbread cookies are frosted with a beautiful pink raspberry cream cheese frosting for the ultimate spring cookie!

Cookies are just better if they come frosted in a little pink! They’re also going to win hearts every time if they happen to be these lemony shortbread cookies.

If you were to look up ‘spring in a cookie’ I guarantee these little gems would pop up because we’ve got lemon all covered in the cookie base and then we take things entirely to the next level with a tangy raspberry cream cheese frosting.

They’re almost too pretty to eat but I strongly suggest you do so anyways.

Any spring celebrations you’re hosting this year need these cookies front and center on the dessert table!

These Shortbread Cookies feature…

A soft and buttery lemon shortbread
Rich and tangy raspberry cream cheese frosting
An easy dough that comes together in minutes with make-ahead options

Making the Shortbread Cookies

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

Unsalted butter
Granulated sugar
Lemon
Kosher salt
All-purpose flour
Cream cheese
Raspberry jam
Powdered sugar
Raspberries

Storing Cookie Dough

The dough for these cookies stores well in the refrigerator up to 6 days and also freezes well up to 2 months if you would like to prep cookies ahead of time.

Tips for Perfect Shortbread

Cream butter and sugar together – make sure your butter is softened to room-temperature and cream well with the sugar several minutes until completely smooth.
Use fresh lemon juice and zest – the combination of both juice and zest will ensure that lots of lemon flavor gets into the dough.
Use stand mixer or mix dough by hand – this recipe is both mixer-friendly and old-fashioned-bowl-and-spoon friendly.
Spoon and level flour – we use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife.
Chill dough – chilling the dough for about 2 hours before baking will prevent the cookies from excessive spreading.
Flatten dough balls before baking – once the cookies are shaped, use the palm of your hand to flatten dough balls slightly before baking.
Allow cookies to cool before frosting – if you try to frost the cookies while they’re still warm the frosting will melt off.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on these cookies.

Try a different fruit – blueberry, strawberry, or blackberry would all be great in place of the raspberry.
Use a different citrus – try grapefruit, orange, or lime in place of the lemon.
Swap out frostings – you can use a classic buttercream or skip the frosting entirely.

Storing and Freezing Cookies

Allow cookies to cool completely, then frost and store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 4 days. For best results, we recommend bringing cookies to room temperature before serving.

To freeze cookies, allow to cool completely, then wrap well and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw cookies completely at room temperature and store up to 4 days. We recommend freezing cookies without frosting and waiting to frost until thawed.

The lemony flavors in the shortbread is just an absolute dream paired with the fruity cream cheese frosting! Every bite just melts in your mouth

These never last long so I highly recommend a double batch!

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

Watch these cookies made step-by-step on Google web stories.

Try these other lemon favorites next!

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