These Lightly Lemon Vanilla Greek Yogurt Sugar Cookies are so moist and yummy – you are never going to want to make another version again.  I’m not even kinda kidding, these are HEAVENLY!  The absolute perfect texture and flavor.  Not too lemony – just a lovely hint.  And get this!  NO rolling, NO cutting into shapes and NO waiting time on REFRIGERATION to chill!  Who wants down time when a sugar cookie craving hits {or your kid needs 68 cookies for his class by 7:30 a.m.}?  *shudder* Not this girl.     You can have your first pan out and cooling to frost in under 30 minutes.   Oh, and BONUS!  Did you happen to like “Tiffany Blue” but have no box or gift bag for comparison so that you can recreate it for your pretty frosting?  I can already tell we are going to be besties.  Let’s do this.

(This post contains affiliate links. See our full disclosure here.)

  THIS is what we are going to end up with:

And we’ll be frosting them in half an hour!  Okay, now let’s get out all of our simple ingredients so we can knock these treats outta the park without any more screwing around.

Let’s take this one at a time and start with the ingredients for the COOKIES:

• 3 Cups Flour
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/2 Cup Butter Softened to Room Temperature
• 1 Cup Granulated Regular Sugar
• 2 Eggs {preferably room temperature}
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp. Lemon Extract
• 2/3 Cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt {I use/prefer nonfat}

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda and baking powder.  Use a sifter to sift together or stir well with a whisk or fork.

In your stand mixer or with a hand mixer in a separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar at medium speed until it looks like this or smoother:

Add in the eggs, vanilla and greek yogurt and mix on low until uniformly combined.

Add in the flour, baking soda and baking powder dry mixture and beat together well.

{The dough will be sticky – don’t worry, that’s how it’s supposed to be!}

Using a cookie dough scoop or serving spoon scoop a generous glob {about 3 Tablespoons worth} into the palm of your hand and roll together with the other hand to form a smooth ball the size of the center of your palm.

Place these on an ungreased cookie sheet or baking stone {I use parchment paper too – but I have my eye on these awesome silicone baking mats!} at least an inch apart as they tend to spread a little. Lightly flatten the balls evenly with your fingers.

Bake at 350° 11-13 minutes until VERY very lightly golden on the very bottom edge. Oven temperatures and elevations vary – so watch them closely after the 11 minute mark. Mine take exactly 12 minutes to be perfect at 350° on convection bake mode on my baking stone.

Remove from oven and carefully transfer to your cooling racks. {If you used parchment paper or silicone baking mats it makes this a lot easier!}

This is how evenly and lovely they bake – check out the bottom!

Make sure they are cooled well before you start frosting them.  SPEAKING of frosting!  Let’s get to making that yumminess – and make it perfectly TIFFANY BLUE!  Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1/2 C Butter {softened to room temperature}
• 3 C Confectioners {powdered} Sugar
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp. Lemon Extract
• 1 T Milk {I use Almond Milk but regular will work}
• 1 T Heavy Cream {whipping cream}
• Blue, Green and Neon Blue Food Coloring and Silver and Faux White Pearl SPRINKLES  {optional, but c’mon…}

Beat together the softened butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon extracts until it’s evenly created teeny tiny uniform clumps and looks kinda like this.

Add the milk {almond or regular} and heavy whipping cream and mix it all together until smooth.  If you’d like it thinner – add more milk no more than 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency you like.  If you accidentally get it TOO thin, add a little more powdered sugar.  No reason to freak out. {I said that to remind myself, not you.  I know you wouldn’t let a lil thing like that throw you off your cookie frosting game.}

YUMMY!  Go ahead.  You need to give it a taste to make sure it’s amazing.   It’s your duty, really.

Now let’s get our stuff together to create the perfect shade of Tiffany Blue.

Since not everybody has one of these wonderful boxes and EVERY COLOR looks different on screen {srsly even on my two monitors the SAME EXACT PHOTO looks different for the love of Pete!} I took the box to the home improvement store and got you the PERFECTLY matching paint chip!  Turns out….. *drumroll*

Valspar’s “BAYSIDE” is a danged near PERFECT match!  It looks even more exact with real eyeballs instead of a camera and a computer monitor/smartphone/tablet screen.  You’ll just have to trust that I’m not color blind or worse, a LIAR!  I would nevah steer you wrong when it comes to pretty Tiffany Blue coloring.  Pinky swear.

So here’s what I used to achieve as close a match as I could with food coloring:

I started with TWO drops of the green and one each of the regular blue and neon blue food colorings.  From there I kept adding EQUAL one of each drops to keep darkening it until I got it to the shade I liked:

See what I mean though?  Two pictures taken minutes if not seconds apart and the coloring looks completely different!

It’s rather frustrating for me to try to show you…but not frustrating at all if you are just trying to enjoy some pretty cookies!  The first photo of the frosting looks more like what the color is in REAL LIFE with eyeballs, just fyi.  A bit more shocking than in person but close.

Here’s all the magical decorating supplies I used:

So – now let’s FROST and DECORATE THESE PRETTIES!

I made some with silver sprinkles for a little jewel type bling! (These Silver Sugar Pearls would be SO pretty too!}

And some with mini faux sugar pearl sprinkles – cuz pretty and jewelryish too:

And of course – some with BOTH – because perfection:

But yeah – capturing the beauty of a true hue of  “Tiffany Blue” on camera is a bugger.

Here’s the printable recipe for you to keep in your super organized recipe binder:

Print Recipe

Lightly Lemon Vanilla Greek Yogurt Sugar Cookies and Lemon Buttercream Frosting

The perfect texture and flavors and no rolling or chilling in the refrigerator! These are lightly lemon and really are the BEST sugar cookies I've ever tasted. 30 minutes tops until your first batch is out and cooling - getting ready to frost!

Course

Dessert, Snacks and Treats

Cuisine

American

Prep Time

15 minutes

Passive Time

15 minutes

Servings

cookies (apx) MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

For the Cookies

• 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Cup Butter {Room Temperature}
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Extract
• 2/3 Cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt {I prefer nonfat}

For the Frosting

• 1/2 Cup Butter {softened to room temperature}
• 3 Cup Confectioners {powdered} Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 teaspoon Lemon Extract
• 1 Tablespoon Milk {I use Almond Milk but regular will work}
• 1 Tablespoon Heavy Cream {whipping cream}
• Food Coloring and SPRINKLES {optional but c'mon...}

Course Dessert, Snacks and Treats Cuisine American Prep Time 15 minutes Passive Time 15 minutes Servings cookies (apx) MetricUS Imperial Ingredients For the Cookies 3 Cups All Purpose Flour 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda 1 teaspoon Baking Powder 1/2 Cup Butter {Room Temperature} 1 Cup Sugar 2 Large Eggs 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon Lemon Extract 2/3 Cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt {I prefer nonfat} For the Frosting 1/2 Cup Butter {softened to room temperature} 3 Cup Confectioners {powdered} Sugar 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 1/2 teaspoon Lemon Extract 1 Tablespoon Milk {I use Almond Milk but regular will work} 1 Tablespoon Heavy Cream {whipping cream} Food Coloring and SPRINKLES {optional but c'mon...}

Instructions

For Cookies

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda and baking powder. Sift together or stir well with a whisk or fork.
2. In a mixer or with a hand mixer, in a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar at medium speed until it forms tiny uniform beads or is smooth.
3. Add in the eggs, vanilla and greek yogurt and mix on low until uniformly combined.
4. Add in the flour, baking soda and baking powder dry mixture and beat together well. {The dough will be sticky - don't worry, that's how it's supposed to be!}
5. Using a cookie dough scoop or large serving spoon scoop a generous glob {about 3 Tablespoons worth} into the palm of your hand and roll together with the other hand to form a smooth ball the size of the center of your palm. Place these on an ungreased cookie sheet {I use parchment paper too} at least an inch apart as they tend to spread a little. Lightly flatten the balls evenly with your fingers.
6. Bake at 350° 11-13 minutes until VERY very lightly golden on the very bottom edge. Oven temperatures and elevations vary - so watch them closely after the 11 minute mark. Mine take exactly 12 minutes to be perfect at 350° on convection bake mode.
7. Remove and carefully transfer to cooling racks. If you used parchment paper it makes this a lot easier! Make sure they are cooled well before frosting.
8. Repeat the process until all of the dough is gone OR you can wrap the remaining dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to make some more!

For the FROSTING

1. Beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon extracts until it forms teeny tiny uniform dots or is smooth.
2. Add the milk {almond or regular} and heavy whipping cream then mix on medium speed until smooth. If you'd like it thinner - add more milk {no more than 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency you like}.
3. Add food coloring as you like! {For Tiffany Blue - start with 2 drops green, 1 drop blue and 1 drop NEON blue and then add one equally of each to keep darkening the shade until you have it just like you want it.}
4. Spread it all over those yummy cookies! And don't forget to add the SPRINKLES!
5. Store the frosted cookies in an airtight container.
6. Find this recipe online via DreaminginDIY.com

Recipe Notes

This recipe is a mashup of my Mom's famously yummy Christmas lemon sugar cookies recipe, two separate Copycat Lofthouse Sugar Cookies recipes and my own adaptation/twist of using lemon extract, Vanilla Greek Yogurt and Almond Milk in place of the Sour Cream and regular milk.

 Make sure to *PIN THIS IMAGE* where it’s handy for the next time you want the BEST no hassle Frosted Sugar Cookies on the planet!  Plus – it’s nice of you to share this little piece of heaven with everyone else, right?  Totally right.

DO YOU HAVE 2 STICKS OF BUTTER ALREADY SOFTENED TO ROOM TEMPERATURE?  You’re going to need them.  What’s that you say?  They are rock hard and cold as all get out in your fridge?  Okay, RELAX!  Follow this mini tutorial to get those two sticks of butter perfectly softened while you gather up the rest of your ingredients.  CLICK HERE or on the tutorial image below to get the instructions to soften {NOT MELT} your butter in under 10 minutes

While you are here and in the mood for the yummiest sweets – make sure to check out all of the amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies and Treats recipes we have for you!  Just CLICK HERE or on the image below to go save and PIN the BEST Chocolate Chip Dessert Recipes around: