These Lemon Cookie Cups are the most delicious Easter dessert you could possible put on your dessert table this holiday! They’re bright, zesty and springy – and they’re a dessert-hack too! That means you’re going to put in minimal effort but end up with a gorgeous product!

What is your favorite part of Easter dinner? What do you like to eat the most? The ham? The potatoes? Side dishes? Deviled eggs? Or dessert? 

I’m not a ham person, so I think I’d have to say the side dishes are my favorite, especially if someone makes a good mac and cheese or this buffalo chicken dip.

What about cooking? What’s your favorite part of the Easter meal to cook?

I love to make pretty desserts and set up a gorgeous dessert table. I always want to make way too many desserts, just because I can’t narrow down my recipes!

I am all about the easy desserts and dessert-hacks, like cake mix cookies. Holidays are busy, and I want to bring a pretty dessert that people will be impressed by (and wipe out – I don’t need leftovers!) – but that won’t take me a ton of time spent in the kitchen.

These Lemon Cookie Cups are the perfect dessert for your Easter dinner dessert table. I’ve taken my white chocolate lemon cookies, removed the white chocolate and turned the lemon cookies into cute little cookie cups. They’re filled with homemade vanilla buttercream (but a store bought can of frosting is a perfectly acceptable and even quicker substitute) and topped with shimmery chocolate eggs and pearl sprinkles. 

Basically they’re bright, springy little cups of heaven, but you can recreate them with minimal effort. Be prepared to bask in the glory of everyone’s compliments at your Easter celebration! 

Making the Lemon Cookie Cups

The cookies themselves couldn’t be easier. In a bowl, dump a package of lemon cake mix and a small box of dry white chocolate pudding mix. Add 1/2 c. oil, 2 eggs, and 2 tablespoons of water. Stir the dough until everything comes together.

Grease a mini muffin pan. Divide the cookie dough into 24 balls and put one ball in each muffin cup. Press them down lightly. 

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes at 350. 

Remove lemon cookie cups from the oven. IMMEDIATELY – Using the back of a rounded tablespoon, press it into each muffin cup, to create a cup shape in each one. (See photo above)

Let cool completely before removing from pan.

Meanwhile…

While the cookies are cooling, make your frosting. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream 1 stick (1/2 c.) of butter until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Stir in 3-4 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 c. at a time. Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix together. Add additional milk if frosting needs to be thinner, 1 tablespoon at a time. Or add additional powdered sugar, 1/4 c. at a time, if frosting is too thin.

Decorating Your Lemon Cookie Cups

Spoon your frosting into an icing bag (or ziploc bag with the corner cut out) paired with a star tip. Starting in the bottom of each cup, fill the cups with icing using a circular motion. 

Add one chocolate egg (I used Cadbury’s Shimmer Eggs) and a few pastel-colored ball sprinkles to decorate each one. 

Keep cookies in the refrigerator prior to serving (because the frosting contains milk). If you are not going to be able to keep them refrigerated, use water in place of the milk in your frosting. They do not need to be kept cold then. 

If you make these Lemon Cookie Cups, please post a comment here! And if you post a picture on Instagram, tag me in it (@biscuitsandgrading)! I’d love to see your finished product!

Want to keep up with all the great recipes and parenting articles? Subscribe to make sure you never miss one (and get a freebie)!

Print

Lemon Cookie Cups

Bright, springy lemon cake-mix cookies are baked into little cookie cups and then filled with homemade vanilla buttercream icing. 

Ingredients

Lemon Cookies

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1 small box dry white chocolate pudding mix
• 1/2 c. oil
• 2 tbsp. water

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

• 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3-4 c. powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2-4 tbsp. milk or water

Decorations:

• 1 bag Cadbury's Shimmer Chocolate Eggs
• 1 container pastel colored sprinkles

Instructions

To make cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan.

2. Mix dry cake mix and dry pudding mix together. 

3. Add oil, eggs and water. Mix until well combined.

4. Divide dough into 24 balls and place 1 ball in each muffin cup. Press down lightly.

5. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown.

6. Remove pan from oven and IMMEDIATELY use a rounded tablespoon to press a cup shape into each cookie. Let cool completely.

To make frosting:

1. While cookies are cooling, cream softened butter in bowl of stand mixer until light and creamy, 2-3 minutes.

2. Add powdered sugar, 1/2 c. at a time, and mix thoroughly.

3. Add milk (or water) and vanilla. Stir.

4. Add additional liquid (1 tablespoon at a time) if frosting is too thick. OR add powdered sugar, 1/4 c. at a time, if frosting is too thin.

To decorate:

1. Spoon frosting into piping bag paired with star tip (you can also use a ziploc bag). 

2. Fill each cup with frosting, using a circular motion.

3. Press one chocolate egg and a few pastel sprinkles into the top of each cookie to finish.

4. Store in the refrigerator if milk was used in the frosting. Store covered.