You might not think of panko in desserts, relegating it instead to breading duty for cutlets or using it as a crispy casserole topping. But the craggy, irregular breadcrumbs have their place in the sweets realm. In these Lemon Panko Cookies, the airy crumbs do what they do best — create a light crunch on the exterior — while the panko that’s worked into the dough keeps the texture tender and slightly chewy, much less dense than cookies made exclusively with flour. Think snowball cookies mixed with shortbread, with a light lemon lift and pleasantly crisp coating that keeps you coming back for more.

The method is surprisingly simple: Powdered sugar incorporates quickly with softened butter, requiring less beating time for aeration. Fresh lemon zest (you could swap in orange if you’d like) perfumes the dough, and a splash of lemon juice and a scraping of vanilla bean seeds round out the flavor with lift and depth. A short chill in the refrigerator firms up the dough just enough to roll into neat balls, which get tumbled in lightly crushed panko before baking.

The cookies dome beautifully in the oven, and they’re lightly dusted with powdered sugar when they’re done for a snowcapped appearance. The result is a cookie that’s elegantly simple, lightly sweet, and uniquely textured — a surprisingly effortless treat that you’ll want to share with friends over a cup of tea or coffee.

Why you must use a kitchen scale to measure the panko for these cookies

In baking, precision is key, and measuring ingredients by weight is more precise than measuring by volume. This is particularly true when it comes to getting the right amount of panko for these cookies. Panko’s coarseness varies a lot from brand to brand. During our testing, we weighed 1 1/4 cups of three different brands of panko; the same volume amount ranged from 2.8 ounces to 4 ounces in weight. In baking, changes like this can have major consequences, leading you either to tender cookies or to dry, tough ones. So make sure to weigh the panko you’re using, aiming for 3 1/8 ounces.

How to ensure your cookies don’t burn

Do you find yourself saying, “My cookies always tend to burn on the bottom”? If so, the lower heating element of your oven might run too hot. If that’s the case, stack things in your favor by adding more insulation to protect the dough: Nestle two baking sheets or sheet pans on top of each other, and bake the cookies on the double layer of metal. If you don’t have enough pans to do this, you can try raising the oven rack one position higher.

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

• A #100 cookie scoop is the perfect size to quickly and efficiently portion the dough.


• It can be tricky to judge doneness at a glance since the tops of the cookies stay pale; instead, gently lift one of the cookies and peek at the bottom to check doneness.


• If you don’t have an electric mixer or don’t want to use it, you can make the dough by hand. It just takes a little elbow grease to cream the butter and sugar together. It helps to have the butter very soft; try allowing it to sit at room temperature overnight.