These Blueberry Lemon with Mascarpone Cookies combine dried blueberries, bright lemon, and creamy mascarpone for a soft, flavorful cookie. While cream cheese is my go-to ingredient for adding a little tang and creating a denser cookie, mascarpone has a milder, slightly sweeter, milky flavor that pairs beautifully with blueberries. If you enjoy baking with mascarpone, explore my Mascarpone Cookies collection for more recipes.
Lemon and blueberries are a classic flavor combination that works beautifully in cookies any time of year. The bright citrus complements the sweet blueberry flavor without overpowering it. If you enjoy baking with dried blueberries, try my Blueberry with Walnuts and Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies or my Blueberry Lemon with Ginger Glaze Cookies for two more fruit-forward options.
A Quick Look: Blueberry Lemon with Mascarpone Cookies
Recipe Name: Blueberry Lemon with Mascarpone Cookies
Ready In: About 3 hours (including chill time)
Yield: About 3 dozen cookies
Texture: Soft and tender with chewy bits of dried blueberry.
Flavor Profile: Bright lemon, creamy mascarpone, and concentrated blueberry flavor.
Difficulty: Easy - just allow 2 hours for the dough to chill.
Why You'll Love This Cookie
- 🫐 Chewy blueberry bites: Dried blueberries add concentrated fruit flavor and a pleasantly chewy texture throughout each cookie.
- 🍋 Bright lemon flavor: Fresh lemon adds a citrusy brightness that pairs beautifully with the blueberries.
- 🤍 Made with mascarpone: This creamy Italian cheese gives the cookies a soft, tender texture and mild, milky flavor.
Ingredients
- Dried blueberries: I use dried blueberries in these cookies because they plump slightly as the dough chills and add concentrated blueberry flavor without adding extra moisture. They also hold their shape nicely and don't bleed blue throughout the cookie dough as fresh blueberries can.
- Mascarpone cheese: Mascarpone is a rich, creamy Italian cheese with a mild, slightly sweet and milky flavor. Unlike cream cheese, it has very little tang, which lets the blueberry and lemon flavors stand out while adding softness and richness to the cookies.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Blueberry Lemon with Mascarpone Cookies
Prep
Step 1: Weigh or measure the flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl, whisking to blend. In another bowl, weigh or measure the sugar and set the bowl aside.
Step 2: Next, I zest and juice the lemons. My lemons were medium-sized, so it took 2 for this recipe.
Mixing the Cookie Dough
Step 3: Slice the butter into the mixer bowl. I do this to judge how cold the butter is by how much resistance I feel when cutting it.
Step 4: If the butter is room temperature, it will only take a minute to cream the butter into soft peaks. If it is colder, it will take another minute.
Step 5: Next, add the sugar. Since there is much more sugar than butter, the mixture will not become creamy. Mix for about 3 minutes.
Step 6: Now I break one egg into a small dish to make sure there are no eggshells before adding it to the butter-sugar mixture. Incorporate the first egg before adding the second egg.
Step 7: Add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, lemon zest, and mascarpone. Mix on medium speed until everything is well combined.
Step 8: Add the dried blueberries. I sometimes add a few extra only because I love them so much.
Step 9: Mix for about 5 seconds, just until the dried blueberries are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Step 10: Fold in the flour mixture with a solid spatula instead of using the mixer, adding about ⅓ at a time. I find mascarpone to be a delicate cheese, and folding in the flour helps give the baked cookies a soft, tender texture on the inside.
Chill
Step 11: Cover loosely and chill for at least two hours.
Scoop and Bake
Step 12: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and line two cookie sheet pans with parchment paper.
Step 13: I love using a cookie scoop to make evenly sized cookies that bake at the same rate. Using a medium cookie scoop, place 12 scoops of dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan.
Step 14: Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies are just lightly browned around the bottom edges.
Step 15: Let the cookies rest on the sheet pan for 1 minute before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Once cooled, sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the top of each cookie.
🫙🍪 Storage
Store the cookies in a container with a tight-fitting lid. They will stay fresh for about 3-5 days before they start to crisp slightly around the outside edges.
FAQs
Yes, but cream cheese has a tangier flavor than mascarpone, so it will change the taste of the cookies. Some bakers mix cream cheese with a little heavy cream to create a milder, creamier substitute that's closer to mascarpone.
The mascarpone makes this a soft cookie dough, so chilling it for 2 hours firms the dough and makes it easier to scoop and handle. The chill time also gives the dried blueberries a chance to plump slightly in the dough before baking.
I don't recommend using fresh blueberries in this recipe. The mascarpone already creates a soft cookie dough, and the extra moisture from fresh blueberries could make the dough too wet and difficult to handle. Dried blueberries add concentrated blueberry flavor and a chewy texture without adding excess moisture.
Still Have Questions?
Need help with ingredient swaps or wondering if these cookies freeze well? I've added a few extra baking helpers below for common home baker questions.
Other Cookies with Mascarpone
If you tried this Blueberry Lemon with Mascarpone Cookies recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a ⭐ star rating and share your thoughts in the comments. Thanks!
Recipe
Blueberry Lemon with Mascarpone Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113.5 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) Sugar white
- 2 Eggs room temperature
- 8 ounce (226.8 g) Mascarpone
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 Tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon zest
- 2 ½ cups (312.5 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 ¼ cups (200 g) Blueberries dried sweetened
- ¼ cup (30 g) Powdered sugar Sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Weigh or measure the flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl. Whisk to blend and set aside. In another bowl, weigh or measure the sugar and set aside.
- Zest and juice the lemons into separate containers and set aside. I can usually get about 3 tablespoons of juice from one lemon.
- Slice the butter into the mixer bowl. On medium speed, cream the butter until soft peaks form, usually 1-2 minutes. Add the sugar and mix for 3 minutes.
- Add one egg at a time, mixing thoroughly before adding the second egg. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and mascarpone cheese. Mix for about 1 minute.
- Add the dried blueberries and mix for about 5 seconds. Turn off the mixer and remove the bowl from the stand. Using a sturdy spatula, fold in the flour mixture about ⅓ at a time until combined.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and line 2 cookie sheet pans with parchment paper. Using a medium cookie scoop, place 12 scoops of chilled dough onto a prepared sheet pan. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to brown around the bottom edges.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies rest on the sheet pan for 1 minute before transferring them to a wire cooling rack. Once cooled, sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar.
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NUTRITION DISCLAIMER
I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist. The nutrition amounts given below are provided through a program and are only a guideline.
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