Making lemon sugar to have on hand is a great trick for so many uses! Perfect for using in homemade lemonade, on the rim of a glass, or in baking.

Lemon Sugar Recipe from addapinch.com

I love the sweet and tart flavor combination that this lemon sugar gives whatever you add it to. It’s really a simple trick that my Mama would do in the summer to the rim of lemonade glasses for parties or make a larger portion to sweeten her lemonade even. It takes all of a few seconds to mix together, but creates such an impressive little touch!

Lemon Sugar Recipe from addapinch.com

It’s great to make ahead for parties or just to elevate a bit of the everyday. I remember one particular Saturday when I was supposed to have a friend over to play and spend the night. I’d looked forward to that Saturday all week long. I’d cleaned my room, which in itself was a major event, I’d planned all the games we would play, and had even pulled out my favorite cassettes for us to listen to over and over and over and over. Unfortunately, that was the same week that my friend came down with strep throat and I felt like my whole life was ruined. Yes, it was definitely a dramatic period in my life. It was also the same time frame of endlessly begging to begin wearing makeup and being able to talk to my friends on the phone during the week.

Speaking of which, Little Buddy and I just had a conversation this past weekend ourselves over how little communication my friends and I had outside of church, school, and extra-curricular activities. I could earn up to 30 minutes a week to talk on the phone on the weekend, but only on the phone that was in the kitchen.

Thankfully, that was the phone with the longest cord – I’m not sure if it originally was the longest or if it had just grown that way since my sister was three years older than me and had already stretched it way past any respectable length during her 30 minutes a week gab-fest! Anyway, Little Buddy loved hearing about long phone cords, time allotments and the names of my pet dinosaurs. Ha!

But, back to the Saturday when my life seemed to take a dramatic nose-dive since my friend wasn’t able to come over and listen to Rick Springfield croon to us and drool over my sister’s poster of Tom Selleck. On that particular Saturday, Mama surprised me with glasses of lemonade in her fanciest glasses for the two of us.

On the rim of those glasses, she’d added her special touch of lemon sugar and had even pulled out our swirly straws that she swore every time we used them she was going to throw them away because they were such a chore to wash!

I’ll never forget that afternoon as we sipped on our fancy lemonade and listened to Rick Springfield together. We even played with makeup a little bit and she showed me that blue eyeshadow really wasn’t for me after all.

Lemon Sugar Recipe from addapinch.com

Here’s how Mama made her Lemon Sugar recipe.

Lemon Sugar Recipe

5 from 2 votes
Making lemon sugar to have on hand is a great trick for so many uses! Perfect for using in homemade lemonade or in baking.
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 3 minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients 

  • 1/2 cup (99 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (12 g) lemon zest, 1 large lemon

Instructions 

  • Stir together granulated sugar and lemon zest. Store in an airtight container for later use.

Notes

Makes 1/2 cup. 

Nutrition

Serving: 2 teaspoons | Calories: 33kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 0.01g | Fat: 0.03g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.001g | Sodium: 0.1mg | Potassium: 2mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.01mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Enjoy!
Robyn xo

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About Robyn

Robyn Stone is a cookbook author, wife, mom, and passionate home cook. Her tested and trusted recipes give readers the confidence to cook recipes the whole family will love. Robyn has been featured on Food Network, People, Southern Living, and more.

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Recipe Review




23 Comments

  1. Have not made this yet but have questions. do you ever remove the lemon zest and do you cut them up. also how long will this sugarstorw for?

    1. Allison, I don’t cut the lemon zest or remove them. You can cut them into smaller pieces if you want. You could place it into an airtight container and freeze up to 3 months.

  2. Hi!
    Could I process this in the food processor or blender to make it finer?! I’d like to sprinkle on top of shortbread. Thanks!

    1. Karen, I haven’t tried using a food processor or blender with this recipe but you could if you wish. I bet the lemon sugar will be amazing on shortbread.

  3. How long do you think the lemon sugar would last in an air-tight glass jar? I’d love to try this recipe and give some out as gifts (maybe even adding a bit of ginger for friends who would use it in hot tea!)

    1. I’m not sure about that, Kate. I’ve made it for saving in jars, so I don’t know how long it would stay fresh. Thanks!

    1. I hope you love them. Yes, they do freeze well. Just roll the cookie dough into a log, wrap tightly in plastic or parchment and then place into a gallon freezer bag. Then, I slice and bake when ready! xo

    1. Hi Gail,
      Are you asking about freezing the lemon sugar? You could place it into an airtight container and freeze up to 3 months.

      Thanks so much!
      Robyn xo