In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy (a couple of minutes). Add the egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract and food coloring (if using) and mix to combine.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and mix until they are incorporated. Cover bowl with plastic food wrap and place in the fridge to set for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop out dough (I like to use a small sized cookie scoop- to get a uniform size) and roll the dough into a ball. [Note: the dough should be scoopable but a bit stiff. If the dough feels too soft, pop the dough back into the fridge or in the freezer for a bit. A dough that is too soft will cause the cookies to spread more when baking.]

Roll the dough balls in regular sugar first and then in the powdered sugar, being sure to coat them generously. Place the dough balls on the baking sheets, 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. Remove them from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.