These easy lemon crinkle cookies with a bright, zesty lemon flavor and an amazing, rustic look are quick-to-make sweet treats that you can make for yourself, your family, and your friends. The cookies are made from simple ingredients and require no special equipment.
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Why you should try these cookies
Short chilling time. These lemon crinkle cookies need to be chilled for a very short time. 20 -30 minutes in the freezer will be more than enough to make the dough easy to work with. However, if you are impatient and crave something zesty and sweet, you can go ahead and try these soft Lemon cookies, as they don't require any chilling time at all.
Amazing lemon flavor. Same as with my Lemon curd cake recipe, these cookies have an amazing lemon flavor from fresh lemons.
No special equipment is needed. You don't even need a hand mixer to make these zesty cookies. It's possible to use a metal whisk to beat the butter with the lemon sugar, whisking in the egg before switching to a rubber spatula and mixing in the dry ingredients.
Ingredients you will need
Flour - Use all-purpose flour to make this lemon crinkle cookie recipe.
Baking powder - These cookies are meant to be soft and caky, with a delicate texture that melts in your mouth. To achieve this, we will need to use baking powder instead of baking soda, which is usually added to the dough to make chewy cookies like these Strawberry cookies or these Matcha cookies.
Fresh lemon - I use both lemon zest and fresh lemon juice in this recipe to maximize the natural lemon flavor. If you keep your lemons in the fridge, don't forget to bring the juice to room temperature before mixing it with the butter mixture.
Butter - Use unsalted butter at room temperature.
Sugar - You'll need white granulated sugar for the cookie dough and powdered sugar for the coating.
Egg - The egg should be at room temperature or your butter will harden once it touches the cold egg.
Vanilla extract and salt - Vanilla is an optional ingredient but salt is a must.
Cooking tips
Measure your ingredients using a digital kitchen scale. If you add too much flour, the cookies won't spread enough and will be tough. If you add too much sugar and butter, they will spread too much and be too soft. To avoid these things from happening, you have to weigh all ingredients using a kitchen scale, not cups.
Don't overmix the cookie dough. Mixing the dough too much will promote gluten development and your lemon crinkle cookies will turn out dense.
Mix the sugar with lemon zest before adding other ingredients. Mixing the sugar with zest will help essential oils to release, making your cookies even more flavorful.
Chill the dough briefly. This cookie dough is very soft and hard to work with. If you don't chill it, it will be very challenging to roll the dough balls. Also, without chilling, the dough will spread too much in the oven.
Step by step directions
1. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the sugar and lemon zest. Mix well.
3. Add the butter and beat for 1-2 minutes. Then, add the egg, vanilla, and lemon juice and beat until well incorporated.
4. Add the dry mixture and mix on low to combine.
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for 20-30 minutes or until solid enough to form dough balls.
6. Preheat the oven to 180C (355F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
7. Form 13 cookie dough balls and roll them in powdered sugar.
8. Place the cookie balls on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until they have spread and are crinkly and golden around the edges.
9. Remove from the oven and let your lemon crinkle cookies cool down for 5 minutes on the sheet before transferring them onto a cooling rack to cool down completely.
Possible variations
Glaze - Drizzling a simple glaze made from powdered sugar and lemon juice over the cookies can add a tangy sweetness to each bite. You can also sprinkle crushed nuts or poppy seeds when your sugar glaze hasn't yet set, so your toppings stick to it.
Lemon extract - If you want to boost the lemon flavor even further, you can add a small amount of lemon extract to the ingredient list of this crinkle cookies recipe.
Chocolate glaze - Make a chocolate glaze from any type of chocolate you like and dip your cookies in, as I did with my Chocolate covered strawberries and Matcha cookies, to create an even more indulgent dessert.
Orange zest - Mixing in some orange zest with the lemon zest can create a citrusy flavor combination that is bright and refreshing.
Food coloring - Add a little bit of yellow food coloring to push the lemon theme and make the cookies more fun-looking.
FAQ
Store completely cooled cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for one week.
Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Yes, you can freeze the dough for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before shaping and baking.
Yes, these cookies can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.
More related recipes
Recipe card
Lemon crinkle cookies
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- Stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer and a mixing bowl you can also use a metal whisk and a mixing bowl instead
- Hand mixer or a metal whisk
- Rubber spatula
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 80 g white granulated sugar
- Zest of one lemon
- 60 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice at room temperature
- 30 g powdered sugar for coating
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer and a bowl, or you can use a metal whisk and a bowl), add the sugar and lemon zest. Mix well.
- Add the butter and beat for 1-2 minutes or until fluffy. Then, add the egg, vanilla, and lemon juice and beat until well incorporated.
- Add the dry mixture and mix on low just until no dry ingredients are left.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for 20-30 minutes or until solid enough to form dough balls. You can also refrigerate the dough overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 180C (355F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Form 13 cookie dough balls and roll them in powdered sugar.
- Place the cookie balls on the baking sheet so they have at least 2" (4cm) space in between. Bake for about 15 minutes or until they have spread and are crinkly and golden around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and let cool down for 5 minutes on the sheet before transferring onto a cooling rack to cool down completely.
Tina says
These are so easy to make and delicious. Thank you!
Anna says
Thank you for you comment, Tina!