Sweet and lemony, these soft homemade Lemon Crinkle Cookies are a cinch to bake, and the perfect cookie for spring and summer. Everyone will love this lemon twist on the classic crinkles, so don’t be afraid to double the batch!
When the weather turns warmer, I start to think about fruity desserts, and especially lemon infused cookies like these Lemon Crinkle Cookies! They are sweet and perfectly tangy with fresh lemon juice and zest mixed into the cookie dough.
I love these lemon cookies with a tall glass of iced tea in the summer, but they’re just as delicious with hot tea in the winter as well.
Looking for a different type of fruit cookie recipe today? I have so many for you to choose from! My Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies are completely decadent, and packed with fresh berries. You can also try my Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies, Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies, or gorgeous Fruit Pizza Cookies.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Melt in Your Mouth Texture: These cookies have the most delectable mouth feel – you have to experience it to fully understand. They are thick, soft, cake like, buttery, and slightly chewy with mouth-watering sweet-tart flavor.
- A Fun Twist on a Classic: Chocolate crinkle cookies are the most well-known version of this type of cookie. The iconic crinkle texture on top is made by dipping the cookie dough into powdered sugar before baking. I also have Matcha Crinkle Cookies and Red Velvet Crinkles for you to try once you’re finished falling in love with these citrusy Lemon Crinkle Cookies.
- Made from Scratch: I have a delicious recipe here for Lemon Cake Mix Cookies, and you can also use lemon cake mix to make crinkle cookies. However, I think this scratch cookie recipe is better. The fresh lemon juice and zest really shine through here, plus there is no artificial food coloring or flavoring in this recipe!
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Flour: Regular all-purpose flour provides structure for the cookies.
- Sugar: The perfect amount of sugar balances the tangy flavor of the lemon.
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder: These cookies need to rise in the oven in order to create that pretty crinkle pattern. Be sure that your baking soda is fresh for this recipe.
- Eggs: Allow your eggs to sit out at room temperature for a bit. They’ll mix into the batter much more smoothly than if they’re cold.
- Butter: Unsalted, melted butter goes into this cookie dough, which makes the dough easy to make, even without a mixer.
- Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest: Be sure to zest the lemon before you juice it. It’s difficult to remove the zest from a lemon that you’ve already cut in half!
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract helps to elevate all of the other flavors in these lemon cookies.
- Powdered Sugar: The lemon crinkle cookies are rolled first in granulated sugar and then in powdered sugar just before baking.
How To Make Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Top Cookie Tips
- Chill the Dough: The chilling step is very important in this cookie recipe! We are making the dough with melted butter, and it needs to be chilled again so the dough is easy to work with. Without chilling, this cookie dough is very sticky, and will spread too much in the oven.
- Don’t Overbake: Overbaked crinkle cookies will be dry. The baking time in this recipe is a guide, as everyone’s oven may cook a little bit differently. Keep an eye on the cookies and pull them when they are just barely done.
- Use a Cookie Scoop: A cookie scoop helps to portion the dough out perfectly so that all of the lemon crinkle cookies are the same size and shape. I’m making these cookies with a 2-tablespoon scoop, but they can be made smaller. Just reduce the baking time as needed.
- Bake One Tray at a Time: This recipe works best if each tray of cookies is baked in the very center of the oven, so don’t try to bake two trays at once unless you’re really pressed for time.
How to Store Crinkle Cookies
Room Temperature: Once cooled, transfer your lemon crinkles to an airtight container. Store them at room temperature for 5-7 days.
Freezer: These lemon cookies freeze quite well! Store them between layers of parchment paper in freezer containers for up to 3 months. Thaw before enjoying.
Other Tasty Lemon Desserts You Should Try
If you can’t get enough sweet lemon flavor, try any and all of these easy lemon cookie recipes, plus the absolute best lemon tart recipe:
- Easy Lemon Bars
- Lemon Shortbread Cookies
- Lemon Cake Mix Cookies
- Lemon Blueberry Cookies
- Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies
- Amazing Lemon Tart Recipe
Recipe FAQs
Why didn’t my cookies crinkle?
The crinkle on these cookies is created in the oven, so that is the most common issue if your cookies come out flat and smooth rather than lovely and crackled. The oven needs to be very hot when you put the cookies in, so be sure to properly preheat it.
It’s also possible that your cookies didn’t rise well, and that could be because your baking powder isn’t fresh. Next time, start with a fresh can.
How do I know when the crinkle cookies are done?
It’s important not to overbake these cookies, so be sure to remove them from the oven once the dough is no longer wet-looking on top. Before that happens, the cookies should puff up and then settle back down again.
If you wait until the cookies start to brown, it may be too late! So please don’t use that as an indication of doneness for crinkle cookies.
Enjoy this easy recipe for Lemon Crinkle Cookies! They’ll be a huge hit with whoever you decide to share them with.
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 5 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until smooth. Add the eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla until well combined. Add the flour mixture and mix until smooth.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), or 160°C for a fan oven, and line two half-size sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Using a two-tablespoon scoop, scoop the dough into the granulated sugar and roll it to coat. Transfer to the powdered sugar and roll to generously coat with powdered sugar.
- Place the sugar-coated cookie dough on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart and bake in the preheated oven for 9-11 minutes, or until puffed and the sugar has cracked.
- Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely
Notes
- Chill the Dough: The chilling step is very important in this cookie recipe! We are making the dough with melted butter, and it needs to be chilled again so the dough is easy to work with. Without chilling, this cookie dough is very sticky and will spread too much in the oven.
- Don’t Overbake: Overbaked crinkle cookies will be dry. The baking time in this recipe is a guide, as everyone’s oven may cook a little bit differently. Keep an eye on the cookies and pull them when they are just barely done.
- Use a Cookie Scoop: A cookie scoop helps to portion the dough out perfectly so that all of the lemon crinkle cookies are the same size and shape. I’m making these cookies with a 2-tablespoon scoop, but they can be made smaller. Just reduce the baking time as needed.
- Bake One Tray at a Time: This recipe works best if each tray of cookies is baked in the very center of the oven, so don’t try to bake two trays at once unless you’re really pressed for time.
- To Store: Keep these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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