Go Back
–+ servings
Print
baked lemon crinkle cookies on a baking sheet

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

These homemade lemon crinkle cookies are a perfect blend of tangy and sweet, making them an ideal choice for snack time or special occasions.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword lemon crinkle cookies, lemon crinkle cookies recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Refrigerate to chill dough 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 45 cookies
Author Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy

Ingredients

For the Cookie -

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour spoon and leveled (327 grams)
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
  • 3/4 cup 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg at room temperature
  • 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice at room temperature (juice of about 3 lemons)
  • 1 packed tablespoon lemon zest zest of 2 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Rolling -

  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

  2. In a bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or using a bowl and handheld electric mixer) cream together the butter and sugar for 3 minutes on medium speed.

  3. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, and optional food coloring, mixing for 15 seconds just until incorporated. The mixture will look weirdly curdled at this point.

  4. Add the flour mixture into the liquid ingredients and mix on low speed until the flour mixed through. Increase to medium speed and mix until a soft sticky dough forms.

  5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough for an hour (or up to 3 hours).

  6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

  7. Remove the bowl of dough from the fridge and scoop 1-tablespoonfuls of the dough and roll into balls. If the dough sticks to your hands, spray them with cooking spray to prevent sticking.

  8. Roll each ball of dough into granulated sugar.

  9. Then, roll each ball of dough into the confectioner's sugar. Don’t shake off excess confectioners sugar since it’s better to have more on the cookie than less, since some will melt in the oven.

  10. Place each rolled dough onto the baking sheet, keeping each cookie 2-inches apart. You may need to return leftover cookie dough to the fridge while the first two pans bake, and then continue with prepping a third pan of cookies once they're out of the oven.

  11. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until the edges are slightly golden and the center is puffed and looks slightly underbaked. The cookies will continue to harden and spread a bit as they cool.

  12. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Notes

Notes:
● The dough is rolled in granulated sugar first which prevents the butter from turning the
confectioner's sugar a yellow color.
● For a super yellow cookie color, you can add 2 drops of yellow food coloring during step 3 with the eggs.