Just like chocolate crinkle cookies, these lemon crinkle cookies are soft-baked and chewy, coated in confectioners’ sugar, and practically melt in your mouth. Lemon lovers will appreciate that the zingy flavor comes from real fresh lemon, not extract. I call them “very lemon” because there is so much natural lemon flavor!
This recipe is part of my annual holiday cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. Every year since 2013, I work on a handful of new cookie recipes and publish the 10 best ones for readers to enjoy. It’s the biggest, tastiest event of the year on my website!
I always love a variety of flavors on my assorted holiday cookie platter, and especially like to throw in something unexpected among classics like gingerbread cookies and peanut butter blossoms. In previous years, little lemon coconut drop cookies and apricot thumbprint cookies have been favorites! Today, I’m introducing a zesty (and festive looking!) sweet-tart lemon cookie to your annual lineup of Christmas cookies.
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Lemon Crinkle Cookies
- Mouth-watering sweet-tart flavor
- Uses more lemon than other lemon cookie recipes
- No food coloring, no artificial flavoring
- Thick and pillow-soft
- Built-in beauty from the crinkly confectioners’ sugar coating—no icing or decorating
- Warm from the oven, these melt in your mouth
- Feel free to replace the lemon with another citrus fruit, or try using Meyer lemons
Like Chocolate, But With Lemon!
Have you made chocolate crinkle cookies or Nutella crinkle cookies before? Like the chocolate version, these lemon crinkle cookies are also thick and soft-baked, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture and iconic crinkle surface… but with the fresh flavor of citrus. Unlike these lemon ginger cookies or lemon coconut shortbread cookies, there’s no competing flavor today. This is a purely lemon-flavored cookie, and it’s sure to become a new favorite, no matter the time of year.
Why is it called a crinkle? While snowball cookies and peppermint snowball cookies get their sugar-snow dip after baking, crinkle cookies get a roll in confectioners’ sugar before baking. As the cookies bake, the powdery sugar coating cracks apart as the cookies puff up, leaving a crinkled surface. Hence the cute crinkle name.
What You Need & Why (Ingredients)
The recipe is based off of my coconut lime cookies, and you’ll be happy to find 1/4 cup (60ml) of lemon juice in the dough. Typical lemon cookies have half that amount. Get ready for flavor! Here are some key points about the ingredients you need:
- Flour: All-purpose flour provides the structure of these cookies.
- Cornstarch: The same magic ingredient for softness we use in chewy chocolate chip cookies; you only need a touch and it helps keep the cookies soft.
- Baking Soda: Makes the cookies puff up in the oven, creating that signature crinkle look.
- Salt: Brings out the flavors and balances the sweet.
- Butter: You need proper room temperature butter for this cookie dough, so it will cream nicely with the sugar.
- Sugar: Just the right amount to balance the tangy lemon.
- Egg: Binds the dough together.
- Lemon Juice: I recommend fresh lemon juice for the best flavor, but you can use bottled lemon juice in a pinch. Here is a wonderful juicer if you don’t have one and need a recommendation. And make sure you have a zester.
- Lemon Zest: Zest the lemon first, before you cut it and juice it. Much easier than the other way around!
- Vanilla Extract: For extra flavor.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: For rolling.
In Photos: How to Make Lemon Crinkle Cookies
After you make the dough, you’ll notice it’s quite soft and fluffy. That’s totally expected, and the dough needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. I know it’s a long time to wait, but your puffy cookies will be worth it! Go ahead and make the dough the night before if needed.
After chilling, the dough is much easier to work with. Each cookie is about 1 Tablespoon (20g, 5/8 ounce) of chilled dough:
Roll very generously into confectioners’ sugar:
And arrange on a lined baking sheet, and then bake:
#1 Success Tip: Chill the Dough
Chilling the cookie dough for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator is a non-negotiable. These lemon crinkle cookies contain extra liquid from the lemon juice, so the dough is very soft and sticky. The colder and firmer the cookie dough, the less they’ll over-spread. As you might remember from baking these chewy chocolate chip cookies, chilled cookie dough is not only easier to handle, it bakes thicker cookies.
Can I Use Other Citrus Flavors?
Yes! Try these crinkles with grapefruit, orange, or lime. You may also love these similar coconut lime cookies. Note that recipe has a shorter chill time because the dough is filled with coconut, which helps bulk it up.
Or if you can’t get enough lemon flavor, try my lemon thumbprint cookies next.
Their snowy exterior makes these perfectly festive in the winter months, but the zippy citrus flavor is refreshing year-round! They have become a favorite on my Summer Cookie Recipes collection page. I hope you love these too.
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 35 minutes
- Yield: 40 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This citrus spin on a crinkle cookie is a lemon lover’s delight. Chilling the cookie dough is important because it helps the flavors to develop, prevents spreading, and makes the otherwise sticky cookie dough easy to handle. Make sure you have a citrus juicer and zester.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g)Â unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (225g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60ml) fresh or bottled lemon juice, at room temperature*
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest* (packed Tablespoon, it’s a lot of zest!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Rolling
- 3 Tablespoons (35g) granulated sugar (optional, see step 6)
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until creamed, about 1 minute. Add the egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Mixture will appear curdled and that’s ok. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Dough is thick, creamy, and sticky.
- Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this sticky cookie dough.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. This makes the chilled cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Roll in sugar: Scoop and roll balls of dough, about 1 Tablespoon of dough each, into balls. (Each dough ball should weigh about 20g.) Some readers have had trouble with the confectioners’ sugar melting/absorbing into the cookie dough balls, so to prevent that, you can roll the balls in the granulated sugar first. And then roll each ball very generously in the confectioners’ sugar. If you want lots of confectioners’ sugar to show on the baked cookies, roll 2-3x in sugar! Place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 12–13 minutes or until the edges appear set and the centers still look soft. Tip: If they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2–3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven to continue baking.
- Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will slightly deflate as they cool.Â
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The dough can chill for up to 3 days, so this is a great make-ahead recipe. Baked cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls (that are not coated in confectioners’ sugar) freeze well up to 3 months. When it’s time to bake the cookies, remove them from the freezer and thaw on the counter for at least 30 minutes. Roll into confectioners’ sugar as instructed and bake.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Citrus Juicer | Citrus Zester | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Sheets | Cooling Rack
- Granulated Sugar: 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons is an odd amount, but the cookies really benefit from a little extra sugar because of all the tart lemon juice.
- Cornstarch: If you don’t have cornstarch, you can leave it out. It helps maintain a thicker, softer cookie but test batches without it were still intact and delicious.
- Lemons: I usually need 1–2 lemons to yield 1/4 cup (60ml) juice and 1 Tbsp zest. Feel free to replace the lemon with another citrus fruit, or try using Meyer lemons.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
This was my first attempt at crinkle cookies. I followed the recipe exactly, and even chilled the dough for an entire day. While baking, the cookies just spread all over the pan. They taste alright, but don’t look very attractive. I would suggest adding a step to chill the dough again, after they’ve been rolled into balls and in the sugar? Other than the dough not being cold enough, I can’t figure out the reason for them flattening instead of puffing.
These were also delicious and so easy to make! I see silicone mats and I feel these really help with preventing too much spread. I also added a tiny bit more lemon juice/zest but otherwise did everything recommended, including granulated sugar. These turned out just like the picture and are so bright! Perfect for this year’s cookie box.
I would like to use orange instead of lemon, since they’re less punchy than lemon could I increase the zest? Any other way you would recommend getting good orange oomph? I adore lemon, but I already have oranges that need using
Hi Sarah, you can definitely make these with oranges. We’d recommend increasing the zest to 1 Tablespoon.
Perfect cookies – taste like FRUIT LOOPS!! One question – could I sub margarine for the butter for these cookies? The butter resulted in a perfect cookie but wondering if I can save a bit of money on the next batch?
Hi sinciti, Thank you for trying these cookies. We’re glad you loved them! Margarine does not have the same baking properties (or flavor!) as butter. We don’t recommend this swap.
I love all of Sally’s recipes. Honestly, when there is anything I want to make I always check her website as she never fails me. Once again, she did not disappoint. I’ve made her chocolate crinkle cookies many times and was very excited to see a lemon alternative. Absolutely delicious. Great lemon flavour. For those who didn’t get a strong lemon flavour, make sure the zest is packed as instructed. These are a winner and will be in my Christmas tins moving forward. Thanks Sally!
I made cookies to give as Christmas gifts to my co-workers. My boss loves lemon desserts (so do I), so I was happy to find & try this recipe. I thought it had great lemon flavor and had many compliments on it. Definitely going in my saved recipe file.
Absolutely picture perfect and zingy zesty lemony flavour. I used our own Meyer lemon juice and zest. Definitely a hit! Thank you for your site and efforts…you’ve been my “go to ” for quite some time now!
Very Merry Christmas and Happy Healthy New Year!
These are SO good and look perfect. They taste like a lemon square made into a cookie, and I am obsessed.
I will 100% be making these again.
Thanks for another beautiful recipe!
The cookies taste great, but I wouldn’t know they are lemon cookies if I wasn’t the one who made them. The lemon taste is hard to find in the cookie and the powdered sugar masks the lemon. I added 1/2 tsp of lemon extract, but it didn’t seem to help. The dough is also hard to work with. It is similar to wet biscuit dough. Be ready to chill your dough multiple times while rolling the cookie balls. I ended up adding lemon spread to the top of the cookies before serving and it helped bring the lemon flavor out of the cookies. Again, these cookies taste great, but the lemon flavor is lacking and may disappoint some.
I followed the directions exactly, but used convection bake at 325. I rolled the cookies in mixed red and green sanding sugar and baked. As they were cooling 5 minutes on the baking sheet, I sifted confectioners sugar over the cookies. Confectioners sugar did not melt into the cookies and the results were very festive.
Hi Sally! My family made lemon crinkles with coconut growing up. Do you have any suggestions on how to add that in to this batter? I do intend to add the lemon extract in addition to meyer lemon juice. Thanks so much!!
Absolutely! They will be a lot like these coconut lime cookies, only with lemon. You can still coat them in the confectioners’ sugar. See that recipe and add the coconut just like I do there.
After reading the comments I decided that I was definitely going to roll the dough in the granular sugar before the confectioner’s sugar. However, I took it a step further by adding the zest of 1 lemon to 1 cup of sugar. (Yes, it’s more than the recipe calls for, but it stores nicely) The lemon sugar is at its most flavorful if allowed to sit for a day or two. I rolled the dough into the lemon sugar mixture and then a double roll in the confectioners’ sugar. The cookies gave me the lemony brightness that I was hoping for.
5 stars because I just made these and love how they taste. I’m just here to hopefully rectify some user error — after chilling for a day (and sitting out for ~20 min) my early batches spread all over the pan and almost turned into lace while later batches turned out nearly correct but maybe a little flour-y. Did I undermix the dough (I was worried I’d overwork it) or is there something else I can troubleshoot for? Any insight would be great 🙂
Hi Alana, this can happen if any dough has been under-mixed. Some portions of dough, may have more butter than others. It’s really easy to under-mix cookie dough like this because it’s so heavy. Mix the dough for an extra minute if you try the recipe again, to really make sure it’s mixed well. Try chilling for another hour if you have the time, too.
I made 10 cookies and three candies for Christmas and this was the star!
I made this recipe exactly as written (using a scale/weights) and it was perfect! Made a triple batch(!) with my stand mixer and although it had to work very hard, it worked out. Didn’t have a problem rolling the dough in icing sugar. So light and not too sweet!
These cookies taste great. I followed the recipe as written but my cookies didn’t hold onto the confectionary sugar or have the crinkles so they do not look like your picture. Anything I should change next time?
Hi Ellen, did the cookies puff up in the oven or did they just spread out? Because puffing up (and then slightly deflating) is what will give you those crinkles. Were you sure to chill the cookie dough for at least 3 hours? If you try the recipe again, make sure you’re using room temperature butter that isn’t too warm, and try adding another 2-3 Tbsp of flour which will help bulk up the dough so the cookies retain better shape.
They are delicious. I tried to use a lot of powdered sugar when I rolled them but it wasn’t quite enough to look like yours. So I sprinkled with it when they came out of the oven.
These are so good and so easy to make. Strong lemon flavor and love the crackly sugar coating. I coated them in both granulated and confectioners sugar. Will definitely make these again Christmas week!
These turned out amazing! I did the granulated sugar pre-roll, used real lemon juice, and used homemade vanilla extract. Ours had a great, zingy lemon flavor, and we did get the yellow color in our cookies without using food coloring.
Outstanding texture, flavor, and softness! Yum! I usually make the chocolate crinkles, but the citrus is a nice change of pace! I do always use homemade vanilla for a flavor blast.
Thank you for this recipe. We are having these later with vanilla custard!
Do you strain the fresh lemon juice to get rid of the pulp? Thanks
I usually don’t, but you certainly can.
1: the color of my cookies don’t look yellow at all, it looks white. I did use real lemons, did you use yellow color to make it yellow?
2: the powder sugar melted in the oven, even though I used a lot. it doesn’t look anything like your photo. It tasted ok, not very lemony , a little disappointed.
Hi Diana, I did not use food coloring in the pictured cookies. I actually photographed these months ago and I specifically remember thinking about it and then realizing I didn’t have any yellow color anyway! Thanks for trying them. Some readers have added 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract for added flavor.
Lemon perfection! These certainly lived up to my desires for a great lemon cookie. I used fresh lemon juice (which I feel is much superior to bottled juice) used lemon extract in place of the vanilla, rolled them first in granulated sugar, then 2x in confectionery. I kept the cookies cool until they went into the oven and they spread and deflated some beautifully. A great addition to my Christmas cookie repertoire.
These taste great (the dough too!!), but even with the revised tips around granulated sugar and then confectioners sugar, the sugar seemed to just melt into the cookie. They taste great, but don’t look like the nice crinkle cookie shown in the photos.
The lemon crinkles are OK. Oh, they taste good, but there’s just not enough zing from the lemon. Not by a long shot. Kind of like a sugar cookie and, if you try really hard, you might taste the lemon. And I had a lot of lemon in that batter. Instead of the vanilla, I even put lemon extract in the batter, along with the fresh lemon juice and the zest.
I agree. First recipe of hers that just came out meh for me. There just wasn’t enough lemon zing for me. I used fresh lemon. I’m so disappointed as I LOVE lemon!
I agree as well . Definitely not enough lemon flavor. I added a lot of zest and the juice but there was only a little hint of lemon. They were easy and looked pretty so I guess I’ll add much more zest next time.
These are amazing!
I read through all the comments and recipe notes and rolled them in granulated sugar before rolling in powdered sugar. (This was my 4 year old’s favorite part!)
After reading Sally’s recipe notes about having to watch for spread/smack the tray on the table if they weren’t spreading – after I rolled my cookie balls in powdered sugar, I flattened the tops a bit when I put them on the baking sheet. Perfect spread every time without having to smack the trays on anything. Still beautifully crinkly too!
could you add poppy seeds?
Definitely. I would add 2-3 teaspoons.
I accidentally added 2 tsp milk to mine! (Never have 2 recipe cards out at once!). Have put the dough to chill. Will they be ok? Too flat? Dang it!!!
Ok. These are so easy and delicious!
I just made these and tried substituting gluten free flour blend in a 1:1. Worked perfectly. My mom couldn’t tell the difference.
I tried this last night and rolled in granulated sugar first, and then in powdered sugar. Most of them came out just right, although had some issues with my last batch of cookies. The dough had gotten too warm so they overspread and the powdered sugar melted. I should have chilled the dough in between batches. The flavor is fantastic, and I didn’t mind having a cook’s treat with the ones that weren’t perfect!
Could you use almond flour and vegan type butter?
Hi Ellen, we don’t recommend using almond flour in this recipe. It has very different baking properties than all-purpose flour and would require quite a bit of recipe testing to determine how best to use in this recipe. We haven’t tried these cookies with vegan butter, so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you give anything a try!