These lemon crinkle cookies are perfect for the lemon obsessed masses. Soft, chewy, and perfectly crinkled—they're a bite-sized burst of citrusy goodness.
Just like you, I'm obsessed with anything lemon. So I made sure to pack these cookies with as much lemon flavour as possible; zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract! They're literally a pop of brightness once you bite into them.
Ingredients for this recipe:
- Lemon zest
- Granulated sugar
- Butter
- Egg
- Lemon juice
- Lemon extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Powdered sugar
Variations
You can enjoy the cookies as they are but if you want a little extra something, try out these Lemon Cookies with Raspberry Curd! The raspberry goes beautifully with the lemon and is definitely worth trying out.
My tips for baking the best lemon crinkle cookies
- Sugar and lemon zest - Make sure to massage the sugar and lemon zest together to get the most flavour out of the zest as possible. Doing this releases the oils in the peel, into the sugar and amplifies the lemon flavour—way more than if you only used the zest itself. You can use a food processor to do this OR a silicon spatula to rub the sugar into the zest.
- Refrigerate the dough - For this recipe, it's important to refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours since it is pretty sticky and will be hard to manage and roll into balls. Chilling the dough helps to make it more manageable. It also helps the flavour develop more, since the flour in the dough fully hydrates, pulling the moisture from the wet ingredients. Refrigerating the dough also makes them bake thicker since the butter in the dough is chilled. Without chilling it, the cookies will bake thinner and may spread too much.
- Getting the cookies to crinkle - You want to roll each cookie ball in granulated sugar FIRST, and then in the powdered sugar. Make sure to cover them well with both sugars, this is what makes the 'crinkle' in these crinkle cookies. As the cookies rise and spread, the sugar coating breaks and makes the crinkle effect. It's my favourite part of these cookies.
Lemon Crinkle Cookie
These lemon packed cookies are crispy, a little chewy, soft and most importantly, delicious. If you love lemons, you're going to be obsessed with these cookies so try them out and share the results with me!!
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Servings: 23 cookies
Ingredients
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1 cup 200g granulated sugar
- ½ cup 110g butter
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoon lemon extract* (check notes)
- 2 cup 276g all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Powdered sugar, enough to roll the cookie balls in
- Granulated sugar, enough to roll the cookie balls in
Instructions
- Massage the lemon zest and sugar together for a few minutes to extract the oils. Then add the butter and beat with a stand mixer or whisk for a few minutes until light and fluffy.Zest of 2 lemons, 1 cup 200g granulated sugar, ½ cup 110g butter
- Crack in one egg and beat for a minute. Now add in the lemon juice and lemon extract. Mix well.1 egg, 3 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 ½ teaspoon lemon extract*
- Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and mix.2 cup 276g all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold gently with a spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours. This is an important step so don’t skip it
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and scoop it with a spoon or a small cookie scoop. Approximately 1 tablespoon size. Roll into a ball and repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Take each ball and roll in granulated sugar, making sure to cover it well. Once all of them are covered with granulated sugar, roll them in the powdered sugar and cover it well all over.
- Gently place on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper, making sure to leave space between them so they don’t spread into each other.
- Bake the cookies (one baking sheet at a time*) for 14-16 minutes. Once they’re done, they will develop colour on the bottom and the edges of the cookie will be set.*keep the second batch of cookies in the fridge while the first batch is baking.
- Take them out of the oven and leave the cookies on the pan for 10 minutes to cool down. This helps the texture and makes sure you don’t break them.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
*If you don't have lemon extract, substitute it with an extra tablespoon of lemon zest
Noor says
This was so lemony and the best lemon loaf I’ve ever had! Would definitely recommend this!!!
Nabeah Wahab says
Thank you Noor!
I think you meant to comment this under the lemon loaf but I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Zineb says
Hi, I have the Nordic ware lemon cookie stamps and would like to try them on this recipe. Are they going to work you think? Or should I leave the baking soda out? Thank you.
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Zineb,
I haven't tried doing this so I don't know how well it will work. They may be a bit flatter and the "crinkle" effect might kind of ruin the stamp shape. But it won't hurt the recipe or taste so I'd say go for it and try it out! I wouldn't leave the baking soda out because it will change the texture a lot.
I'd love to know how they turn out!
Tammy Moose says
These are sooo good! Not too sweet and perfect texture! Yummmmm!
maya says
do u HAVE to refrigerate?
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Maya,
Yes you definetely have to refrigerate the dough. The dough is sticky and will be very hard to roll into balls and chilling it helps. It also helps the flavours develop more. If you don't refrigerate, you also run the risk of the cookies baking too thin/spreading out too much because the fat has melted.
If you find that you can't wait, I'd suggest making the dough at night so you can forget it in the fridge overnight and have cookies in the morning!
Rachana says
Hello Nabeah!
Love this!
How long can I store them, could you please help me storage instructions please?
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Rachana,
I put them in an airtight container with a tissue paper to absorb any moisture. They'll last about a week at room temp! I've had them finish way before it reaches a week!
Rama says
They are absolutely delicious! Second recipe from your website and counting
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Sara says
Hi, I’m currently making these, but doubling the recipe..
how come 2 cups flour is 276g and 4cups is also 276g and even 6 cups?
And some of other ingredients haven’t been doubled or tripled either.. or am I making a mistake..
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi! Sorry about that. For some reason it only doubles or triples the cup amount and not the grams amounts. It should be 552g. Just double the amounts manually and it should be fine!
Jorja says
Hi, i was just a bit confused by the ingredient list. For the butter and sugar. Do you use either the cup or grams measurement. Or do you use both ???
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi! You can use whichever is most convenient for you. I try to include both because there are viewers from around the world and some use cups and some use grams!
Having said that, I highly recommend using grams because there is wayy less room for error compared to cup measurements
S says
THESE ARE HEAVEN!!!!
I bake these all the time for my family, teachers, friends, etc and they always ask me the recipe and talk about how good it is
Hannah says
I made these cookies for my family and they were so good that they asked me to make it again for some of their friends! If you got lemons, you know what to do XD
Laélia says
That was incredible that, very sweet (it's American) but the lemon helps to make it less overwhelming sweet. I really like it. Really nice recipe, thank you darling for that