Lemon Crinkle Cookies {Video}

Name: Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Prep time: 80 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups flour; ½ teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 ¼ cups sugar; 4 teaspoons grated lemon zest; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 egg; 1 egg yolk; 4 tablespoons butter (melted and cooled slightly); 3 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 teaspoon vanilla; ½ cup confectioner's sugar

Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

Lemon crinkle cookies or lemon snowflakes are a chewy lemony cookie coated in powdered sugar, just what you need to fight off the winter blues. Lemon zest and lemon juice give them a burst of lemon in every bite.

Powdered sugar floating down onto lemon cookies — Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I thought I’ld share my husbands favorite cookie today. He loves anything lemon so it’s not a surprise that he loves chewy buttery lemon crinkle cookies. But he’s not the only one, the rest of my family will not stop raving about these lemon cookies.

I first made them to round out an assortment of cookies I served for friends who came over for appetizers one night, I wanted a different flavor to go with the double chocolate cookies, and chocolate chip shortbread I had on hand and lemon cookies seemed the perfect compliment. They were going so fast around the house, I was afraid I wouldn’t have any left for our friends.

If you haven’t heard of lemon crinkle cookies, you may have heard them called lemon snowflake cookies, which is what we always called them. I think they look like a snowflake. However crinkle cookies are more common and are any cookie that is coated with powdered sugar and has cracks on the top like chocolate cherry crinkle cookies.

Sometimes when I make cookies, my testers will give comments or suggestions about how to make them better, but with these, everyone kept telling me how good they were and how they were their favorite of any I’ve made. I’m not going so far as to say these are my favorite, but others are making that claim.

I did manage to save enough for my guests, who after sampling the assortment, also raved that they liked these the best. So don’t sell lemon cookies short, they’re pretty tasty.

What you’ll need

Lemons – you’ll use the zest of 2 lemons along with the juice.
Butter & oil – for a buttery taste and perfect chewy texture.
Powdered sugar – to roll the balls in before baking.
Pantry staples – flour, baking powder sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

I use a food processor but a mixer will also work.

How do you make a chewy lemon crinkle cookie

Step 1: Process the sugar and lemon zest in a food processor then add the wet ingredients and process until it’s pale and thickened.

Step 2: Add flour and baking powder and salt to the mixture, stir and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Step 3: With a 2 tablespoon scoop, form balls and dip into the powdered sugar, completely covering the balls of dough.

A ball of dough before being rolled in powdered sugar

Bake for about 10 minutes.

A baking sheet of baked lemon snowflake cookies

FAQ’s and tips

How do you get the powdered sugar to stay on the cookie?

I have two tips that help the powdered sugar to go on smoothly and to still be there after they come out of the oven. First sift the powdered sugar so that is is free from clumps, and second, roll the cookie balls several times in the powdered sugar so that they are completely covered with a thick layer.

Do you need to refrigerate the dough?

You have to refrigerate the dough or they will be very thin and flat. That’s because the butter is melted. Refrigerating the dough allows the fat to harden so that they don’t spread too much when baking.

Why do you use a food processor to make this lemon cookie recipe?

Processing the lemon zest with the sugar ensures a lemon flavor throughout the cookies.

How large should you make lemon crinkle cookies?

I’ve found that a small 2 tablespoon cookie scoop makes the perfect sized cookie. If you go larger, they seem to flatten out more.

I’ve found that the larger size does not turn out quite as pretty as the smaller size although they taste the same.

Love lemons, try some of these lemony desserts

Still in the mood for cookies, try these fan favorites