Lemon Crinkle Cookies {Video}

Name: Lemon Crinkle Cookies Recipe
Prep time: 80 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups flour; ½ teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 ¼ cups sugar; 2 large lemons (both zested and juiced); 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 powdered sugar

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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 fresh lemon in every bite.

Powdered sugar floating down onto lemon cookies

I thought I’d 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.

My mother-in-law shared this recipe from an America’s Test Kitchen magazine she had in 2014. I adapted it somewhat but don’t have the magazine anymore and can’t find it on Amazon.

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 just 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.

Why you’ll love lemon crinkle cookies

Each bite of a lemon crinkle cookie is chewy and delicious!
Lemon is a nice change up from chocolate and gives you fresh summer vibes!
They look beautiful and each one is unique – that’s why I like to call them snowflakes.

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.

Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar and lemon zest and mix until combined. Next add the wet ingredients and mix 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.

A ball of dough before being rolled in powdered sugar

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

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 go on smoothly and still be there after they come out of the oven. First sift the powdered sugar so that it 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 for this lemon cookie recipe 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.

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.

How long will lemon crinkle cookies last?

These can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can alternatively freeze them for 3 months.

When you roll the balls, how can you keep the dough from sticking to your hands?

Dust your hands with a little powdered sugar and it’ll work like flour to keep the dough from sticking.

Why are my cookies cake-like?

Don’t let the cookies overbake. If you take them out just at the 10 minute mark and let them sit a few minutes on the cookie sheet afterwards, they’ll set perfectly.