Name: Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 90 min
Ingredients: 55 g Unsalted butter (room temperature); 55 g Oil; 150 g Granulated sugar; Zest of 1 lemon; 3 tablespoons Lemon juice (freshly squeezed); 1 Egg (room temperature); ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract; 250 g All purpose flour; ½ Teaspoon Salt; ¼ Teaspoon Baking soda; 100 g Granulated sugar; 120 g Powdered sugar

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These lemon crinkle cookies have a naturally sweet lemon flavor and a beautiful appearance that will brighten your dessert table any time of the year! Made with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and coated in two layers of sugar, they are a hit for all ages and all seasons!

Best Lemon Crinkle Cookies Recipe

If you've always been impressed with the appearance of crinkle cookies but doubted whether you could pull them off at home, have no fear! This lemon crinkle cookie recipe isn't just a breeze to make at home but also a lot of fun. No special ingredients or equipment are needed.

Unlike some recipes, I do not use yellow food coloring, bottled lemon juice, or lemon extract. All my ingredients are 100% fresh, giving the cookies the most natural color and flavor. You will not find any cake mix lemon crinkle cookies here!

I use both oil and butter, which gives the cookies a buttery flavor without making the dough too watery (while oil is 100% fat) and ruining the crinkle effect. They may be the most delicious lemon crinkle cookies you've ever tried!

How to Assemble The Lemon Crinkle Cookies Dough

Before you begin the cookie dough, the butter and egg must be at room temperature for proper emulsification. Be sure to use unsalted butter so you don't end up with overly salty cookies.

Start by zesting a large lemon. Organic lemons have the most intense and natural taste. Take the zest and gently massage it with the granulated sugar between your fingers. This gives the dough a sweet and fresh lemon flavor.

Next, use an electric hand mixer to cream the butter with the lemon sugar for a few minutes until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.

Then, slowly mix in the oil (preferably neutral and unflavored, such as vegetable oil), egg, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and vanilla extract until just combined.

Combine the all-purpose flour, salt, and baking soda separately. Do not skip the salt, as it balances the sweet and sour flavors! Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to gently fold the two together until combined. Do not overmix the dough at this point. Stop when no flour bits are visible.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, then scoop the dough onto the sheets using a cookie or ice cream scoop. The number of cookies can vary depending on the scoop size. My scoop holds approximately one tablespoon, yielding 16-18 cookie dough balls.

Place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator and let the dough rest for at least an hour. Do not skip this step, as it can result in flat cookies!

How to Get a Good Coating on Crinkle Cookies

As you prepare the cookies with their signature crinkle topping, preheat your oven to 165 C / 330°F. Do not use the oven fan. We use a relatively lower baking temperature compared to chocolate chip cookies, so the cookies won´t brown.

The key to creating a good crinkle coating is to use the correct type of sugar and enough of it so that it does not melt or absorb into the dough. Using two types of sugar helps prevent this.

You will need two large plates. Place the granulated sugar on one plate and the powdered sugar on the second plate.

Taking one cookie dough ball at a time, roll it first in the granulated sugar and then in the powdered sugar. Do not attempt to roll multiple dough balls, as they may stick together. The powdered sugar layer should be very thick, covering the entire surface of the dough ball.

Once generously covered in the sugar, return each coated ball to the lined baking sheet. Leave 1-2 inches of space between each to give them room to spread while baking.

How To Bake Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Once the oven has preheated to 165 C / 330°F, place the cookies in the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes until the edges appear set and the cookies are light golden in color. Please monitor your oven as each oven is different; you might be done in 13 minutes, or it might take 17 minutes.

Remove the baked lemon crinkle cookies from the oven and let them rest on the sheet for a few minutes. Then, gently transfer them from the sheet to a cooling rack to continue cooling. They will continue to set as they cool.

Why are my Crinkle Cookies not Crinkling?

There are a few reasons why your lemon cookies may not get the crinkle top that you expected:

The dough was too wet: If your dough is too wet (likely due to overhandling or using unsalted butter melted rather than softened), the sugar will dissolve into the dough instead of crinkling.

The dough was not chilled enough: The dough needs to chill for at least an hour to firm up before baking. Otherwise, it will spread too quickly and prevent the crinkles from forming.

You did not use enough sugar: To achieve a crinkly top, you need a generous amount of powdered sugar on top of the granulated sugar. Otherwise, it will simply absorb into the dough. The sugar layer should be very thick and completely white.

The oven wasn't the right temperature: If the oven is not preheated or baked at the proper temperature, it will change how the cookies spread and can cause the cookies to lose their crinkle.

Storing & Freezing

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. To keep them a little longer, wait until they cool to room temperature and store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about a week.

To freeze, wait until they have cooled completely to room temperature, then move them to a freezer-safe container or plastic bag and store them in the freezer for up to a month. Thaw them at room temperature.

To make these lemon crinkle cookies in advance, you can chill the unbaked dough in the fridge for up to three days or freeze it for up to three months. To bake, allow the dough to thaw at room temperature before coating it with sugar.

Flavor Variations

Different citrus fruit: Instead of making your crinkle cookies lemon, you can try this recipe with lime, orange, or even grapefruit zest!

With add-ins: To make lemon crinkle chocolate chip cookies, add white chocolate chips. Add crushed nuts, macadamia nuts, poppyseed, or shredded coconut to the batter to give your cookies extra texture and a nutty flavor.

With glaze: Besides topping your lemon cookies with powdered sugar, you can drizzle a sweet homemade lemon glaze on them, as I do in my lemon blueberry cookies recipe. You can also mix and match flavors with blueberry glaze, as I use in my blueberry donuts recipe, or raspberry glaze, as I use in my raspberry donuts recipe.

Without crinkles: Skip the powdered sugar crinkle altogether and make regular lemon cookies!

Other cookie flavors: You can also find recipes online with non-citrusy flavors. Chocolate or Nutella would work very well.

Ingredient Substitutions

To make your cookies gluten-free, swap out the all-purpose flour for gluten-free flour. Likewise, you can use vegan and dairy-free ingredients to make this recipe vegan-friendly.

Instead of lemon zest, you can use lemon extract as instructed in my lemon zest substitute guide. Don't use more lemon juice instead of the zest; it will make the dough too wet.

Remember that while ingredient substitutions are possible, doing so will require reformulating the other ingredient quantities to maintain the same flavor and texture. See my substitute guides to learn more about the common substitutes in baking and how to use them correctly.

Expert Tips For Making Lemon Crinkle Cookies

See my guide on how to soften butter quickly for tips on doing so without using a microwave. To quickly bring your egg to room temperature, place it in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes.
To make zesting and juicing your lemons a breeze, use a citrus zester and juicer.
In my lemon crinkle cookie experiment, I found that using oil instead of butter prevented the powdered sugar from becoming gooey due to the absence of water. However, you will need to use some butter, from a flavor point of view. So, I ended up using a mix of oil and butter to avoid sogginess while still adding richness.
Use a sifter for the dry ingredients to prevent any unwanted lumps in the batter.
The longer the dough chills in the fridge, the easier it is to work with (it is very sticky), and the less they will spread. One hour is the absolute minimum!

What Equipment To Use

A digital scale will give the most accurate and consistent measurements that measuring by volume alone cannot provide. Likewise, a digital oven thermometer is essential to ensure a precise temperature.

An electric hand mixer is best for creaming the butter and sugar and combining the wet ingredients. A rubber spatula is best for folding the wet and dry ingredients together to prevent overmixing.

A cooling rack is best for thoroughly cooling the cookies. Leaving them on the baking sheet can leave the cookies with soggy bottoms.

If you enjoyed this lemon crinkle cookies recipe, you will want to get your hands on my other fruity cookie recipes:

For even more delicious handheld treats to fill your dessert table, check out my roundup of the Top 45 Fun & Unique Cookie Recipes!

Have You Tried This Recipe?

Please leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on the recipe card and consider leaving a comment as well! I would love to hear how your dessert turned out. Your feedback also helps other readers!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies