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!
One reader, Marcia, commented: “Goodbye, favorite bakery. Hello, Sally’s Very Lemon Crinkle Cookies! These are quite possibly the best cookies I have ever baked. Thank you so very much for sharing your recipe. I think I might try this with orange or lime, too. ★★★★★“
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, Nutella crinkle cookies, or even chocolate raspberry crinkles 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. If you’re interested in learning more about this crucial step, here is my tutorial on how to cream butter and 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 and lemon shortbread cookies next. These lemon blueberry cookies are also favorites!
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.
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
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) 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 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) 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.
- 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I’ve just finished baking them and wow! When I eat them I feel as if I was tasting literal clouds ❤️ Absolutely perfect.
Tastes like Spring! Love this recipe. Did double the zest and they were delicious! Thank you!
They are definitely yummy, however, I did make alterations. I added yellow food coloring to make them pop against the sugar crinkle, also while mixing, it just didn’t smell lemony enough for me so I added some lemon extract as well. They came out very pretty and tasty. They aren’t very sweet, and still not lemony enough for my liking so I will add more extract next time or more zest. This recipe will stay in my book!
I usually dislike anything lemon flavoured but after baking these for a friend I can honestly say it was one of the best cookies I’ve ever had! Thank you for this recipe
Hi Sally, I made these cookies last summer and they came out great. I tried making them again except this time the cookies had spread and hadn’t event cooked through. The only thing I did different this time is I made the cookie dough, rolled them and froze them for two days. I took them out of the freezer, rolled them in granulated sugar followed by powdered sugar and popped them back into the refrigerator for a bit before baking to avoid the spreading. I can’t figure out what could have caused this. I would really appreciate your help! Thank you!
Hi Naz, I’m so glad you loved the cookies the first time and I know how frustrating it is when a repeat batch doesn’t turn out the same. Freezing the dough in pre-rolled balls can sometimes affect how they bake, especially if they don’t thaw evenly. Even with the chill time before baking, it’s possible the centers were still too cold while the outside started baking and spreading quickly. Next time, I recommend letting the dough balls sit at room temperature for about 30 mins before rolling in sugar and baking.
BEST Lemon cookies ever! I made these for a cookie contest, and I won 2nd place (which is awesome considering there were 20 different types of cookies!). Definitely a keeper!
I LOVE THESE COOKIES!!
These are such a good summer treat! Just one question, could I add some freeze dried strawberry powder and make it strawberry flavor? how would I do that?
Hi Eddie, we haven’t tested anything, but you could start by replacing some of the flour with freeze dried strawberry powder. It will likely take some trial and error, but let us know if you do any experimenting!
What about using the chocolate crinkle recipe and swapping some of the cocoa powder with freeze dried powder?
When it says to roll the dough balls in icing sugar multiple times, do it MULTIPLE TIMES! Also, rolling in granulated sugar first did seem to help. These cookies were super tasty with a cakey texture and they were a big hit at the potluck I brought them to. I do think they were a little light on the lemon flavour for my tastes, though
i know this is kind of defeating the purpose of the crinkle effect on the cookies, but do you think it would be okay if i just rolled the cookie in granulated sugar for a little crunch and sparkle? im making these for an event and it will be my first time making them and i don’t want to have any issues with the powdered sugar melting and what not.
Absolutely! They’ll still be beautiful, I’m sure of it.
Hi Sally, I made your lemon crinkle cookies. Very tasty but I’m having problems with the icing sugar melting and very little cracks
Hi Vincenza, A little melting of the sugar is expected, so we recommend rolling them in granulated sugar first, then roll 2-3x in confectioners’ sugar. You’ll want them heavily coated.
This recipe was great! Sally’s baking addiction is a go-to in my family. I am 14 years old and was able to do this, supper easy and simple! the one thing that went wrong was the sugar. I heavily coated it in confectioners sugar, but when I baked them, the sugar melted. It made a nice coating, but it was clear. How do you not melt the sugar?
Thanks!
Hi Kaia, did you roll the balls in the granulated sugar first? See step 6!
yes I did. Any other tips?
Sometimes baking crinkle cookies on a humid day can make the powdered sugar disappear. Was it a particularly humid or rainy day?
These cookies were delicious. I baked them in 4 batches and noticed only the first batch worked for the crinkle effect. I am wondering if it was because the batter had warmed up sitting at room temperature before going in the oven? Any tips for this ?
Also if we would like a little more lemon flavor, how much lemon zest should we add ? Thank you for all your wonderful recipes !
Hi Patricia! We would chill dough that is waiting to bake next time. You can add more lemon zest to taste. Glad you enjoyed these!
Delicious! My second batch spread a little too much. The next time I will refrigerate half of the batter while I roll thirst batches.
YUM! Perfect for spring, zesty and sweet. LOVE them.
Delicious! These have become a most-requested cookie!
I turned these into orange cookies using Seville (sour) oranges (I have a tree in my yard and am always looking for recipes to use them!). I used the same amounts for everything, just orange vs lemon. These turned out great! Texture wise, they do seem fragile/light so they fall apart a bit when you’re eating them if not careful. But they taste wonderful! I also didn’t see the powdered sugar much, but they did crack on the top like they should. Honestly the appearance didn’t matter to me much so it wasn’t a big deal.
any ideas if this would work with coconut oil?
Hi Sherry, butter is best here. You could try coconut oil (you’ll need a fat that is solid at room temperature so that it can be creamed with the sugar), but the intended outcome will be different.
What lovely cookies! Had to stop myself from eating way too many. Thanks for that recipe, along with all the others I have tried.
Regards,
Susan
Canada
Your picture shows the cookies with a vibrant yellow color to them. Mine were very bland looking.
Did you add anything for color?
Hi Jenn, We did not use any food coloring. Perhaps your lemons were not quite as yellow/bright (they get a lot of their color from the lemon juice and zest!). However, you can certainly add a drop or two of yellow gel food coloring if you wish.
Hi Sally. These cookies were AMAZING! Both my husband and I loved then. I was wondering if I could make this recipe into a 9×13 cake and do a layer of powdered sugar on the top?
Hi Tovie, we haven’t tested this dough as cookie dough bars, but that should work. We’re unsure of the exact bake time. Or, if you’re looking for a traditional cake texture, here is our lemon cake recipe!
I ate these today after another baker made them. Absolutely incredible! I will be baking these myself!
This is an absolute masterpiece. I made two batches of these and they both turned out amazing. Chewy, lemony, but not too sour. I could eat 100 of these if I wanted to. A couple in the second batch melted for some reason but I think it was because they were in a different location in my oven since every other cookie in the two batches turned out amazing. This is my new favorite cookie recipe. Definitely a keeper. I highly recommend this recipe.
I just baked these today and oh my goodness the texture is amazing! I made the dough yesterday and left it in the fridge overnight. Today, I scooped them into balls, rolled them in the sugars (pressed on quite a bit of confectioner’s sugar), and then placed them back in the fridge for another 10 minutes before baking. They baked beautifully and are the perfect consistency- not flat and not too puffy with crinkly tops. When I made the dough, I took the advice of another person and whisked my lemon zest with the sugar before creaming with the butter. The cookies have a lovely lemon taste that is not super powerful, so if you want more, then I suggest making a lemon glaze to drizzle on the top. I will definitely be making these again and again:)
A bit disappointing. The flavour is lovely, but the cookies come out looking more splotchy than crackly, and they have very little structural integrity. Troubleshooting measures like chilling the rolled dough balls again before baking, adjusting baking time etc. didn’t help. We’ll still eat them, but it’s a lot of effort for an imperfect result.
These came out great and I even got the crinkle effect despite my fan-forced-only-mode oven! One of my friends who is a self-described lemon-fiend asked for the recipe. 🙂
I refrigerated the dough over night and in the morning I shaped them into balls and stuck them back in the fridge for about an hour or two and they came out perfect! Look just like the photo!
AMAZING cookie one of the best I’ve made and saved from this site (thank you – Sally). I make cookies to leave for people that come into the office and these cookies got recognition today — This is the text I received today: Karen, those cookies you have here are wicked good! Lol. Thank you ! Helpful when I’m stuck in the office all day.
Rolling in sugar before icing sugar doesn’t help. I suggest ignore the icing sugar until after baking then dust them lightly.
Otherwise very good!
Rolling in sugar before icing sugar doesn’t help. I suggest ignore the icing sugar until after baking then dust them lightly.
It seems this blog has moved past providing good recipes and into the pumping out content phase. I’m a professional baker and followed the recipe to the letter, but the outcome was not very lemony and the texture was awful. They were simultaneously rubbery and cakey.
Hi Professional Baker, thank you so much for the feedback. I’m sorry you had trouble with these cookies. Did you change anything in the ingredients? I’m dedicated to testing my recipes and have an entire team who helps. I take pride in the kitchen work we do, so I’m even more sorry that it seems like I am pumping out recipes and content. Perhaps it’s being published quicker now that I have photo stylists to help me with my photography, and 1 more team member to help test recipes. Always appreciate feedback, so thank you for taking the time to let me know.