I currently have a mound of laundry on my bed waiting to be folded. Putting it all on my bed is my strategy for getting it done, because then I have to do it before I can get in bed when the time comes. Unfortunately this strategy usually fails because I have no problem shoving my clean laundry off the bed to get into it when all is said and done. But the real reason I am stalling to do it is for fear of injury. That’s right. Most people who injure themselves have a pretty good reason. Oh, you hurt your knee snowboarding? That’s cool. Oh, you threw out your back helping your friend move? That was sure nice of you. Me? Oh, I injured my shoulder folding my underwear. (Awkward silence.)
Seriously, I have no idea how this happened. Folding underwear! It’s not that strenuous! But somehow I twisted my shoulder weird and ending up with my face in the laundry, moaning in pain. What is it with me? Sometimes I think I should live in a plastic bubble. But then I would probably manage to get some bubble-related injury.
These cookies have been all over the internet for a good reason. They are amazing. I had leftover frosting from these lemon cupcakes and decided to do a mashup. Best idea ever. It is lemony heaven.
Here they are ready to go in the oven.
And voila! Easy peasy!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies with Lemon Frosting

Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 whole egg
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, more! more!
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, for rolling
For the frosting:
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- zest from one large lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease light colored* baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. (Or just use parchment paper or silpats.)
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again.
- Stir in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and flour slowly until just combined.
- Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly.
- Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte (not melty or shiny).
- Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
For the frosting:
- Beat the butter until fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time.
- Add lemon juice and zest. Add more powdered sugar until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.
- Spread on top of cookies or on the bottom and sandwich them, once they are cool.
Notes
Nutrition
You will like these desserts too!
Lemon Cupcakes << this is where I got the frosting recipe. SO good!
The Best Lemon Curd << this would be SO amazing on these cookies!
Raspberry Lemon Glazed Muffins:
I made these and they turned out as flat as pancakes! I wish you would have shared how many they made in your recipe, a lot of work and ingredients for only 12 sandwiches..
I relate to the laundry thing, in fact I have a pile on two chairs and the rest at the bottom of my bed covered up with a blanket. Thanks for the laugh!!! The recipe looks great too. I’ll make them for watching American Idol this Sunday!!!
Covering up with a blanket. Pro tip, going to use that later ;) Enjoy the cookies Lyle!
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Hi Hortence! It will make about 24 cookies, or 12 cookie sandwiches. Enjoy!
Can you freeze the cookie dough?
Hi Rachel! Yes you can!
These cookies are amazingly good!
Thanks Paula!!
As a kindred spirit when doing laundry (do the same things) o must make your cookies. Off to get lemons!
Haha laundry is just hard, right?? I haven’t changed. How were the cookies Pam? I’m so glad to hear you’re trying them out!
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Hey Barbara! This recipe makes 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on how big you shape them. That’s individual cookies, not cookie sandwiches.
Thank you! Now I know to double the batch…making the sandwiches today!
Thanks.
You’re welcome Barbara! Hope you enjoy!
OMG! So making these! Is it bad that I’m bookmarking EVERY recipe? Does that defeat the purpose of bookmarks?
No, it’s not bad! Although have you heard of Pinterest? That might help you out :)
These cookies are truly amazing! My friends are still raving about them and I made them a month ago! I made only 1/2 the recipe for the frosting and I STILL had tons left over, so the next batch will be twice as simple to make! Can’t wait!!
I’m so glad you liked them Kerry! Good thing that frosting is freezable right? :) It’s a great excuse to make them all the time!
These look fabulous!! I will be trying for sure
Thanks! Let me know how you like them!!
These look delicious !!!!!!
Thanks Jenn! Don’t take my word for it though :)
I love these cookies, especially with the yummy frosting. I have a question though. My cookies are not flattening out. They remain nice, little, rounded cookies. The taste and texture are perfect. I have been baking for over forty years, so I think my technique is okay but wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this.
This has been an issue for a lot of people. It’s never happened to me so I can’t give a tried-and-true answer; however, I’ve heard in reviews that this is probably a result of too much flour. So you could try scooping the flour into the measuring cups to make sure you aren’t getting too much. If you think that would still be too much, try decreasing the flour a tablespoon at a time. Hopefully this helps!! (Check some of the reviews over at Lauren’s Latest, where this recipe came from; some other people talk about this issue.)
Well, I spooned the flour into the measuring cups and still ended up with rounded cookies. I have so much of this dough now after three batches which all came out looking nothing like the photos. Weird.
I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you! Good thing the dough is tasty, right? :)
My sister’s chocolate chip cookies always stayed ball shaped, while mine flattened like pancakes! I’d do anything to get mine to stay like that!
Hey Lisa! Chocolate chip cookies sure are finicky! Try these recipes, they are two of my favorites:
https://thefoodcharlatan.com/2016/11/07/brown-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe/
https://thefoodcharlatan.com/2012/08/17/my-favorite-chocolate-chip-cookies/
hahaha! if it’s any comfort, i threw my back out unloading the dishwasher once! i hope these incredible looking cookies brought some joy back into your life :)
These look delicious. So very, very delicious.