Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Close-up of a lemon crinkle cookie covered in powdered sugar, with a cracked surface and a bright yellow color. Blurred lemon slices and more cookies are visible in the background.

4.67 from 3 votes

I love these Lemon Crinkle Cookies and have been making them for over a decade. They somehow manage to be light and fresh at the same time as being ooey gooey and rich. They are ultra soft and tender and perfectly under baked. The best part of all is that they are SUPER lemon-y. I do not mess around when it comes to lemon desserts! These hit all the right notes.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 88kcal

Author: The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter 1 stick
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest from about 2 lemons*
1/4 cup lemon juice from about 1 lemon*
1 large egg
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour spooned and leveled
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup powdered sugar sifted, for rolling
1 tablespoon lemon zest to garnish baked cookies; optional

Instructions

In a large microwaveable bowl, add 1/2 cup butter. Heat in the microwave until it's melted.
Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar and use a whisk to combine.
Use a microplane grater to zest 2 lemons* into the bowl. You need about 1 tablespoon of zest.
Juice one of the lemons and measure out 1/4 cup lemon juice. You might be able to get this amount from 1 large lemon, or you might need to bust into the second lemon to get all the way to 1/4 cup.
Add 1/4 cup lemon juice to the butter and sugar mixture and whisk well.
Add 1 large egg to the bowl. (By this time, the melted butter should have cooled slightly. If it is still pretty hot, make sure you wait a few minutes to add the egg, so it doesn't curdle from the heat.) Whisk until smooth.
Add 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour that you have spooned and leveled. This means you should spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level off the top. Don't stir in the flour yet!
On top of the flour in the bowl, add 1/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Use your teaspoon to stir the baking powder and salt into the flour, making sure to get out any lumps.
Use a rubber spatula to combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Once all the flour streaks are gone and the mixture is well combined, stop stirring. Stirring cookie dough too much makes the cookies tough!
Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 45 minutes, or up to 2 days.**
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 half baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
Sift 1 cup powdered sugar into a medium bowl.
Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to shape the dough into 1 and 1/2 inch cookie dough balls.
Roll the shaped cookies in the sifted powdered sugar.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet or a plate, and place them in the fridge or freezer for 5 to 10 minutes.
Roll each cookie dough ball in sifted powdered sugar a second time. This is the step that will make sure your powdered sugar does not dissolve into the cookie while baking!
Line up the double-rolled cookie dough balls on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silpat. I usually put 12 on a pan.
Bake the cookies at 350 for 9-11 minutes, until the cookies are set on the edge when you tap the edge with your finger, but there is still a tiny bit of shine on top. The shine on top should be no larger than a quarter.
If you bake so long that the cookies are completely matte on top, they will still be good, just not quite as soft. Underbaking these cookies is KEY to getting the fudgy texture we are after.
Immediately after you take them out of the oven (seriously, don’t wait) use two spoons to gently push each cookie together. I just use two regular spoons, the kind you eat cereal with. Shove the cookie together so that it comes up a bit in the middle. That’s how you’re going to get a soft, thick center. If you wait even just a minute after taking them out of the oven, the brown edges will start to crisp up, and you won’t be able to re-shape the cookies. Use your spoons all the way around the edges so that your cookie is a nice circle shape. Work quickly to shape all the cookies before they crisp on the edges.
Sprinkle the hot cookies with lemon zest, if you want a little extra color! Eat one IMMEDIATELY, seriously nothing better than a hot lemon cookie.
Store cookies covered on the counter for up to 3 days.
Freezing: To freeze the dough, scoop the dough into 1 and 1/2 inch balls as directed in the instructions, and place on a silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Fill the whole sheet, then place the pan in the freezer to flash freeze for about 30 minutes. After the flash freeze, transfer the dough balls to a ziplock freezer bag. The dough will be fine in the freezer for a good 3-4 months.
To bake, take the cookies out of the freezer and let them sit for about 20-30 minutes. Dunk 12 dough balls in sifted powdered sugar and chill the pan for 10 minutes. Dunk them again and bake according to the recipe card instructions. They may need a minute or two longer since the dough was frozen, so keep an eye on them and pull them out as soon as they are ready!

Notes

*I like to use the zest from 2 lemons for this recipe. The zest is a powerhouse of flavor! You only need 1/4 cup lemon juice, which you can usually get from 1 large lemon. So if you want to just use 1 lemon for less waste, that's totally fine, your cookies just won't be QUITE as tart as if you used a full tablespoon of zest.

**If you have chilled the dough and it has become quite hard, let it sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes before you try to scoop it.

FROSTING for sandwich cookies: Below the recipe card, there is an original photo of this cookie that I posted back in 2012. It shows 2 lemon cookies sandwiched with frosting. Here is the frosting recipe if you are interested in making the sandwich cookies! It's so good:

Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, very soft
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons lemon zest from 2 large lemons

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes until soft and creamy. Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, then 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest. Beat until smooth and creamy.

Gradually add the remaining powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until it is thick enough to be a good spreading consistency. Use as little powdered sugar as possible, if you want a very lemony frosting.

Spread between two lemon cookies and smash!

Nutrition