This recipe is part of my annual holiday cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. Every year since 2013, I work on a handful of new cookie recipes and publish the 10 best ones for readers to enjoy. It’s the biggest, tastiest event of the year on my website! 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!
What You Need & Why (Ingredients)
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. 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.
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. 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.
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 next. 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.
