Lemon Crinkle Cookies
These lemon crinkle cookies are the perfect treat, beautiful looking and bursting with refreshing citrus flavour. I can’t get enough of them!
These cookies get their name from the effect the icing sugar creates as the cookies spread in the oven and their surface cracks apart, leaving a crinkled surface. If you’ve never had crinkle cookies before, this is going to be an exceptional experience. These beautiful yellow cookies have a crispy outer and a soft, chewy centre full of tangy, zesty flavours that melt in the mouth.
In order to get a really good crinkle effect, the cookie dough should be rested in the fridge for as little as 30 minutes, or if you are not in a hurry, leave it for as long as possible. This will also make rolling the cookie dough easier, as it is quite a soft dough.
If you like the sound of these lemon crinkle cookies, you’ll love my chocolate crinkle cookies.
If you decide to give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment below and rate it – it’s really helpful to me and other readers to know what you think! And don’t forget to take a picture and tag me @thegourmetlarder or hashtag it #thegourmetlarder on Instagram or Facebook. I love seeing what you’ve been baking! 🙂
RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS
- EASE: incredibly easy to make.
- TASTE & TEXTURE: eye-catching white crackled tops with soft and chewy centres that practically melt in your mouth.
- QUANTITY: 18-20 cookies.
- TIME: 47 minutes, including 30 minutes chilling.
© THE GOURMET LARDER. All images and content are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe, please do so using the share buttons provided. Please do not republish the recipe or its content in full instead, include a link to this post for the recipe. Further information can be found in my FAQ’s.
INGREDIENTS
For this yummy lemon crinkle cookie recipe, all you need are these ingredients:
- Butter and oil – I use both melted butter and a neutral oil in this recipe. The oil helps the cookies spread, and the butter adds flavour. Neutral oil is any oil that does not have a strong taste, such as canola, vegetable, sunflower, rice bran, grapeseed, etc.
- Caster or granulated white sugar – adds sweetness to the tart lemon flavour and structure.
- Lemon juice and zest – are the stars of our bake, so try to get organic, unwaxed lemons from your local market. Remember to zest it before squeezing.
- Medium egg – builds structure and richness to the recipe. Make sure it is at room temperature before use.
- Plain (all-purpose) flour – builds structure.
- Baking powder – is a chemical leavening that increases the volume of the ingredients, creating a nice light texture. Please make sure that it is not expired.
- Tumeric or yellow food coloring – This is optional, but I love to use just a little turmeric as it gives the cookie that extra bright yellow hue, and you can’t taste it!
- Salt – I highly recommend adding a good pinch of fine salt to your biscuit dough. It might seem a bit weird, but it has the incredible ability to enhance sweetness, suppress bitterness, and elevate the flavour of all the ingredients, making your biscuits taste even better. It’s pretty crazy, the sodium in the salt sends signals to move glucose into your tongue’s sweet taste receptors, making the sweetness really pop. So, don’t be afraid to sprinkle a little salt – it’ll take your biscuits to the next level! I recommend Maldon Sea salt flakes or Cornish sea salt, but any good quality sea salt is fine.
- Granulated and icing sugar – for rolling and getting that crinkled look.
WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?
This lemon crinkle cookie recipe is very versatile, and you can have fun trying different flavour twists!
Here are a few suggestions:
- Saffron and cardamom cookies: Add a few saffron threads to the oil and 1/2 tsp of ground cardamom to the flour. Remove the lemon juice, zest, and turmeric.
- Amaretto cookies: Add 1/2-1 tsp almond extract with the oil. Removing the lemon juice, zest, and turmeric.
- Other citrus flavours: Replace the lemon juice and zest with any type of citrus fruit you like, such as limes, oranges, or grapefruits.
- Poppy seeds – If you are a fan of poppy seeds, mix a little into the cookie dough for a classic combo.
- Sesame seeds – I have tried white and black sesame seeds in my cookies, and they make a really nice cookie with a slightly nutty taste.
If you experiment, please leave a comment at the bottom of the post – it’s really helpful to me and other readers to know how you got on. I regularly update these posts and the feedback I receive helps to make the recipes even more useful and interesting.
NUTRITION
Serving: one lemon crinkle cookie
I have provided some nutrition information as a guide. However, the data can vary for a recipe based on many factors such as precision of measurements, ingredients, or the source of nutrition data.
I make every effort to keep the information as accurate as possible but make no warranties regarding its accuracy.
I encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients you use in your recipe.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 124.7 kcal (6%) |
| Total Fat | 3.4 g (5%) |
| Carbs | 22.4 g (9%) |
| Sugars | 13.3 g (15%) |
| Protein | 1.5 g (3%) |
STORAGE AND FREEZING
These lemon crinkle cookies are best served on the day of baking, warm and crispy from the oven. Store them in an airtight container for up to a week, they will soften as time goes by.
Freezing the baked cookies – cool the biscuits completely after baking and place them in a freezer bag or an airtight container. They will last up to 1 month. When you are ready to serve, allow the cookies to reach room temperature before serving.
Freezing the cookie dough – make the cookie dough balls and place them on a baking tray or a plate that fits in your freezer (lined with baking paper). Once they have frozen solid, approximately 30 minutes, transfer them to a freezer-safe, airtight container or bag. They will last up to 3 months in the freezer. Don’t roll the dough in the powdered sugar before freezing! Once you’re ready to bake them, remove the cookie dough balls from the freezer, roll in sugar and icing sugar as per the recipe, and then bake straight from frozen, adding an additional 1-2 minutes to the instructions above. Watch them carefully as you don’t want to overbake them as they will dry out.
TOOLS YOU’LL NEED
Here is some kitchen equipment that I use and recommend for this recipe.
I love using these baking mats. They stop everything from sticking to the baking tray and are really easy to clean.
These three different sized scoops are perfect for ice cream, melons and cookies.
Digital kitchen scales: I highly recommend using metric measurements rather than cup measurements. If you have ever ended up with dry, dense, or crumbly baked goods, it might be because of inaccurate volume measurements, not all measuring cups are made equally. All my recipes are carefully developed so that you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success, using metric measurements. It is also a lot easier, less messy and you will get far better, consistent results. 🙂
If you are interested in understanding conversions, here you will find the best conversion chart.
Please check out my Shop for a curated collection of some of my favourite baking equipment. The Gourmet Larder is an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
RECIPE TIPS
Don’t over-mix the batter – over-mixing the cookie dough once the flour is added can result in dense and tough cookies.
The dough should be a little sticky – don’t try to add more flour to eliminate the stickiness, as this will cause the cookies to be tough and dry.
Resting and chilling the cookie dough – this is essential for these cookies to get that crinkle look. Resting the dough gives better results as it allows the dry ingredients to absorb the moisture from the lemon juice and egg, which makes the dough soft and sticky. The resting time also creates more flavour in the dough, and because the fats are also chilled, it prevents the cookies from spreading out too quickly during baking. This means the edges won’t be ultra thin but more rounded after baking.
Don’t over-bake – the cookies will look slightly underbaked but will set more on the baking tray. If they are left in the oven too long, the centres start to dry out.
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
INGREDIENTS LIST
- 30 g butter
- 30 g neutral-tasting oil (canola, vegetable, sunflower etc…)
- 180 g caster sugar
- 10 g lemon zest (from 2 lemons depending on size)
- 30 g lemon juice
- 1 medium egg (50g approximetly )
- 210 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp ground turmeric (optional)
For rolling
- 35 g granulated sugar
- 35 g icing sugar (US powdered sugar)
Preparation
- Cookie dough: Melt the butter and then add it to a large bowl with the oil, sugar, egg, lemon zest and juice. Mix for 1-2 miuntes until the mixture thickens slightly.
- Add the sieved flour, baking powder, salt and turmeric, then stir until combined, but do not over mix it.
- Resting the dough: Chill the dough for 30 minutes or longer, even overnight if possible. (see notes)
- Preheat the oven 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F / Gas 4
- Line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats and set them aside.
- Shaping: Pour 35g of granulated sugar into one bowl and 35g of icing sugar into another bowl. Scoop the dough into 18-20 balls, I use a 35mm/1 tbsp cookie scoop. Roll each cookie ball lightly in granulated sugar, then generously in the icing sugar. (Rolling the cookie in granulated sugar helps to prevent the icing sugar from being absorbed into the dough, giving us that lovely crinkle effect.)
- Place the coated cookie balls equally on the prepared baking trays. I use a silicone mat (30 x 40cm) on my baking tray and this allows me to bake a maximum of 12 cookies at a time. I also always bake the trays separately to avoid creating steam during the baking.
- Baking: Bake for 11-12 minutes and the edges have set. (See notes)
- Allow the cookies to cool for 8-10 minutes on the baking tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Notes & Tips
www.thegourmetlarder.com
PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW IT TURNED OUT FOR YOU!
If you’ve tried making these Lemon Crinkle Cookies or any other recipe from my website, I would love to hear about your experience. Please share your thoughts in the comments below. I always enjoy hearing from you. And if you don’t mind, please consider leaving a star rating as well!
Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter, so that you don’t miss out on more delicious recipes and follow me on social media.
HUNGRY FOR MORE? FOLLOW ME!
PIN THIS RECIPE ON PINTEREST TO SAVE AND SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS!
If you liked this lemon crinkle cookies recipe,
take a look at my inspirational recipe collection for more ideas.
Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter, so that you don’t miss out on more delicious recipes and follow me on social media.
HAPPY BAKING!
