If you’re looking for another lemon dessert that’s not cookies you’ll have to make this dangerously delicious moist lemon pound cake!
These cookies really live up to everything you want in a lemon cookie.
They are:
Soft and Chewy
Full of lemon-y flavor in each bite
Perfectly sweet
Ultra thick and cakey
Easy to make
INCREDIBLY delicious
One of my tricks to get the powdered sugar to “stick” to these crinkle cookies is to roll them in granulated sugar first, then in the powdered sugar.
The granulated sugar creates something magical; a lightly crisp edge while the inside stays nice and warm, chewy and soft. It’s truly a dreamy treat!
One of my favorite parts of these lemon crinkle cookies is that there is no need to chill the dough! I purposefully create my cookie recipes with no chill time because I’m an impatient kind of girl, haha!
Here’s the low down:
Cake Flour: (spooned and leveled): If you know me and my cookies, you know I love adding cake flour with all-purpose flour to make the perfect cookie!
Corn Starch: key ingredient to making thick, big cookies.
Fresh Lemon Juice: if you have bottled it’s OK, but try to use fresh when you can for ultimate flavor.
Lemon Zest
Lemon Extract (for extra lemon flavor): some people have made without and just added a little more zest and have had great results.
The process is very similar to most of my cookie recipes, like the funfetti and chocolate crinkle cookies. So if you’ve nailed that recipe down you’ll be a pro at this one!
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl: All-Purpose flour, cake flour, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Then add in the white sugar and let the butter and sugar cream together until light and fluffy.
Then add in the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla extract, lemon extract, lemon juice, lemon zest and food coloring.
Gradually add in the dry ingredients. Mix well.
Shape dough into 8 large cookie dough balls (~5 oz. each), roll in sugars and bake for 11-13 minutes.
Let cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Tips for making the best lemon crinkle cookies:
If your cookies are turning out flat, try adding a little extra flour.
Be sure you preheat the oven to 400°F first. Get the oven nice and hot while you prep the cookies.
Use cold butter, not room temperature.
Ungreased cookie sheets are key. If you bake your cookies on a greased cookie sheet they can spread like pancakes!
Don’t flatten the cookies prior to baking, keep them in a ball.
Be sure to not over bake the cookies. Slightly under baked is the way to go, and they will be dry if you over bake.
Cool completely before freezing.
Let the cookies rest: If your cookies are turning out too gooey, let them rest longer. I recommend at least 15 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. They are even better if you let them sit and enjoy the next day. Your cookies aren’t ruined, just let them rest!
Whisk together the All-purpose flour, cake flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and secure the paddle attachement. Turn the mixer on the lowest setting. Let the mixer cream the butter for ~30 seconds, followed by the white sugar until light and fluffy. 2-4 minutes.
Then add in the eggs, egg yolks, extracts, lemon juice, lemon zest and food coloring. Blend until mixed. If any of the butter gets stuck on the paddle attachment use a rubber spatula to knock it off.
Gradually add in the flour mixture. Mix until combined. Turn machine off.
Measure out ~8, 5 oz. cookies (you can of course make smaller if you want!). In a bowl or shallow dish, roll the dough balls in granulated sugar first, and then in powdered sugar next. Place 6 cookies on 1 cookie sheet and 2 on another.
Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
You can make these cookies smaller in size. I’ve made them 3 ounces and bake them for 12 minutes.
Let the cookies rest: If your cookies are turning out too gooey, let them rest longer. I recommend at least 15 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. They are even better if you let them sit and enjoy the next day. Your cookies aren’t ruined, just let them rest!
Welcome to my tiny “korner” on the Internet! I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who loves cookies as much as kale. (OK, maybe I like cookies a little bit more but shh, don’t tell anyone). I am so glad you’re here! Follow along for hassle free, realistic and approachable recipes.
I made a smaller cookie. Followed the recipe. Came out perfect. Delicious. Will be making these again for family and lemon loving friends. Going to try the chocolate crinkle recipe next.
Hi Karen! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe, thank you so much for visiting my site and making! Hoping you equally love the chocolate crinkle!! 🙂 xo, Tawnie
Heather
2 years ago
These are absolutely delicious! Can they be made ahead and frozen?
Thank you so much Heather! The cookies can be baked and frozen, yes just be sure to cool completely. The cookie dough can also be made in advance, frozen and baked at another time. Make them into the cookie dough balls, date the bag (don’t freeze for more than 3 months), and when ready to bake, bake them for a few minutes longer since dough is frozen. I hope this helps 🙂 Enjoy!
Paula
2 years ago
I just made this recipe today. My question: after baking, the cookies rose pretty high, but didn’t settle down. My snickerdoodle recipe says to tap the cookie after baking, but this recipe does not, so I didn’t. The taste is very good, just wondering if they are supposed to be tall too.
Hi Paula! Thank you so much for visiting my site and making these cookies! Are you saying my snickerdoodle recipes says to tap the cookies? My cookie recipes are notorious for being larger/thicker cookies. This is mainly due to the cornstarch. You can either flatten the cookies a bit prior to baking rather than leaving in a round ball, you could try the tap method or omit cornstarch. But I will say I have not tested without cornstarch so I am not sure how big of a different it will make. 🙂 I hope this helps! — Tawnie
Thank you for your reply. I make a different snickerdoodle recipe that says to tap the tops after baking. They then become a bit “flatter”, but not flat, and stay thick. My family liked the taste of your lemon cookie recipe (and I do prefer thicker cookies), but for some reason, they rose and remained pretty thick, giving them a scone like appearance. Humm…I didn’t flatten them at all before baking. The dough was pretty sticky, but the overall flavor is nice, and the combo of cake and ap flour gives them a nice texture.
You can try pressing the cookies down so they are a little flatter and not a ball shape prior to baking. Thank you!! 🙂
Laura
2 years ago
Haven’t tried the recipe yet. Just wanted to let you know that the US – metric toggle doesn’t quite work. Part of the recipe doesn’t get “translated” into metric.
Hi Laura! Thank you for visiting my site 🙂 I don’t typically convert the baking power/salt and smaller items that are teaspoons but everything else should be converting. Is there a measurement I’m missing that I can help you out with? Sorry about that! Thank you – Tawnie
Marla A Celeri
2 years ago
Amazing!! I used lemon extract and a splash on lemon celo. So good ! Thank you!
I made a smaller cookie. Followed the recipe. Came out perfect. Delicious. Will be making these again for family and lemon loving friends. Going to try the chocolate crinkle recipe next.
Hi Karen! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe, thank you so much for visiting my site and making! Hoping you equally love the chocolate crinkle!! 🙂 xo, Tawnie
These are absolutely delicious! Can they be made ahead and frozen?
Thank you so much Heather! The cookies can be baked and frozen, yes just be sure to cool completely. The cookie dough can also be made in advance, frozen and baked at another time. Make them into the cookie dough balls, date the bag (don’t freeze for more than 3 months), and when ready to bake, bake them for a few minutes longer since dough is frozen. I hope this helps 🙂 Enjoy!
I just made this recipe today. My question: after baking, the cookies rose pretty high, but didn’t settle down. My snickerdoodle recipe says to tap the cookie after baking, but this recipe does not, so I didn’t. The taste is very good, just wondering if they are supposed to be tall too.
Hi Paula! Thank you so much for visiting my site and making these cookies! Are you saying my snickerdoodle recipes says to tap the cookies? My cookie recipes are notorious for being larger/thicker cookies. This is mainly due to the cornstarch. You can either flatten the cookies a bit prior to baking rather than leaving in a round ball, you could try the tap method or omit cornstarch. But I will say I have not tested without cornstarch so I am not sure how big of a different it will make. 🙂 I hope this helps! — Tawnie
Thank you for your reply. I make a different snickerdoodle recipe that says to tap the tops after baking. They then become a bit “flatter”, but not flat, and stay thick. My family liked the taste of your lemon cookie recipe (and I do prefer thicker cookies), but for some reason, they rose and remained pretty thick, giving them a scone like appearance. Humm…I didn’t flatten them at all before baking. The dough was pretty sticky, but the overall flavor is nice, and the combo of cake and ap flour gives them a nice texture.
You can try pressing the cookies down so they are a little flatter and not a ball shape prior to baking. Thank you!! 🙂
Haven’t tried the recipe yet. Just wanted to let you know that the US – metric toggle doesn’t quite work. Part of the recipe doesn’t get “translated” into metric.
Hi Laura! Thank you for visiting my site 🙂 I don’t typically convert the baking power/salt and smaller items that are teaspoons but everything else should be converting. Is there a measurement I’m missing that I can help you out with? Sorry about that! Thank you – Tawnie
Amazing!! I used lemon extract and a splash on lemon celo. So good ! Thank you!
Hi Marla! Thank you SO much! I love the limoncello idea that’s GENIUS! xo, Tawnie
These lemon cookies look so lovely! I grow lemons at home so this recipe is perfect for me. Gonna try it this weekend!
Love lemon cookies! These are so easy to make and have plenty of lemon flavor!
I made these today with my kids! We LOVE anything lemon flavored. These cookies were delish!
Lemon lover here. These cookies sound incredible!! Can’t wait to make them.
I adore lemon desserts, especially in the summer, and these lemon cookies are the perfect treat when I’m looking for something sweet.