Last week, I shared these Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies and Brown Butter Pecan Cookies, both cookies falling squarely into the rich and decadent category. Today, I’ve got some vibrant Lemon Crinkle Cookies packed with bright citrus flavor to bring some balance to your Holiday cookie tin.
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Crinkle cookies (typically chocolate) are characterized by their crispy, craggy exterior and soft, tender insides. They’re rolled in powdered sugar before baking, so as the cookies bake, the surface breaks into a landscape of valleys and snow-capped peaks.
These crinkle cookies are flavored with vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. Each bite is just bursting with bright lemon flavor. Continue reading for the recipe.
Lemon is the main flavoring here, so make sure you get some fresh lemons at the market before making these cookies. You’ll need 4 to 5 lemons to get 2 tablespoons of lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
This cookie dough is fairly wet, so I prefer to make it in a stand mixer. It also requires about two and half hours of chill time, so plan accordingly. Chilling the dough before baking ensures that the cookies won’t spread too much.
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Adapted from this recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup (96 grams) packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (from 4 to 5 lemons)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
- 4 drops yellow gel food coloring (optional)*
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
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Add flour, baking powder and salt to a medium bowl, whisking to combine.
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Add butter, sugar and brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed (about 2 minutes). Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Add the vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice and food coloring and beat until incorporated (it will look a bit lumpy at this point). Add the flour mixture and beat on low until just combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours and up to overnight).
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Put the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Using a tablespoon or ice cream scoop, scoop 1-ounce portions of cookie dough and roll into a ball using your hands. Toss each ball in the confectioners’ sugar, giving each of them a generous coating. Transfer the balls to a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch of space in between each ball (I fit 11 balls on 1 baking sheet). Transfer baking sheet to the fridge and let chill for 20 minutes. You can prepare another baking sheet of cookies while the first chills or put the rest of the cookie dough back in the fridge.
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Preheat an oven to 350°F and set an oven rack to the middle position. Bake until the cookies spread and the tops crack (14 to 16 minutes). Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
* I used yellow gel food coloring here. Start with 4 drops food coloring and add more until you get the desired shade of yellow.
pat says
It was food, so I gave the recipe three stars. But, this recipe didn’t work for me, at all. I followed it carefully, using lots of kitchen utensils in the process, and wound up hours later with very boring, soft and crumbly, cake-like cookies that don’t sing with lemon flavor. I actually don’t know what to do with them. A recent post for skillet cake was wonderful, which somehow makes me doubly disappointed with this recipe by comparison.
Brandon Matzek says
Hey Pat, so sorry this didn’t quite work out for you! The texture seems correct – they should be soft and tender. Did you use a full 2 tablespoons of lemon zest? I tested these a few times and that amount of zest provided a good amount of lemon flavor each time.
Well I’m glad you at least enjoyed the skillet cake recipe. That one has a lot of delicious bells and whistles. These cookies are more in the simple/classic category. Thanks so much for the feedback!!