These lemon crinkle cookies from scratch are perfect for beautiful sunny days.

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Full Recipe Ingredients/Instructions are available in the
recipe card at the bottom of the post.
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blog post.
I have a love love relationship with lemon flavored everything. I love lemonade, I love lemon meringue pie, and I love lemon cookies. I decided that I had to make lemon crinkle cookies from scratch for the Spring.
My initial search for a lemon crinkle cookie recipe led to many recipes that used cake mix as a main ingredient. I have no problem with using cake mix in baking but that’s not something I usually have on hand. On the other hand, I always have butter, flour, sugar, and lemons. Food coloring usually isn’t a common ingredient found in my kitchen but lately that has changed. My macaron baking addiction has led me to buy lots of food coloring. Also, Easter is near and eggs must be dyed.
I think crinkle cookies are so darn cute. I had to do a lot of testing and research to understand how to get these cookies just the way I wanted, soft, crinkly, and lemony. This recipe does just that.

So what’s the secret to getting that crinkle powders sugar look on top? A few things. Make sure your dough is a room temperature when it is rolled. Most cookie dough is refrigerated for a bit before baking which causes the cookies not to spread. Crinkle cookies should spread, hence a room temperature dough works best.
Roll your cookies in granulated sugar first before you roll it into the powdered sugar. The granulated sugar will get absorbed into the cookie while baking, allowing your powdered sugar to remain and not disappear in the baking process. A good crinkle cookie has plenty of nice baked powdered sugar on top.
I hope you enjoy this lemon crinkle cookie recipe as much as we do.
Looking for more Cookie Recipes? Try these Out:
Cookie Recipes -- CLONED
Lemon Crinkle Cookies From Scratch
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter 8 tablespoons, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1.5 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- yellow food coloring optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix well.
- Add flour mixture into butter mixture and mix until dough is just combined.
- Pick 1/2 tablespoons of the the dough and roll into ball. Place granulated sugar and powdered sugar in separate shallow plate. Roll cookie dough in granulated sugar, then in powdered sugar. Then place balls on baking sheets.
- Bake in preheated oven for for 14-16 minutes. Remove from oven. Finish cooling on cooling rack.
Suggested Tools
Nutrition
Adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.
Pin Lemon Crinkle Cookies From Scratch

JC
Saturday 8th of May 2021
They didnt krinkle like the picture? What did i do wrong?
Suzanne
Saturday 11th of January 2020
Thank you for sharing! This looks delicious!
Kathy
Wednesday 21st of November 2018
This looks delicious… I do feel that there is one instruction missing in terms of adding the flour into the creamed mixture.
Tanya
Wednesday 21st of November 2018
Hi Kathy, You are absolutley right. Thanks for letting me know, I've updated that instruction.
Christina
Sunday 12th of August 2018
I made these yesterday for a party and they were a hit! They came out light & soft, they were perfect. Thanks for the recipe!
Tanya
Thursday 16th of August 2018
Awesome! Thanks so much for letting me know. So glad you liked them :)
Laura
Sunday 27th of May 2018
Made these today, they are delicious, thanks for the recipe! I shared them on a cooking facebook group with a link to your blog :)
Tanya
Wednesday 30th of May 2018
Thank you so much for commenting and sharing Laura :)