Chewy Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Buttery Lemon Crinkle Sugar Cookies. Delightful with tea or a cold glass of milk as a snack, dessert or even breakfast! Fresh lemony taste. Crunchy sugar coating. Scoop up the dough and freeze so you’ll always be prepared when you need a little something sweet.

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Y’all know I’m a chocolate fiend

So when I was planning the dessert menu for our café I came up with recipes like chocolate almond scones. Chocolate espresso cake. Banana chocolate chip cookies. Because after all who doesn’t love chocolate for dessert?

Well, it turns out that a LOT of folks don’t! While we sold our fair share of fudgey brownies, our big seller was lemon sugar cookies. Every time I made them they sold out, and customers ordered more by the dozen.

For the café I made them giant size (well maybe a small giant) or about 4″ across. But I also made them as miniature cookies for bridal showers and Christmas parties. The dough is so adaptable and gives that nice crinkly look no matter what size you make them. Here’s a chart to help you make cookies the right size for your event.

 

What’s so special about these cookies?

• They’re chewy
• They’re crunchy
• They’re buttery

And they’re easy to make!

chewy lemon crinkle sugar cookies ingredients

You’ll need:

Flour. All purpose for a tender crumb.

Baking Powder, Baking Soda + Salt. For lift and flavor.

Butter. The recipe was developed with unsalted butter, so if you use the salted kind reduce the salt amount just a tad.

Sugar. Granulated in the cookies and a combination of granulated and coarse sugar for rolling.

Egg. One large local egg, s’il vous plaît!

Lemons. Go for bright yellow firm lemons as they are showier and easier to zest.

Vanilla. Real OR imitation. I use real, but lots of folks are switching to imitation in baked goods as they say it yields a stronger vanilla flavor.

Coarse Sugar. Mixed with granulated sugar for the rolling bit. If you don’t have it it’s okay, but I do recommend ordering some of this fabulously crunchy and shiny sugar to keep in your pantry! It’s a key to bakery-style cookies, muffins, scones, etc.

 

You’ll also need:

Electric Mixer.

Cookie Sheet.

Parchment Paper or Baking Spray.

Flexible Spatula.

Dough Scoop. Large Scoop or Small Scoop

Zester.

how to make chewy lemon crinkle sugar cookies

• Zest the lemons then squeeze for the juice. You need 2 tablespoons and all the zest for this recipe.
• Preheat oven to 350°
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine granulated AND coarse sugars in a small bowl and set aside.
• Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrap the sides with spatula.
• Add lemon zest, egg, vanilla extract and lemon juice and mix until combined.
  
• Gradually blend in the dry ingredients, scrapping the sides as needed.
• Scoop up the dough to make cookie balls, and roll in sugar.

• Place on prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 5″ between each cookie.

• Bake for 20-25 minutes til slightly firm to the touch and beginning to brown around the edges.
• For smaller tablespoon size cookies space 3″ apart and bake for 12-14 minutes.

 

recipe notes

-If you don’t want to bake the Chewy Lemon Crinkle Cookies all at once you can freeze the dough balls. Make the recipe as written, scoop up the dough but DON’T roll it in sugar. Snuggle the balls in a parchment lined small baking pan (say a 9″ round one) and stick in the freezer. When the balls are frozen solid, remove them to a freezer storage bag. When you’re ready to bake, just remove however many cookies you want to eat and let them defrost. Roll in sugar and bake as directed in the recipe.

–Don’t crowd your cookie balls! I’ll let this photo speak for me : ) Still taste amazing, just not picture perfect. But what is, really?

-For a simpler version of Lemon Crinkle Sugar Cookies that saves loads of time make a few substitutions:

• use bottled lemon juice instead of fresh
• use Lemon Oil instead of lemon zest

-For the most intense lemon flavor think ahead! Add the lemon zest (or lemon oil) to the sugar, stir it around and let it sit for an hour or so before assembling cookies. It will work its delightful way into the sugar for stronger lemon flavor. You can also substitute lemon extract for the vanilla extract.