Easy Lemon Crinkle Cookies
These lemon crinkle cookies are chewy and soft in the center, have a crispy exterior, and a delicious, zesty, fresh lemon flavor.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoon Lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 ½ teaspoon Lemon zest
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ⅓ teaspoon Baking soda
For rolling
- ⅓ cups Granulated sugar
- ⅓ cups Powder sugar
Instructions
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the vegetable oil, lemon juice, granulated sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and kosher salt. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and fully combined.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix just until the dough comes together. Avoid overmixing so the cookies stay soft and chewy.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour. You can also chill it overnight for even easier scooping.
- Use a large cookie scoop (or measure about 3 tablespoons of dough) and roll each portion into a smooth ball. Roll each dough ball first in granulated sugar, then in powdered sugar to coat.
- Place the coated dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in a preheated 180°C (350°F) oven for about 10 minutes.
- The cookies should stay light in color; don’t overbake them if you want a soft, chewy center.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Do not overbake these cookies! These cookies should stay light in color. Take them out at around 10 minutes to keep the centers soft and chewy.
- Space them apart. The cookies spread as they bake, so leave enough room on the baking sheet to keep them from touching.
- Measure your flour correctly! Too much flour can make the cookies dry. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off instead of packing it in.
- Chill the dough. Even a short chill helps the cookies hold their shape, crack nicely on top, and stay thick and chewy.
- Zest your lemons carefully. When zesting the lemons, avoid the bitter white pith beneath the skin. Use a microplane or fine grater to get the most aromatic zest possible.
- Double coat in sugar. Rolling the dough in granulated sugar first helps the powdered sugar stick better and gives the cookies a crisp outside.
- Use fresh lemons. Fresh lemon juice and zest give the cookies the strongest, brightest citrus flavor. Bottled lemon juice won’t taste the same.
- Room-temperature eggs. They mix more smoothly into the batter and help the cookies bake evenly.
- Use a cookie scoop. For evenly sized cookies that bake uniformly, use a small or medium cookie scoop.
- Don’t overmix the dough. Overmixing develops gluten and can make the cookies tough. Stop mixing as soon as the flour disappears.
- Cool on the sheet first. Letting the cookies rest for a few minutes on the baking sheet helps them set without drying out, keeping that perfect soft texture.
Nutrition
Calories: 150kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 2gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 116mgPotassium: 28mgFiber: 1gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 27IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg
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