Lemon Crinkle Cookies are such a fabulous treat, you won't be able to eat just one! The cookie texture is a bit cake-like, soft and chewy, and absolutely full of sweet tangy lemon flavor!
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Lemon Crinkle Cookies Recipe
Admittedly, I am the lemon addict in our household but plenty of the desserts and baked goodies are a hit throughout the household and beyond. These lemon butter button cookies are one of those goodies that frequently make it out of the house (so I don't eat them all!!) to be shared at my husband's work and with our daughter's classmates as they are requested as quickly as I can make them.
They really will look under-cooked when they are done baking. You don't want the color on the bottoms getting too browned and they should be consistently light colored. I usually test the baking time with these, rolling out a few and baking them first to make sure they're done in the center before baking the rest of the batch. I definitely want gooey and cake like, but I don't want raw cookies...if I wanted that, I would just eat the dough (oh wait! I DO do that!).
How To Make Lemon Crinkle Cookies
To make these lemon delights, using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and softened unsalted butter first until creamy.
Add the sugar and beat until light and creamy again.
Next, zest the two large lemons and add the reserved lemon juice then add the vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt and beat the buttered mixture until well combined and the mixture is light and creamy again.
While the mixer is on low speed, add in the eggs (1 whole egg + 1 egg white, already beaten) and then continue to beat at a medium speed. If you would like super yellow color in your cookies, add some yellow food coloring to the beaten eggs prior to adding them into the butter mixture.
Add the flour and start on a low setting, combine just enough to moisten all of the flour.
Scrape the dough from the sides and the dough hook, cover the stand mixer bowl or your mixing bowl with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. Otherwise, the dough will be very sticky when you are trying to roll it into balls, and the cookies will not hold their shape as well when baking.
Before pulling the dough out of the refrigerator, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F (162 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Once chilled, scoop the dough out with spoon or a melon baller (for more consistent size of the cookies) and roll in your palms to round them off.
Roll the dough balls through a bowl of the confectioners sugar to coat them before placing them about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.
Bake at 325 degrees F (162 degrees C) for 12-14 minutes, but do not over-bake them. The bottoms of the cookies should only be a light brown, and the tops should be puffy and show crinkle lines in the confectioners sugar.
When the cookies are done baking, remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheets.
Enjoy!
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese
- ½ cup butter (1 stick, softened at room temperature)
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 lemons lemon zest (zest from 2 large lemons - reserve 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice)
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed, reserved from above)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg (plus the yolk of another large egg, beaten together)
- yellow food coloring (optional)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup confectioners sugar (to roll rounded cookie dough balls in)
Instructions
- Cream butter and cream cheese until creamy and smooth, add sugar and beat until creamy and light. Add the lemon zest, reserved lemon juice, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt and beat until thoroughly combined.
- Add already beaten egg (1 whole egg plus a yolk) and beat until light and creamy again. Add the flour and mix in on a low speed until all of the flour is moistened. The cookie dough will be somewhat crumbly, but very sticky. Refrigerate to chill for at least an hour.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (162 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove chilled dough and use a spoon or scoop to scoop out relatively equal sized amounts of the dough, rolling it in your palms to round each scoop into a ball shape.
- Roll each dough ball in the confectioners sugar and place on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are just lightly browned, do not over-bake.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets. Store any excess cookies in an airtight container.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
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