Description
These Lemon Crinkle Cookies are soft, tangy, and delightfully coated in powdered sugar for a beautiful crinkled finish. Made with vegan butter and fresh lemon zest and juice, these cookies burst with lemon flavor and are perfect for a refreshing treat. They bake to perfection in just 12 minutes and are best enjoyed the same day to keep their signature powdered sugar look.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 3 teaspoons fresh grated lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Coating
- 1 cup powdered sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. Pour the powdered sugar into a bowl for rolling the dough balls.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat the softened vegan butter and granulated sugar together until creamy and smooth.
- Add Flavors: Add the vanilla extract, lemon extract, fresh grated lemon zest, fresh lemon juice, and optional yellow food coloring to the mixture. Mix until all ingredients are well combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Incorporate Dry Ingredients: Stop the mixer and add the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Turn the mixer to low speed and mix until just combined to form the cookie dough.
- Shape and Coat: Roll the dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Then, generously roll each ball in the powdered sugar, making sure they are completely coated.
- Bake: Place the powdered sugar-coated dough balls on the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 12 minutes, or until the edges are just set. Be careful not to overbake as the cookies will be soft initially and firm up while cooling.
- Cool: Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Serve them the same day for the best appearance and enjoy!
Notes
- If you don’t have lemon extract, you can leave it out, but it adds extra lemon flavor.
- The yellow food coloring is optional and only affects the cookie color, not the taste.
- For a gluten-free version, substitute the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.
- Cookies are best served the same day as the powdered sugar coating tends to melt with time but they still taste good up to 3-4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 120 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 80 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
