Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Our homemade lemon crinkle cookies with cream cheese recipe is quite easy to make. This chewy dessert that looks pretty covered in powdered sugar and tastes delicious, perfect for any potluck or holiday get together.

Our recipe has a pop of tartness you are going to love with a sweet sugar coating. The outside has a fun broken look to it and you can color them whatever color you’d like for the holidays too with just a little tweak. Just one of many quick easy dessert recipes my girls love to make on the weekends.

You can use bottled lemon juice if need be but if you have ever made anything like homemade lemonade you know how much better freshly squeezed citrus is. There really isn’t a comparison. Add more for a tarter flavor or keep it more mild. That is the great part about baking yourself, you can adjust away.

If you have seen these at a restaurant or a friends house and thought about making them yourself, they are easier than you’d think. We made lemon here but other citrus flavors with a bit of zest are terrific too. Want to make these for Christmas? Add peppermint extract instead with some crushed candy canes, or make red velvet crinkle cookies too. 😉

What makes a cookie crinkle?

When making crinkle cookies the powdered sugar seeps into the cracks of the dough as you roll it inside the dish. When it begins baking the dough spreads out yet keeping that powder inside the folds and makes the top look like a canyon of crevices. It is a fun way to make dessert “funny looking” and people smile.

Ingredients

The flavoring is quite simple, I like using fresh lemon juice and zest but if you wanted to use something else you can find extracts at the store in lime, orange, or even coconut extract would be wonderful for a more tropical taste. In any of these cases you can enhance the color with a drop of food coloring

You want room temperature butter and cream cheese so that is blends together nicely into a smooth texture.

You are going to want to use white granulated sugar to add sweetness to the dough. I haven’t tried the Splenda sugar free blend but heard from followers that it was a successful substitution.

Eggs should be left out just for a bit so they aren’t as cold, near room temperature is ideal. This will allow them to whisk up to a nice fluffy texture when added and make your cookies chewy.

For the base of your dry ingredients we are going to use some All purpose flour, remember to measure flour correctly or they will become dense.

Cornstarch will soak up any remaining moisture in the dough to give you that really chewy texture I go for and to allow them to rise you need a bit of Baking soda

And of course the star of the show is powdered sugar on the outside. This is also known as confectioners sugar (same thing different name).

You could sprinkle with some sugar and lemon zest on top before baking too for a stronger lemon flavor. I mean even a bit of crushed white chocolate chips might be great too. Think outside of the box and you might think of another goodie to try.

Can I use cake mix to make these?

Yes, but the ingredients are different. You would want to use directions for our cake mix crinkle cookies or you could use our Cake Mix Cookies with Cream Cheese which would be the closest using a Duncan Hines lemon boxed mix in the photos.

Tips for Success

You want the dough easier to handle when you roll around in the powder so to do so just chill the dough for about an hour in the fridge, then scoop and that won’t make it as sticky. Also it will make them poof up more in the oven and not go flat.

I like to use a small cookie scoop to make them all the same size and it is a bit easier to get things done faster. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, use a silpat mat or spray the cookie sheet with some non stick spray before adding the dough for easier cleanup and getting them off the pan easier.

Remove each one from your hot sheet pan after about 10 minutes once they have solidified a bit more and place on a cooling rack instead. This will give you a chewy texture inside as they continue to cool and get to room temperature.

You can fill the middle with curd like we did with our lemon thumbprint cookies or enjoy as is when done.

How Long to Bake Chewy Crinkle Cookies

Bake for 10-13 minutes until edges are lightly browned and middle is no longer wet looking. You do not want to over-bake these so they dry out at all. Under is a bit better than too much heat. One way to prevent this is to take our right when edges are browned and tops are crinkled.

How Long to Bake Crispy Crinkle Cookies

If you like them more of a Chips A Hoy consistency where they are crisp you would want to bake a few minutes longer at closer to 13-15 minutes and leave on the sheet pan until cooled. This isn’t my preference so I have only done it once to test the bake time for all of you but it can be done.

How do you preserve leftover cookies?

The key is keeping these and your favorite lemon bars with cake mix really moist right? There are a few tips you should follow to do just that. First off you always want to make sure they are completely cooled before storing them. If you have a few you can get away with using a freezer bag. Lay them in one layer, flat, zip closed with ALL the air sucked out, on the countertop. The fridge will dry them out.

If you have quite a few I would recommend using a sealed container with a lid. Once again you want the least amount of air trapped in there so use a container about the size you need, not a lot larger. For more than one layer use a piece of parchment paper or wax in between. You don’t want them to stick together so separate them.

When you take one out eliminate the air once again if you can. They will stay pretty fresh and moist for a few days this way. I don’t think it is necessary to warm this variety but you could for 15 seconds in the microwave or so. It isn’t necessary to store in the refrigerator and in fact the cold air will harden them more than you’d want.

Can you freeze cookies that are already cooked?

Yes you can but it takes a bit more work to prepare them for their dunk in the freezer. It is best if you wrap each one individually in plastic wrap to keep them moist. Once again they need to be completely cooled before doing so. Foil could be used instead if you wanted.

Once they are all wrapped slide them into a freezer bag, they can be stacked this way since they’re already wrapped tight. Store flat in your freezer for a few months, then you can remove one at a time to enjoy again. You’ll want to leave it out on the countertop for 30 minutes to an hour to thaw out when you’re ready.

You can heat to speed up the process but that will dry them out so I wouldn’t. This works surprisingly well to keep them nice and chewy, almost like the consistency of day old cookies.

How do you reheat crinkle cookies?

If you do want to warm one or a few up you don’t want to use a lot of time in the microwave. 10-15 seconds once thawed out will do it. A bit of warmth will help to soften it up once again like you initially had it right out of the oven but too much will make them crispy instead. It’s a fine balance but a great way to make “new” once again.

Other

Could add small pieces of dried fruit too like our lemon blueberry cookies.