These Lemon Crinkle Cookies are unbelievably moist and chewy with a perfectly crispy outside and filled with zesty citrus in every bite. Rolled in powdered sugar for a delightfully sweet and citrus blend.
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It's crinkle cookie time!
Over the past few years, my crinkle cookies have been among my most popular posts. At Christmas time, you guys go wild for these Peppermint Chocolate and Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies. Don't worry; I can't help myself either.
But because we should be eating crinkle cookies year round, these Lemon Crinkle Cookies had to be introduced. They are wonderful spring cookies that make a great addition to your Easter menus or Mother Day gifts - a bold sweet and citrus cookie that is chewy, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth good.
Let's take a closer look, shall we?
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
Crinkle Cookies are those incredibly delicious, fudgy, chewy cookies that are covered in powdered sugar. When they are baked, the powdered sugar splits and creates a beautiful crackle crinkle top giving it the cookie’s name.
Here is everything you need.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Vegan Butter - Look for a high-quality non-hydrogenated vegan butter. I recommend either Earth Balance or Miyoko’s.
- Granulated & Powdered Sugar – Check out my guide to vegan sugars and healthy sugar alternatives.
- Lemons
- Applesauce – The applesauce acts as the binder for these cookies. You can’t taste the applesauce but if you would prefer a different kind of egg replacer, check out my complete guide on replacing eggs to get a few more ideas.
- Vanilla Extract - Use pure vanilla extract for flavor
- All-Purpose Flour – I have also made these cookies with 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Baking Blend (<<affiliate link) with great success.
- Baking Powder
- Salt
How to Make a Vegan Crinkle Cookie
Step One - Mix the Dry Ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. That's the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Step Two - Beat the Butter and Sugar
Whip the sugar and butter until they are thick and creamy. Next, add the applesauce and vanilla extract. The applesauce acts as the binder (egg replacer). You can’t taste the applesauce but if you would prefer a different kind of egg replacer, check out my complete guide on replacing eggs to get a few more ideas.
Once the applesauce is added, the dough will start to look curdled. Don’t worry about this. When the dry ingredients are added, the dough will sort itself out. So, let’s add those dries, mix until just combined, and remove from mixer.
Step Three – Bake The Cookies
Roll the dough into balls about 2 tablespoons big. I recommend using a cookie scoop for this recipe as the dough will become difficult to handle as it warms up.
Coat the cookies in sugar and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake the crinkle cookies for 12 minutes until the outside begins to crisp up but the center is still slightly underdone.
Pro Tip: Remove from the oven when the edges have just started to set and the centers are still slightly underdone. This is key for the chewiness of these vegan cookies.
Let the cookies cool 10 minutes on the baking tray before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.
Serving And Storing
Store Cookies: Once cookies are completely cool, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Raw dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Freeze Cookie Dough: If you only want to make only a few at a time, you can store the remaining dough in the freezer. To do this, roll all the dough into balls. Place them on a baking sheet in the freezer to freeze all the way through. Once frozen, transfer your cookie dough into a large ziplock bag and return to the freezer. You can store the cookies this way for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake, remove from freezer and bake!
Tips and Tricks
- These cookies have a great lemony flavor but if you LOVE lemon, you could make it bolder. Add up to 2 tablespoons of lemon zest for a bold citrus cookie.
- When rolling your crinkle cookies, roll them in granulated sugar first before rolling them in powdered sugar for the PERFECT crinkle every time.
- Vegan white chocolate chips make a great addition to this cookie. You can buy them online here (<<affiliate link).
- Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. I found 10 minutes to be the perfect baking time. They will continue to harden as they cool, giving you a crispy outside with a deliciously fudgy and chewy center.
Getting The Perfect Crinkle
Friends, I’m going to let you in on a VERY exciting secret.
A couple of years ago I learned a great little trick, thanks to Cook’s Illustrated. To get the PERFECT crinkle on your cookie, first coat the cookie in granulated sugar. This allows the cookie’s surface to dry out quickly before the interior sets, creating more of those beautiful crinkly cracks. The extra layer of sugar also prevents the powdered sugar from melting into the cookie for that stark white on black (or yellow, in this case) visual.
You can read about the science behind all. It’s pretty interesting stuff and I was thrilled to see the difference when I started making my crinkle cookies this way.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chewy Cookies
Chewy Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp . salt
- 1 cup vegan butter
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- zest of 2 large lemons, optional
- ½ cup apple sauce
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup granulated sugar, for rolling
- 1 cup powdered sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
- In a stand-up mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat together vegan butter, sugar, and lemon zest (if using) on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add apple sauce, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, scraping down the sides as necessary. Mix until fully combined. Turn the speed to low and slowly add dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Place the rolling granulated sugar and powdered sugar into two shallow bowls. Roll one rounded tablespoon of dough into a ball. Toss it in granulated sugar until completely coated and then cover it in powdered sugar. Place the cookie on the baking sheet. Repeat until all the cookies are rolled. Bake cookies for 10 minutes until edges are firm. The cookies will be light in color and should look a bit underdone. They will continue to cook when cooling.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to allow cookies to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
- These cookies have a great lemony flavor but if you LOVE lemon, you could make it bolder. Add up to 2 tablespoons of lemon zest for a bold citrus cookie.
- When rolling your crinkle cookies, roll them in granulated sugar first before rolling them in powdered sugar for the PERFECT crinkle every time.
- Vegan white chocolate chips make a great addition to this cookie. You can buy them online here.
- Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. I found 10 minutes to be the perfect baking time. They will continue to harden as they cool, giving you a crispy outside with a deliciously fudgy and chewy center.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
B says
Will they flatten as they cook? Or do I need to press them with a fork before baking?
Sarah says
They will flatten, no need to flatten them.
Krista says
OMG these cookies are now officially my all-time fav! Love love love them! Thank you so much for bringing these cookies into my life lol
Sarah says
They are mine too. And I thought dessert had to have chocolate in it...how wrong I was!
Savannah says
These cookies are AMAZING. I am a huge fan of desserts featuring lemon- there's something about the sweet & sour combination... I just love it! I used a Meyer Lemon this time-perfect! I'm curious to try it with a regular lemon next time to compare though. Will be making another batch tonight to send in a birthday package to my mother-in-law on the East Coast. She loves lemon too so I know she'll enjoy these. Thank you for sharing this recipe! It's definitely a new favorite!
Sarah says
Thank you. I'm glad you liked them and I hope your mother-in-law loves them too!
Janet says
I made these for the first time today. They were delicious!!! Thank you! (Arizona)
Sarah says
I'm glad you tried them! And thanks for the feedback 🙂
Maren says
Whoa! These are *so* good... and I even modified them to be gluten free and sugar free!
Here's how: I subbed brown rice flour for the wheat flour, silken tofu for the applesauce, erythritol for the granulated sugar, and shredded coconut for the powdered sugar.
Seriously. Amazing. They're like shortbread cookies. I may need to modify again by making them with lime, or adding some hazelnuts, or...?
Sarah says
Thanks for sharing!
Anne says
These were delicious. Everyone loved them and I'm getting more requests to make again. Thank you for the recipe.
Mark says
Amazing cookies! Thanks, Sarah. These will be Easter dessert at our house.
Andra says
FAR too sticky to shape into balls. The recipe fails to tell you to add the extract. Luckily I realized there would be very little lemon flavor with the zest and 2T of juice, so I added some lemon extract and they were still not very lemony.
Sarah says
I'm sorry you had this experience. I checked with a couple other people who made the recipe, they did not have a problem with it being too sticky. A few suggestions: if you over-mixed the dough it may have become too sticky, if the coconut oil was in a liquid state it would certainly have been a wet dough, or perhaps it was a measuring error.
In terms of the lemon zest, I realize I should have been more specific. I am changing the recipe to say 1 heaping tbsp of zest, which is the amount you should get from a big lemon with an efficient zester. Thank you for pointing this out.
Alyssa says
For anyone who is interested in the gluten-free option, I used Arrowhead Mills All-Purpose Baking Mix, 1:1 as the flour substitute. I was worried about less than favorable reviews on the product(cross-contaminates and texture), but I've tried two of the cookies so far and I'm feeling fine. Also, the texture isn't that much different from any other homemade cookie.
Other changes I made:
Zest of two lemons instead of one
Omitted the salt(because of the sodium in the GF flour)
Hope this helps!
Sarah says
Thanks for sharing, Alyssa! I'm sure many people will appreciate this.
Ceil Hook says
Holy cow! I wanted a vegan lemon cookie recipe...and I found your blog. Thanks! They look scrumptious.
Stephanie says
Yuuuuuumy! These look absolutely perfect. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe! They will be perfect for summer 🙂
Nicole says
These are AMAZING cookies; I can't recommend them enough! I use 1 T ground flax and 3 T coconut milk as a sub for the "egg"/applesauce, and 1/2 C bread flour for a chewier cookie. They're also GREAT with 1/2 grapefruit juice and zest. They're also good with coconut flakes inside and out. I found the pinterest recipe last January and have made them at least 6 times playing around with them.
Alyssa says
I would love to make these for my mother for Easter but she has a gluten allergy.. could I sub almond flour do you think, or do I need to go the gluten free flour + xantham gum route? or would it just not work gluten-free?
Sarah says
Almond flour wouldn't work alone. I don't do much with gf flours (my gf desserts are usually also raw) so my best guess is find a gluten-free flour blend to substitute.
Zazalu says
Oh my, these look divine. Are there any gluten-free or wheat-free substitutes worth trying?
Sarah says
I would look for a gluten free flour blend that is for baking and sub it 1:1. Like I said in another comment, I'm fairly unfamiliar with gf baking.
Lisa says
These look great. I'm hoping a few make it to the Easter gathering for the sake of your family--especially your mother, who must be incredibly proud of you.
Sarah says
She seems to be 🙂
Min Verdi says
Please advise a substitute for the Apple sauce ?
Sarah says
the same amount of mashed up banana, soy yogurt (try lemon flavor!), or silken tofu are a few options.
here is my guide to replacing eggs: http://www.thesweetlifeonline.com/2012/11/29/replacing-eggs/ which is what the applesauce does in this recipe, you should fine several great alternatives.
Min Verdi says
Thank you.. If it is substitute for eggs (I am OK with eggs) how many eggs would need to add to this recipe ?
Sarah says
Two and decrease baking powder to 1 tsp