Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour + 2 tablespoons
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 1 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest about 4 lemons
- 2 eggs 1 egg + 1 yolk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice fresh
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 drops yellow food coloring optional
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In mixing bowl whisk flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In separate mixing bowl whip butter, sugar, and fresh lemon zest until pale and fluffy. Then mix in egg and egg yolk.
- Add lemon juice, lemon extract, vanilla extract, and yellow food coloring (optional) to wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- With mixer on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Pour powdered sugar into a small bowl. Shape dough into small balls and drop in powdered sugar, roll to evenly coat (if dough is sticky and hard to roll into balls, place it in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. This will make the dough much easier to work with).
- Transfer balls to a parchment paper-covered cookie sheet, spaced about 2" apart.
- Bake for 10-13 minutes.
- Transfer to rack to cool and dust with additional powdered sugar if desired.
~Jaclyn~
The holidays are fast approaching and in the midst of the house decorating, present buying, and holiday parties, we can’t forget about the most important thing – Holiday Baking! One of our favorite traditions is making dozens and dozens of cookies around the holidays to give out to just about everyone we know. I love sticking to the usual suspects – thumbprints, gingerbread, and sugar cookies, but every year I like to test out a few new ones to give away (and of course save some for myself!). As with every cookie, there are a million recipes, but this specific one for Lemon Crinkle Cookies came from my wonderful mother-in-law in a little recipe book she made for me for Christmas a few years ago. It has become my new favorite!
Lemon is probably the last flavor we think of when it comes to the holidays, and that is why I think this recipe is so unique and special. I love to eat lemon year round, and lucky for us we can always find fresh lemons in stock at the store, unlike some of our other favorite fruits. I have to admit that my favorite lemon dessert is lemon bars, but these lemon crinkle cookies are a close second. They are very chewy and have a fresh citrus pop with sweet coating of powdered sugar.
To make these scrumptious cookies whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl whip together butter, sugar, and fresh lemon zest until pale and fluffy. Then mix in one large egg and one large egg yolk, and add lemon juice, lemon extract, vanilla extract, and yellow food coloring (this is optional – I chose not to). Once wet ingredients are mixed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour powdered sugar into a small bowl and drop dough into sugar after shaping into small balls. Roll the balls evenly to coat. Once the balls are fully coated, transfer them to a parchment paper-covered cookie sheet spaced about two inches apart and bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes. I dusted my cookies with a little more powdered sugar after they were done cooling because why not?! I hope you will enjoy these chewy and bright cookies this holiday season! Enjoy!
