Lemon Crinkle Cookies – Crispy outsides, soft middles, and a big dose of fresh lemon flavor. These easy cookies are gluten free, egg free, dairy free, and vegan. 

Fresh lemon flavor bursting in every crispy, fluffy bite!

These cookies have a nice crisp exterior and soft fluffy middles. It’s the perfect mix of textures.

Just a few simple ingredients are needed and it’s easily mixed by hand in a mixing bowl. 

What are you waiting for? Go make a batch!

How To Make Vegan Lemon Cookies

With just 8 ingredients, these flavorful cookies are super easy. 

First, make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature. This recipe calls for melted coconut oil and it will seize up if it comes in contact with cold ingredients. 

Next, whisk all the dry ingredients together. Then, whisk all the wet ingredients. Add the dry to the wet and stir until a smooth dough forms. 

Let the dough rest for 10 minutes to let it firm up.

Finally, scoop up some dough and form it into a ball, tossing it in sugar to coat if desired, and bake!

The Best Gluten Free Flour for Baking Cookies

I tested these cookies with several different gluten free flour blends. 

You definitely want to use a blend that is designed to be a 1:1 replacement for traditional all-purpose flour. I found Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour to be the best. It’s fine texture lent the best results for texture. 

I also tested these Lemon Crinkle Cookies with Krusteaz Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. They turned out great, but we still preferred the Bob’s Red Mill version. 

I do not recommend Trader Joe’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. The cookies using the Trader Joe’s flour were definitely grittier and crumbled easily. 

How to Make the Most Flavorful Lemon Sugar Cookies

Fresh lemon juice is important to get the best flavor for these cookies. You’ll also need the zest of one lemon, so be sure to zest the lemon before you juice it. 

Just a touch of pure vanilla extract balances out the bitterness of the lemon nicely. 

We also love rolling the cookie dough in extra sugar before placing them on the cookie sheets to bake. This, of course, was my kids’ favorite part! 

If you love lemon, don’t miss these other delicious lemon recipes:

• Strawberry Lemonade Ice Cream Cake
• Tart Cherry Sparkling Lemonade
• Lemon Artichoke Vegan Pasta Salad
• Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes

How To Store Homemade Cookies

Be sure to cool the cookies completely before transferring them to a storage container. 

When ready to store them, choose an air-tight container.

You can place sheets of parchment in between layers if you’re worried the cookies might stick to each other, but I don’t find it necessary with this particular recipe.

The cookies should last a week or more if stored properly. 

Love cookies as much as we do? Try our other favorite gluten free cookies:

• Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
• Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Gluten Free Thumbprint Cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I hope you love these Lemon Crinkle Cookies as much as we do! If you try them, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback and star rating.

You can also find me on social media. Be sure to tag @veggie_inspired and #veggieinspired so I’m sure to see it!

Enjoy!

Yield: 18-20 cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies (Vegan, Gluten Free)

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Lemon Crinkle Cookies - Crispy outsides, soft middles, and a big dose of fresh lemon flavor. These easy cookies are gluten free, egg free, dairy free, and vegan. 

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 32 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups gluten free flour blend*
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice**
• 3/4 cup organic cane sugar (plus extra for rolling the dough in if desired)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

Instructions

1. Be sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature before beginning the recipe.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and coconut oil.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a smooth dough is formed.
6. Let the dough sit for 10 minutes to stiffen up.
7. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough and mold it into a ball with your hands. Place onto the prepared baking sheet. Optional: roll the dough ball around in the extra sugar to coat before placing on the baking sheet.
8. Leaving about 2 inches between each cookie dough ball, repeat with the remaining dough.
9. Bake 10-12 minutes until the cookies have spread a bit, the bottoms are lightly browned, and the tops have started to crackle.
10. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.***

Notes

*Be sure to use a gluten free flour blend that is designed as a 1:1 replacement for all-purpose flour. I tested these cookies with both Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour Blend and Krusteaz 1:1 Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour and would recommend either of those with Bob's Red Mill being my first choice. I also tested them with Trader Joe's Gluten Free All Purpose Flour and I did NOT like the way they turned out, so don't use that brand!

**An average lemon has about 2 tablespoons of juice inside. I have found some juicier lemons that give a bit more than this. You may need 2 to 3 lemons to get 1/3 cup juice.

***These cookies taste great right out the oven, but the lemon flavor is more pronounced once they have completely cooled.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

18

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 137 Total Fat: 4g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 3g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 107mg Carbohydrates: 25g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 11g Protein: 2g

Nutrition facts calculated without optional sugar coating.