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Crispy outsides, soft middles, and a big dose of fresh lemon flavor. These easy Lemon Crinkle Cookies are gluten free, egg free, dairy free, and vegan. Ready in about 30 minutes!
Fresh lemon flavor bursting in every crispy, fluffy bite!
Just like my Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, these cookies have a nice crackly 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!
Ingredients you need
Ingredient notes and substitutions
Flour ~ These cookies are gluten free. Be sure to use a gluten free flour blend meant to replace wheat flour at a 1:1 ratio. My top choice is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour.
Sugar ~ White cane sugar is best for these cookies. The sweetness counteracts the tartness of the lemon juice and the white color makes the best looking cookies. Coconut sugar and brown sugar would create a much darker dough.
Note: not all sugar is vegan due to the way it is processed. Be sure to look for certified vegan on the label or choose organic, which is always vegan.
Lemon ~ Use fresh squeezed lemon juice for best flavor. Be sure to zest one of the lemons before juicing it.
If you love lemon, don’t miss these other delicious lemon recipes
Oil ~ This recipe calls for melted coconut oil. Be sure all of the other ingredients, specifically the maple syrup and lemon juice. are at room temperature before proceeding. The coconut oil will seize up if it comes into contact with cold ingredients.
I have not tested this lemon crinkle cookies recipe as oil-free.
How To Make the recipe
Please scroll down to the recipe card for exact ingredient measurements and instructions.
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.
Whisk all the wet ingredients in a mixing bowl (1). Add the dry ingredients to the wet (2) and stir until a smooth dough forms (3).
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes to let it firm up.
Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough using a spoon or a cookie scoop and form it into a ball. Tossing the ball of dough into sugar to coat (4), if desired. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Place the balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart (5). Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the tops start to crackle and the bottoms are slightly browned.
Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely (6).
Storage and freezing
Counter: Be sure to cool the cookies completely before transferring them to an air-tight storage 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.
Freezer: You can also freeze these Lemon Crinkle Cookies. Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for an hour or so until frozen. Transfer to a freezer safe container or plastic bag with sheets of parchment in between each one. They should keep well for up to 6 months.
Pro tips and tricks
~ 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!
~ Use white cane sugar for a light, bright lemon cookie. Brown sugar or coconut sugar will make the dough much darker. Note: not all sugar is vegan due to the way it is processed. Be sure to look for certified vegan on the label or choose organic, which is always vegan.
~ Be sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature, specifically the maple syrup and lemon juice, before making the dough. The melted coconut oil may seize up if it comes in contact with cold ingredients.
~ 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 ⅓ cup juice.
~ Be sure to zest the lemon before juicing it.
~ These cookies taste great right out the oven, but the lemon flavor is more pronounced once they have completely cooled.
~ Be sure to cool the lemon crinkle cookies completely before storing.
FAQs
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!
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.
The most likely answer is that there was too much flour. Be sure to measure your flour using the spoon and level method. Do not pack it into the measuring cup or you will end up with too much.
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I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you tried it, please use the rating system in the recipe card and leave a comment below with your feedback.
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For even more easy family recipes, be sure to check out my cookbook, The Meatless Monday Family Cookbook!
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten free flour blend
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- zest of 1 lemon
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar plus extra for rolling the dough in, if desired
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup coconut oil melted
Instructions
- Be sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature before beginning the recipe.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and coconut oil.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a smooth dough is formed.
- Let the dough sit for 10 minutes to stiffen up.
- 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.
- Leaving about 2 inches between each cookie dough ball on the baking sheet, repeat with the remaining dough.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes until the cookies have spread a bit, the bottoms are lightly browned, and the tops have started to crackle.
- Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Storage/Freezing Cool the cookies completely before transferring to an air-tight container for storage. They should last up to a week on the counter. You can also freeze these Lemon Crinkle Cookies. Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for an hour or so until frozen. Transfer to a freezer safe container or plastic bag with sheets of parchment in between each one. They should keep well for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition values are calculated using online calculators and are estimates only. Please verify using your own data.
Andrea says
For me, the cookie dough was pretty oily and spread out thin when cooking. They are still crunchy and tasty. The only substitution I made was olive oil instead of coconut oil.
Jenn Sebestyen says
Olive oil and coconut oil are very different. Butter (or vegan butter) would be a better sub if you don’t have or can’t have coconut. Glad you like the flavor though!
Brenda says
Just made a half batch last night!! It almost didn’t rise at all and looked the same shape as I hand-rolled them BUT it was delicious! The texture was better than I thought with crispy outside and light inside! Thank you for the recipe!
Jenn Sebestyen says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them. Thank you, Brenda!
Sarajane says
I made cookies based on this recipe this evening and they were delicious. I have to change things for dietary needs and preferences, so here was what I made:
For the flour I used 1/2 cup each brown rice flour, almond flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch, and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum. I used Miyoko’s cultured butter instead of coconut oil. As such I did not melt it as coconut oil is harder than Miyoko’s butter. I also used maple sugar instead of cane sugar.
I creamed the butter and sugar, then added in the other wet ingredients. Then mixed in the dry. I also sifted the flours since almond flour tends to clump. The dough was a little wet still so I folded in some all purpose gf flour at the end. Finally, the powdered sugar I used was homemade from coconut sugar and tapioca starch.
Since both sugars are brown, the cookies were a uniform light brown instead of the pretty white and yellow, which I expected and so did not bother with yellow coloring. However, they were delicious! Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, lemony and perfectly sweet. Three of us ate through 2/3s of them right off the cooling rack, leaving sadly few for tomorrow.
Thanks for the recipe!
Jenn Sebestyen says
Glad it worked out with all those changes. Thanks for your feedback!
Jillian Blogna says
I made these cookies today and they were AMAZING! I will be adding this recipe to my collection of cookie recipes!
Jenn Sebestyen says
Thank you, Jillian! So happy to hear you love them!
Caroline says
Hi Jenn
This recipe Looks fabulous, I absolutely have to try it.
Just two questions: can I replace the gluten free flour by normal one as this is usually what I have at home?
And can the dough be freezed and the Cookies be baked later? I currently have a lot of lemons Iwould like to process but bake at a later time…
Best wishes,
Caroline
Jenn Sebestyen says
Hi, Caroline. An all-purpose flour should work just fine! I haven’t tried freezing the dough yet, so I can’t say for sure. If you try it, let me know!
Caroline says
Thank you, Jenn. I finally made the crinkles but they turned out totally flat… had the same issue with chocolate crinkle cookies last christmas, no idea what could be the cause. Is it possible that 175C (350F) is too hot?
Best wishes,
Caroline
Jenn Sebestyen says
I’m sorry you had trouble with these. Did you make any substitutions? And are you sure you baking powder was fresh? It is true that a too hot oven will flatten cookies, but 350 works great for me for these…is it possible that your oven isn’t calibrated correctly? Hopefully the flavor turned out ok. And the chocolate cookies you are referring to…do you mean my Chocolate Almond Cookies? If so, those are supposed to be flatter chewy cookies, not soft middles like these.
Caroline says
Hi Jenn
I did not make any subsitutions, just took regular flour instead of glutenfree. The baking powder should not have been an issue I guess. As I’m a frequent baker it never get’s old 😉 The flavor was a bit too sweet and chewy for me, but I will give it another try sooner or later. Sorry for confusion, the chocolate crinkle cookie wasn’t a recipe of yours, but I had exactly the same issue, they came out flat…
Best wishes, Caroline
Judy Stone says
These are incredible! Crispy outside, light and lemony inside. I made a blend of 1 cup oat flour, 1/3 cup each Teff flour, Garbanzo flour and Potato Starch. I used Coconut sugar (halved the amount) and half the maple syrup. They are darker then your pic but one of the best cookies I’ve made. We couldn’t wait until they cooled–no problem–still fantastic!
Jenn Sebestyen says
Fantastic, Judy! Thank you! I’m so glad it worked out with those flour subs too.
Maggie McConnell says
I use Pillsbury gluten-free flour for EVERYTHING (unless I use straight almond flour). I bake cookies and cakes with it. Have you tried Pillsbury? These cookies look like a nice change from my usual almond butter cookies. Thanks for the recipe.
Maggie McConnell says
BTW, do you use VEGAN sugar? Organic isn’t necessarily vegan. Many people don’t know that sugar is “cleansed” through the bones of cows to get it white. To truly be vegan you need to use a vegan sugar like “Morena.”
Jenn Sebestyen says
The sugar I link to in the ingredient list is vegan…Wholesome Sweeteners. But, everyone is free to make their own choice of which brand of sugar to use. It won’t affect the outcome of this recipe.
Stasia C Doster says
Do you have any cookies that are oil-free? We actively avoid oil here and I try to find oil-free recipes whenever I can. Thanks!
Jenn Sebestyen says
I sure do. In fact, most of my cookie recipes are oil-free. In the search bar, search for Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies, Cranberry Pistachio Cookies, Chocolate Almond Cookies, Cinnamon Sugar Cookies, Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gluten Free Thumbprint Cookies, Chewy Gluten Free Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies, or Crunchy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. I also have an entire category in my recipe index just for oil-free recipes (not just cookies, but all recipes). Enjoy!
Stasia C Doster says
Great! Thank you for letting me know!
Jenn Sebestyen says
Hope you enjoy them!
Brenda Allstun says
Would oat flour work?
Jenn Sebestyen says
Not without adjusting other ingredients. I haven’t tested it with oat flour, so I can’t say how to do that.