Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe·4.8 from 13 reviews
If you love lemon and cookies, then you’ll absolutely love these Vegan Lemon Crinkle Cookies! Fresh, zesty and best of all, easy to make!
Guys, I finally made Lemon Crinkle Cookies! It’s been long in the making but they’re finally here and I promise it’s been worth the wait!
Lemon is one of my favourite flavours of all time and I love how gorgeously zesty it is, and how fresh it makes any dessert (especially cakes, cupcakes and cookies!).
I know what I like when it comes to cookies, but doesn’t everyone – haha! I prefer thinner cookies to be crisp on the outside and slightly gooey on the inside. When it comes to thicker cookies like these, I still like to have that crispy outside, but with a slightly denser, cake-y middle. These cookies have both of those, along with delicious crispy lemon sugar on the outside which reminds me of a lemon drizzle cake.
I know you’ll fall in love with these little clouds of lemony goodness. They’re like a cloud of lemon sunshine on a cloudy day!
Speaking of lemon drizzle, you NEED to check out my popular Vegan Lemon Loaf!
What is a crinkle cookie?
I’m quite new to crinkle cookies myself and did lots of research before making this recipe. Crinkle cookies are basically ‘cake meets cookie’. Crinkle cookies are usually thicker, given that cake-y texture along with their distinctive crackle top. That is made by rolling the cookie dough in icing / powdered sugar before baking so that when they’re in the oven, the sugar ‘breaks’ apart as the dough expands. Pretty cool isn’t it?!
You can make all different types of crinkle cookie, but I just love these colours – the pale yellow cookie colour which contrasts against the white powdered sugar!
How to make Vegan Lemon Crinkle Cookies?
- It all starts off with a delicious, zesty dough. This dough takes minutes to whip up and is one bowl too (we love an easy recipe around here!!)
- Cream the dairy-free butter in a bowl along with the icing sugar until pale & fluffy.
- Add in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Whip to combine, then add in the flour, baking power and bicarbonate of soda. The dough should start to come together. This is a time you’ll want to add the turmeric or yellow food gel. I ended up using a little bit of both for a bright yellow colour, but either works great! The turmeric is great as a natural yellow food colouring, but if you don’t mind using yellow food gel, use that!
You can either go natural with turmeric or use yellow food gel, both ways are perfect!
- Bring the dough together with your hands. It should be ever so slightly sticky, but forms a smooth dough. If it’s too sticky, add a tiny bit more flour until it’s a smooth dough. You don’t want to add in too much flour though as this can make for a very dense and dry cookie.
- Grab some of the dough (40g each) and roll into a ball. Repeat for the remaining cookies.
- Coat each dough ball in icing sugar. I actually squeezed a tiny amount of lemon juice over each cookie then rolled it in the icing sugar. Doing this makes for a well coated cookie. Repeat for all of the cookies.
- Allow the cookies to stand for 20 minutes. During this time, the cookie will absorb some if the icing sugar, meaning you’ll need a second roll in sugar. doing this will create for a really crackly outside to the cookie.
- Re-roll each cookie in the icing sugar then place, spread out, on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. You’ll want to make sure the tray is fully lined with greaseproof paper, as the sugar melts while baking, meaning the cookies could stick to the tray if un-lined! ALWAYS line your tray! Oh and also, before placing into the oven, lightly press the tops of the cookies down, this makes them a little flatter and makes them cookie evenly.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes at 180 degrees c fan and watch the magic happen.
- Once baked, don’t touch them too much as they’re very delicate straight out of the oven. Allow them to cool down on the lined tray until cool, then transfer them to a wire rack.
They’re honestly super easy to make, and the outcome is mind-blowing! They’re addictive- haha!!
Make sure to ‘PIN’ the photo below to your favourite Pinterest board!
You can’t go wrong with lemon, and crinkle cookies are simply delicious. The combination of the two is a match made in heaven.
These Vegan Lemon Crinkle Cookies incorporate everything I love in a cookie:
- Sweetness
- Chewiness
- Zesty lemon
- Crinkles
- Easy to make
- Vegan (obviously)
- Takes less than 15 minutes to bake!
If you make these cookies, make sure to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #thelittleblogofvegan.
Looking for more Lemon recipes? Look no further:
Tips and Tricks
- Use softened butter- Remove the block of dairy-free butter from the fridge and allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before using. If you live in a hot climate, only leave it at room temperature for a few minutes to slightly soften. Doing this helps with the creaming process and takes less time out of the preparation.
- Roll the cookie twice in icing sugar- Doing this, makes for the perfect crinkle effect (it also adds sweetness which tastes amazing!)
- If you want a vivid yellow colour, use a few drop of food gel. If you want a natural colour, use ground turmeric. Both ways work perfect!
- To get evenly sized cookies, weigh out the dough using a set of kitchen scales to 40g per cookie before rolling into balls.
- To help the icing sugar to stick, squeeze a tiny bit of lemon juice over the cookie dough balls before rolling in sugar! Just make sure not to over do the lemon, as this can make the cookie very soggy. Just apply the right amount for the icing sugar to stick.
- Do NOT use gluten-free flour! This recipe only works with wheat based flour!
- Allow the to cool fully before serving, as they are very delicate when first out of the oven! Use a spatula to help lift the cookies off of the baking tray and on to a cooling rack or serving plate.
- Store them in a sealed container to keep them fresh and delicious!
Vegan Lemon Crinkle Cookies
5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star
4.8 from 13 reviews
- Author: thelittleblogofvegan
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These are THE BEST Vegan Lemon Crinkle Cookies! It’s a strong statement which I stand by 100%. You need to make them! They’re fun and easy to make, perfect for afternoon tea.
Ingredients
Units Scale
- 185g of icing sugar
- 60g of dairy-free softened butter*
- 4 tablespoons of lemon juice
- Zest of 1 large lemon
- 200g of plain flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric or 2 drops of yellow food gel*
Instructions
Method
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees c fan, and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Set aside.
- In a bowl, add in the icing sugar and softened dairy-free butter. Whisk / whip to combine until it turns smooth and pale in colour. This will take a few minutes. You can either do this by hand or use a electric hand whisk / stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
- Add in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Whip to fully combine.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and turmeric / a few drops of yellow food gel. Mix this to combine into a thick dough. If the dough is too wet and sticky, use a bit more flour to get it to a smooth, yet slightly tacky dough. You don’t want the dough to be dry so mind how much extra flour you add.
- Once the dough is ready, scoop approximately 40g of dough, roll it into a ball using your hands, then roll it in some icing sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes. Repeat this step for the rest of the dough balls. You’ll want to leave them for 10 minutes in the first roll of icing sugar, this helps with the crinkle. To help the icing sugar to stick, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice onto each cookie dough ball then roll in the icing sugar, this will help the sugar to stick (don’t add too much lemon though, as this can soak up all of the icing sugar, which won’t give you a crackle effect).
- Once they are all coated, re-roll them in the icing sugar for a second time then place onto the lined baking tray ready for baking. Space them out as they do spread slightly.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes. They will have puffed up and have a crackle on top.
- Once baked, remove them from the oven and allow to cool on the lined tray. The sugar will have melted slightly onto the paper, so be-careful when lifting off the cookies.
- Store in a sealed container at room temperature. Best eaten within 3 days making.
Notes
What food gel to use? My favourite food gel is from Rainbow Dust! They’re food gels are vegan and high pigment, meaning you don’t need as much in your bakes to get your desired colour!
What dairy-free butter to use? My favourite vegan / dairy-free block butters are ‘Naturli Vegan Block’ or Flora Plant Based Block Butter Alternative (salted or unsalted).
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 12-15 minutes
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
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Oreo Ice-Cream Sandwiches
Vegan Nutella Linzer Cookies
Vegan Oreo Puff Pastry Swirls
Vegan Easter Linzer Cookies
