Ingredients
Scale
- 113g (1 stick) – vegan butter, softened
- 200g (1 3/4 cup) – all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon – salt
- 1 teaspoon – baking powder
- ½ teaspoon – baking soda
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 150g (¾ cup) – granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon – vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons – lemon juice
- 2 drops of yellow gel food coloring, optional
- 1 tablespoon – non-dairy milk
For coating:
- ⅓ cup – powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup – cane or granulated sugar
Equipment:
- Food scale, highly recommend https://amzn.to/3zZxeXy
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Electric Hand Mixer https://amzn.to/3zYezLM
- Microplane or fine grater https://amzn.to/41bSBB0
- Small cookie scoop https://amzn.to/2GtDgYA
- Parchment paper
- Rimmed baking sheets
- Bowl cover or plastic wrap
- Wire cooling rack
Instructions
- If you haven’t done so already, set out your vegan butter to soften at room temp, it’ll take about 30-40 minutes. Please do not melt it, it won’t turn out the same.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar. This helps release the oils from the zest and helps boost the lemon flavor.
- In the same bowl, add the softened butter, vanilla extract, lemon juice, yellow food coloring, and non-dairy milk. Using an electric hand mixer, mix on low until all the ingredients are well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl, and continue to mix on low until you get a smooth dough.
- Cover the bowl and allow the dough to chill in the fridge for 1 hour. You can also keep it in the fridge overnight if you want to bake the cookies the next day.
Baking:
- Preheat the oven to 350F, and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop the dough with a small cookie scoop and roll it in your hands to form a ball. Place it onto the prepared baking pan, leaving about 2 inches apart, and repeat.
- Roll each ball first in granulated sugar and then in powdered sugar until it’s fully coated.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies have risen and expanded into little rounded mounds with cracks in their sugar coating.
- The cookies will be very soft and delicate immediately out of the oven. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Measure your flour properly. My recipes are 100% tested in grams. A common reason baked goods fail is incorrectly measured flour. I always recommend using a scale for accuracy when baking. This greatly improves your chance for success and lessens room for error.
- If you’re measuring by cups, avoid scooping the measuring cup directly into the flour. This tends to pack the flour into the cup, resulting in too much flour and a very dense or gummy finished product. Instead, aerate your flour (fluff it with a fork or spoon) and then spoon it into your measuring cups, leveling it with your finger or the back of a butter knife. Keep in mind though, that this method is not guaranteed to be accurate.
- Wash your lemons! This goes without saying, but please wash your lemons before you start zesting. Unless you’re buying organic or farm fresh, you might want to get the chemicals off your produce before you use them for baking.
- Fresh lemon juice vs. concentrated. Fresh works better in this kind of cake, as it gives a tart flavor rather than a sour one from the concentrate. Besides, you’re already buying lemons, so why not right?
- Should the dough be really soft? Yes! This keeps the cookies moist and soft. Do not add any more flour.
- Do I really need to chill the dough? Chilling the cookie dough ensures that the cookies won’t melt and flatten the cookies during baking. This is a crucial step, so please do not skip it.
- Why roll the dough balls in two kinds of sugar? I like to toss my cookie dough in both granulated sugar and powdered sugar. Using granulated sugar first helps produce the perfect crackly texture and also keeps the powdered sugar in place!
- How long do these cookies stay fresh? Store the baked vegan lemon crinkle cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can also store the dough in the fridge for up to a week.
- Can I make this gluten-free? Yes, I would suggest using a 1-to-1 gluten-free all-purpose flour!
Keywords: vegan lemon recipe, vegan lemon crinkle cookies, lemon, dessert, cookies, snacks
