Lemon Crinkle Cookies with Poppy Seeds

Who else knows that some times, often even, only a lemon cookie will do? I've been looking for "my" lemon cookie recipe for a few years now but finally, I've found it! Lemon Crinkle Cookies are so bright and lemony, really charged with lemon flavor. And they have that much-coveted chewy texture too. If you've got a couple of lemons on hand, in a few hours, you'll understand exactly why these just aren't your everyday homemade cookies. Join me in Lemon Heaven, anyone?

Bright Lemony Cookies, Little Effort, Big Reward. Budget Friendly Calling for Common Pantry Ingredients (Plus Poppy Seeds). What're you waiting for?! So Good!!

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COMPLIMENTS!

• "This is definitely a keeper! ... Thanks for the perfect lemon cookie! " ~ Carole

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(Near) Instant Gratification.

That’s why I l-o-v-e to bake. Cookies and cakes. Brownies and bars. Pancakes and pudding.

But supper? Supper takes effort. Planning, even perseverance. Answers to pesky questions like, What’s in the fridge to build on? Is the meat is thawed? What’s the vegetable? Is there salad?

Seven stinkin’ days a week.

I get it, I do, why cooks create a regular recipe rotation. Monday Meatloaf. Tuesday Tacos. Wednesday Wings. Thursday Thai. Friday Fish. Saturday Steak. Sunday Seafood. (Kitchen word dancing!) The same tried and true and much-appreciated family recipes again and again. No risk! No disappointment!

But baking? It’s sheer spontaneity. Check, you’ll see. Doesn’t even a small pantry have the ingredients for Lemon Crinkle Cookies, no grocery run required? The one uncommon ingredient is poppy seeds but no matter, they’re nice here but not imperative.

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Recipe Overview: Lemon Crinkle Cookies with Poppy Seeds

• Calling my fellow lemon lovers. Boy, do I have a sweet little cookie for your baking adventures today. These are little butter cookies, small in size but big in lemon flavor. The cookie dough mixes up in minutes with virtually all pantry ingredients, the exception are the poppy seeds and these are nice but not essential. The dough needs to chill for at least four hours, then is ready for baking. For an irresistible light glaze, roll small balls of cookie dough in powdered sugar before baking.

• When to Serve = Whenever you want a small, lemony bite of a cookie that's simultaneously sweet and tart. They're easy to grab, one or two or three at a time (they're small, after all ...) and they're especially good with frozen lemon treats such a lemon sherbet and lemon frozen yogurt.
• Diet Needs & Choices = The cookies are vegetarian. I think they would easily convert to gluten-free by substituting a commercial measure-for-measure gluten-free flour that's intended for non-yeast baked goods.
• Distinctive Ingredients = Lemon Zest & Juice
• Short Ingredient List = all the above + butter + sugar + 1 egg + vanilla or lemon or coconut extract + poppy seeds + baking powder and baking soda + salt + flour + powdered sugar for rolling
• For Garnish = None needed but would a little squiggle of lemon peel survive the oven? It might.
• Kitchen Tools = A mixing bowl + mixer (a hand mixer just might be preferred!) + baking sheets + parchment
• Hands-On Time = 15 minutes to mix the dough up front, 30 minutes to roll out and bake
• Refrigeration Time = 4 hours or overnight
• Appearance = The cookies are small, with golden edges and creamy-colored centers, the better to show off those poppy seeds.
• Texture = The cookies are soft in the center, a bit chewy or crispy on the outer edges.
• Taste = Lemon! Lemon! Lemon!
• Techniques = Mixing dough with a mixer + shaping dough into balls, rolling in powdered sugar + baking in the oven
• Time Friendly = This is a time-friendly cookie, just 45 minutes of hands-on time.
• Shop Your Pantry = This is a pantry-friendly recipe with the exception of the poppy seeds.
• Watching Our Waistlines = This is a calorie-friendly recipe, mostly because of the cookies' small size.
• Staying Cost Conscious = This is a budget-friendly recipe, especially if you have access to inexpensive poppy seeds at international groceries.
• Makes = 4 dozen small cookies
• So good! I hope you love these!


• Love the lemon and poppy seed combination? Me too. Check out my Easy Lemon Poppy Seed Cake, it starts with a cake mix!
• Not quite what you're looking for? Check out my other cookie recipes.

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Why I Love This Recipe & You Might Too

• ... oh my, that bright, vibrant lemon flavor
• ... somehow a lemon cookie is "just right" in so many situations when an everyday oatmeal or chocolate chip just wouldn't be
• ... it's a cookie you can't really buy, it has to be homemade
• Ready to get started? Here's your recipe!

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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this recipe inspires you, please do save and share! I'd be honored ...

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LEMON CRINKLE COOKIES with POPPYSEEDS

Hands-on time: 15 minutes to mix
Chill time: 4 hours or overnight
Roll & bake time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 6 hours
Makes 4 dozen small cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick/4oz/113g) salted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (200g) sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or lemon extract or coconut extract or ...
• Zest of a lemon
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (no skimping, really)
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring or 190g

• 1/2 cup (100g) powdered sugar, for rolling

MIX THE DOUGH With an electric mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until thick and creamy, give this some time, a good couple of minutes, scraping the side of the bowl if needed. Add the egg, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix in well until the lemon juice is completely mixed in.

Sprinkle the poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt across the top of the bowl, mix in well, again, give this a good minute or two so the ingredients are very well mixed.

Finally add the flour about a third at a time, just until mixed. After the third addition, mix until well incorporated but then stop, don't overdo it.

CHILL THE DOUGH Shape the dough into one or two rounds, cover with waxed paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.

BAKE THE COOKIES Heat the oven to 350F/180C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Form balls about 1” in diameter (12g by weight for uniform, evenly baked cookies) and roll in powdered sugar. Arrange the cookies on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between for spreading, 4x5 works well on a standard-size baking sheet.

For chewy cookies, bake for 10 minutes until bottoms are just turning gold; for crisp cookies, bake for 13 until bottoms are golden. On occasion, it's taken longer for the cookies to finish up, watch for golden edges and a firm but soft to the touch top. Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool before moving.

HOW TO SERVE Honestly, these are just nice little cookies to have on hand, a sweet bite for an afternoon pick-me-up or with a last cup of tea before bed. If you're looking for a way to officially "serve" them, they're just wonderful with lemon sorbet and lemon frozen yogurt.

SLICE 'N' BAKE A reader found the cookie dough a little sticky, even after chilling overnight, so wrapped it in plastic and froze the dough. After slicing the frozen dough to form the cookies, she sprinkled a little powdered sugar over top before baking. "Definitely a keeper!" she decided. I love this idea too, because let's say you formed four rolls for freezing, then you could bake just a quarter at a time. That's especially nice for small households. Me, I'd keep a few different rolls in the freezer, to mix it up the flavors. I think my resident "cookie monster" might like this too!

ALANNA’s TIPS Over the years, I've become increasingly unhappy with my Kitchen Aid stand mixer for cookies, the sides just need scraping over and over, the flour flies all over the place. I rarely have this issue with a hand mixer, especially since upgrading a $10 Target mixer from my earliest days on my own to this still inexpensive KitchenAid 7-speed hand mixer (affiliate link) that has a slow start. So far, I keep the big stand mixer for bread (see Is a Stand Mixer Better for Kneading Bread Dough?) but can easily imagine giving it up entirely when the time comes to downsize. Grocery-store poppy seeds come in super-pricey small jars. But good news. If you happen to have access to an international grocery, especially one with groceries from the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Iraq and Iran, you'll find big bags for just a couple of dollars. With all those poppy seeds on hand, you may want to explore my other recipes calling for poppy seeds. Store them in the fridge in an air-tight container, they'll keep for many months if not more. Don’t overlook rolling the raw cookie dough in powdered sugar, it’s what gives Lemon Crinkle Cookies that distinctive crinkle! Yep, experience talkin’. That said, if you're out of powdered sugar, no stress, just skip it. The cookies will still be bright with lemon flavor, there just won't be a sweet-tart contrast as you bite in. Most people won't notice a difference! And at least once, I used the powdered sugar but no crinkles! Huh? The poppy seeds add much to the pretty appearance but aren’t otherwise essential. Vanilla adds a sweet undertone but to really boost the flavor watch for a thick, intensely flavored syrup from LorAnn called "baking emulsion". Remember the much-loved and now much-missed Vanilla Paste from Trader Joe’s? It’s like that except in lemon, banana and other flavors. I pick up odd bottles at HomeGoods and TJMaxx but Lorann emulsions (affiliate link) are sold on Amazon too.

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2014/03/lemon-crinkle-cookies-recipe.html .

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Cookie: 54 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 9mg Cholesterol; 33mg Sodium; 8g Carb; 0g Fiber; 5g Sugar; 1g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 1 & SmartPoints 2 & Freestyle 2 & myWW green 2 & blue 2 & purple 2 & future WW points

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Lemon Lovers: More Lemon Heaven

more
~ lemon recipes ~

• THE RECIPE Brown Sugar Lemon Curd My Canadian family's signature recipe. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Coffee Pots & Lemon Pots French custards called pots de crème, lightened up.

• THE RECIPE Lemon Meringue Pie Sunny slivers of the lemony classic.
• ANOTHER TAKE Black Walnut Bread A loaf of quick bread, bright with lemon and smoky with black walnuts.

• THE RECIPE Lemon Pudding Cake Tart lemon + juicy raspberries. Or blueberries!
• ANOTHER TAKE Southern Belle Lemon Layer Cake Easy lemony cake with lemony cream cheese frosting.

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ lemon recipes ~
~ poppy seed recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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