Gluten-Free Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Gluten-Free Lemon Crinkle Cookies

While cookies aren’t my favorite dessert, there are a few that I have a soft spot for. Soft, delicate lemon cookies covered in a powdered sugar glaze are definitely one of those few.

Even though there’s no chocolate in these, I find them just as addicting as if there were. The outside is sweet and glazed while the inside is chewy and slightly tart from the lemon. They’re perfect in the morning or after dinner with a cup of tea. And while fresh lemon juice surely would make these cookies taste amazing, using the plastic lemon juice is just as good, too.

Gluten-Free Lemon Crinkle Cookies Tea

The hardest part of making these cookies(which aren’t really hard at all) is getting the consistency of the dough right to shape them. When they’re too dry, the dough crumbles; adding a little bit of lemon juice to get them to the texture of Play-Doh makes them just right for shaping into cookies.

Gluten-Free Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 18 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 16 cookies):

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice + extra
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Gluten-Free Lemon Crinkle Cookies Sugar

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and baking powder until evenly mixed.
  3. Add in the oil, egg, extracts and lemon juice and mix the dough together by hand.
  4. Mold the dough into 1-inch balls and then flatten them gently into a cookie shape in your hands. If the dough is too dry and crumbles, add a little more lemon juice to wet it and bring it to the right consistency.
  5. With clean hands, pour the powdered sugar into a shallow bowl or dish.
  6. Drop the cookies on both sides onto the powdered sugar to coat the outside.
  7. Put the sugar-covered cookies onto a non-stick baking tray and repeat until all of the dough is used up.
  8. Bake for 18 minutes.
  9. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely before moving them.
  10. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature when not enjoying.

Gluten-Free Lemon Crinkle Cookies Stack

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20 Responses to Gluten-Free Lemon Crinkle Cookies
  1. Heather
    June 17, 2013 | 3:53 pm

    i loooove lemon! a couple of questions – what brand of flour do you use? does it contain xanthan gum? and do you think i could use coconut instead of vegetable oil? thanks!

    • Wannabe Chef
      June 17, 2013 | 3:57 pm

      I use Bob’s Red Miil’s which doesn’t have xantham gum. I would recommend any oil that’s liquid at room temperature, so if it’s generally hot where you live and above the melting point for coconut oil then it should be fine.

  2. Shelby
    June 18, 2013 | 4:44 pm

    What would be the measurement for coconut flour? These sound really good but that is all I have?

    • Wannabe Chef
      June 18, 2013 | 5:22 pm

      Coconut flour acts very differently in baking than all-purpose flour. You would have to use a different recipe.

  3. Stefanie B
    June 19, 2013 | 10:28 am

    Could you use rice flour?

    • Wannabe Chef
      June 19, 2013 | 11:04 am

      I haven’t baked much with rice flour. The all-purpose flour I use has rice flour in it but I suspect the other flours in it are also necessary for the taste and texture.

  4. Heidi
    June 19, 2013 | 7:35 pm

    New to gluten free cooking. How do you thing almond flour would work?

    • Wannabe Chef
      June 19, 2013 | 9:16 pm

      Almond flour can be used in place of all-purpose flour in some recipes but I don’t think it would work well in this one without some sort of starch

  5. Hannah
    June 19, 2013 | 7:45 pm

    If I used regular gluten-y all-purpose flour, would I have to change anything?

    • Wannabe Chef
      June 19, 2013 | 9:17 pm

      I haven’t tried it but the all-purpose gluten-free flour I use says it’s a 1:1 swap for regular all purpose flour so it should work.

  6. sk
    June 23, 2013 | 1:02 pm

    I was wondering what purpose beating in the egg served?

    If I know the purpose then I could possibly substitute it with a vegan substitute.

    • Wannabe Chef
      June 23, 2013 | 7:50 pm

      The egg’s important for binding these, especially without the gluten in the flour to hold them together.

  7. Monica
    July 13, 2013 | 1:47 am

    I love anything lemon and want to make but Do I need to add the egg? Could you suggest an acceptable sub for someone trying to transition to vegan?

    • Wannabe Chef
      July 13, 2013 | 3:22 pm

      The egg’s an important binder without the gluten to hold it all together. You could certainly try an egg-substitute product or a flax egg but I can’t guarantee that it’d work.

  8. Joyce
    August 23, 2013 | 6:04 pm

    Hi, first time baking gluten free. My cookies did not crinkle. Can you shed some light on why?

    Most grateful for help,

    Thank you

    • Joyce
      August 25, 2013 | 9:01 pm

      Well I seem to have answered my own question. I simply pressed the cookies flatter and that solved it. Have to tell you though, like them slightly under baked. Thanks for your recipe. I’ll check back with you again!

      Joyce

      • Wannabe Chef
        August 25, 2013 | 9:10 pm

        Im glad you figured it out! Couldn’t think of any reason other than not enough sugar.

  9. […] have all the ingredients so did a little experiment.  You can find the original recipe here.  These cookies were amazingly quick and easy, and best of all – easy clean up – you […]

  10. […] really nice cookie to go with a cuppa tea on a cold winter day.   Checkout the recipe: Gluten free Lemon Crinkle Cookies Milton Cooks Challenge: Winter […]

  11. i loved this
    May 29, 2014 | 2:28 pm

    i loved this

    Gluten-Free Lemon Crinkle Cookies | The Wannabe Chef