Name: Lemon Crinkle Cake Mix Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 (15.25 oz) box lemon cake mix; 1/3 cup vegetable oil (canola oil can be substituted); juice of 1 lemon; zest of 1 lemon; 2 eggs; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 3/4 cup powdered sugar (for coating)

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Lemon crinkle cake mix cookies are soft, cakey, and bursting with lemon flavor. Nothing says springtime like lemon flavored baked goods and the best part is, you’d never guess these are made from a box of cake mix!

Why you’ll love this recipe:

In my opinion, cake mix cookies are completely underrated! The cake mix does most of the work for you and they don’t require nearly as many ingredients to make compared to regular cookies.

With only one bowl, 7 ingredients, and less than 20 minutes, you’ll be on your way to enjoying some of the most delicious and easy lemon cookie recipes out there!

Ingredients you’ll need for easy lemon crinkle cookies:

Lemon cake mix
Vegetable oil- canola oil works too
Fresh lemon juice
Lemon zest
Eggs
Vanilla extract
Powdered sugar

We all know about chocolate crinkle cookies, but how about we make them with lemon?Crinkle cookies are a classic holiday cookie. They get their name from their crinkled looking tops. Cookie dough gets rolled in powdered sugar and as the cookies bake, they puff up and the powdered sugar-coating cracks apart.

How to make the best lemon crinkle cake mix cookies:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a large mixing bowl, combine lemon cake mix, vegetable oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix to form a soft dough.
Add powdered sugar to another bowl, then working one by one, drop in heaping scoops of dough. Toss each dough ball to coat thoroughly in powdered sugar.
Transfer to the baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are barely browned.
Let cool completely on the baking sheets before enjoying.

These cookies are loaded with fresh lemon flavor and the perfect balance of tart and sweet. Using fresh real lemon zest and juice adds tons of lemon flavor to these crinkle cookies and their pillowy, cakey interior is just the cherry on top!

My top tips:

I recommend using a “super moist” variety of lemon cake mix for these cookies. This makes the cookies super tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious! I’ve found that Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker both have great options for lemon cake mix.
Zest your lemons before juicing! You need the juice and zest of 1 whole lemon for this recipe- but it’s so much easier to zest a lemon while it’s still in one piece so remember to zest before you squeeze of the juice and flatten the lemon!
Refrigerating the cookie dough is not required in this recipe, but beware the dough is very soft. Because of this, I like using a triggered cookie scoop to release scoops of dough into the powdered sugar. This just makes coating them in powdered sugar a little less messy!
Be sure that you are thoroughly coating the exterior of each cookie in powdered sugar! It might feel like you’re doing too much, but keep in mind some of it will dissolve into the moisture of the cookies as they bake. This way, you’ll still get a good contrast of colors between the white powdered sugar and bright yellow lemon cookies as the tops crinkle.
Try not to overbake these cookies. I recommend taking them out just as you see the edges starting to brown. Keep in the mind the cookies will continue to bake even out of the oven from the residual heat on your baking trays.

Looking for more easy cookie recipes? Try these out!

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