These lemon cake mix cookies are soft, chewy and bursting with lemon flavor. What makes these lemon cookies from cake mix the best recipe is that you only need a few simple ingredients to make them. They’re the perfect light and refreshing cookie all year long!
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
I have quite a few cake mix recipes on the blog. My Lemon Poke Cake, Lemon Dump Cake, Strawberry Crunch Cake, Strawberry Brownies, Brownies from Cake Mix, Apple Cobbler from Cake Mix and Peach Cobbler with Cake Mix are all quick, easy and delicious cake mix recipes. These Lemon cake cookies are the perfect addition to my growing collection of cake mix recipes.
- Only 6 ingredients: You only need a handful of basic ingredients to make a batch of these easy lemon cookies.
- Easy one bowl cookies: These lemon cake batter cookies come together in one bowl. Just mix everything together in one bowl, chill until thickened, roll in the sugar and bake!
- Lots of flavors and textures: These lemon cake mix cookies are soft, light and fluffy with a powdered sugar crinkle coating. They’re sweet, tart and bursting with lemon flavor.
Ingredients
Before I show you how to make lemon cookies, make sure you have these simple ingredients ready to go!
Gather your preferred lemon cake mix, oil, eggs, a lemon (zest and juice), granulated and powdered sugar.
Substitutions
Making lemon cookies with a cake mix is super simple. Here are my recommended substitutions.
- Lemon Cake Mix: Any brand or type of lemon cake mix works perfectly in this recipe. I personally love to use Betty Crocker moist lemon cake mix.
- Oil: Any type of neutral tasting oil will work well in this cake mix brownie recipe. Butter can also be used. For this recipe, melt a little more than 5 tablespoon butter.
- Eggs: This lemon cake mix cookie recipe hasn’t been without eggs.
- Lemon: These easy lemon cookies use the zest and juice of one lemon. If needed, substitute with 1-2 teaspoons lemon extract.
- Powdered and Granulated Sugar: For the lemon crinkle cookie look, roll the cookies in powdered sugar. I recommend rolling the lemon cookie dough in granulated sugar first, followed by powdered sugar.
How To Make
Ready to learn how to make lemon crinkle cookies from cake mix in a few easy steps? Perfect, let’s bake!
- Whisk or beat the the cake mix, eggs and oil together until well combined.
- Zest the full lemon directly into the lemon cake mix batter. Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice. Mix together until well combined. Cover the cake mix and chill for 30-60 minutes or until the lemon cake cookie dough holds a ball shape. The dough will be very sticky.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the lemon cake mix cookie dough into the granulated sugar. Roll the lemon cookie dough in granulated sugar until coated. Roll the cookie dough in powdered sugar.
4. Place the lemon cake mix cookies on the baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are set. Cool on the hot baking sheet for 3 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to fully cool and enjoy!
How To Store, Freeze and Thaw
- Store leftover lemon cake cookies: In an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
- Freeze lemon cake mix cookies: Make sure the lemon crinkle cookies are completely cooled to room temperature. Place the baked cookies on a cookie sheet or large plate. Freeze in the freezer for 30-45 minutes or until frozen. Transfer the cookies to an airtight, freezer proof container. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- To thaw the cookies: The easiest and tastiest way to thaw your lemon cookies from cake mix is to let it sit out at room temperature for at least two hours.
M’s Expert Tips
- Add lemon zest and juice: The lemon cake mix already contains lemon flavoring, but adding zest and juice makes these cookies full of so much lemon flavor!
- Chill the lemon cake cookie dough: This cookie dough is very sticky. Chilling the dough for 30 - 60 minutes makes it easier to work with. A quick rest also helps prevent the cookies from spreading in the oven.
- Use a cookie scoop: I highly recommend using a cookie scoop to transfer the lemon cake mix cookie dough from the mixing bowl into the sugar. Once the cookies are rolled in the sugar, the dough becomes easy to roll and place on a baking sheet.
- Use granulated and powdered sugar: Rolling the lemon cookies in the granulated sugar first allows the powdered sugar to stick to the cookie much more easily. When the cookies bake, the crinkle appearance is very defined.
- Cool the cookies for 3 minutes: Cooling the cookies for 3-4 minutes on the hot cookie sheet allows the cookies to firm up enough to transfer to the cooling rack. Leaving the cookies on the hot baking sheet for longer can result in cookies with more crunchy bottoms.
FAQ's
Lemon zest contains the lemon oils which have more lemon flavor than lemon juice. Using lemon zest adds lots of lemon flavor without adding too much liquid. If you want to add more lemon flavor without adjusting the dry ingredients, add more lemon zest.
Yes! But the end result won’t be lemon cookies. Simply swap the cake mix flavor and add-ins and follow the recipe as written.
This cake mix lemon cookie recipe calls for 2 total eggs. This can be a little confusing since the lemon cake mix also lists ingredients on the box. Think of the boxed cake mix as the “dry ingredients” and the other ingredients in the recipe as the “wet ingredients.”
Other Lemon Recipes to Try
- Lemon Muffins
- Lemon Loaf
- Lemon Lavender Cookie Bars
- Lemonade Bundt Cake
- Lemon Earl Grey Tart
- Lemon Olive Oil Loaf Cake
If you try this Lemon Cake Mix Cookies Recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! - M
Lemon Cake Mix Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- 1 electric or stand mixer
- 1 tablespoon sized cookie scoop
- 2 large baking sheets
- 1 parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 15.25 oz lemon cake mix
- ⅓ cup (79 ml) oil or melted butter
- 2 large eggs (US), room temperature
- 1 lemon (zest and juice)
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (30 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk or beat the the cake mix, eggs and oil together until well combined.
- Zest the full lemon directly into the lemon cake mix batter. Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice. Mix together until well combined.
- Cover the cake mix and chill for 30-60 minutes or until the lemon cake cookie dough holds a ball shape. The dough will be very sticky.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the lemon cake mix cookie dough into the granulated sugar. Roll the lemon cookie dough in granulated sugar until coated. Roll the cookie dough in powdered sugar.
- Place the lemon cake mix cookies on the baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are set.
- Cool on the hot baking sheet for 3 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to fully cool and enjoy!
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