These bright and cheery lemon pudding crinkle cookies are a cinch to make with a box of pudding mix!
You’ll love the pretty color and flavor of these lemon pudding cookies–perfect for any time of the year!
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You know those days when you want a homemade dessert or sweet treat that feels special but doesn’t require a lot of effort?
That’s exactly what these lemon pudding cookies are for! In fact, my husband has said they’re in his top 3 favorite cookies that I make.
I’m a sucker for lemon dessert recipes, and these cookies are no exception.
In our household, we enjoy lemon treats at all times of year, but I think they’re especially perfect for spring and summer.
The zippy lemon flavor and pretty yellow color just brings its own cheer!
Whether it’s lemon poppyseed bread, lemon ice cream, lemon syrup cake, lemon bundt cake, pistachio lemon bars, lemon pistachio cookies, lemon cobbler, lemon curd cookies, lemon cake, Instant Pot lemon cheesecake, or these easy lemon pudding cookies, you simply can’t go wrong!
The Easy Way to Make Lemon Cookies
The great thing about using lemon pudding mix in any dessert recipe is that it adds both color, sweetness, and flavor. Triple whammy.
I use a similar shortcut when I make my strawberry Jello cookies and my lime Jello cookies!
These crinkle cookies use ordinary staple ingredients you most likely already have on hand, so the only thing you probably need to grab from the store is the lemon pudding mix itself.
You’ll simply mix up the cookie batter and roll it in powdered sugar, which is what gives that pretty crinkle that looks like snow!
Enjoy these sweet and tangy cookies–they’re like enjoying lemonade in cookie form and I know they won’t last long!
How to Make Lemon Pudding Cookies
It’s really easy to make these crinkle cookies with a box of lemon pudding!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Lemon Crinkle Cookies:
- Butter
- Sugar
- Egg
- Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt
- Milk
- Lemon Pudding Mix
- Lemon Extract
- Flour
- Salt
- Baking Soda
- Powdered Sugar
How to Make the Recipe:
(Full printable recipe is available below)
Cream butter and sugar. First, you’ll use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugar.
Then you’ll add the egg and sour cream and mix that until it’s combined.
Make it lemon. Next you’ll add the milk, lemon pudding mix, and lemon extract. If you want a brighter yellow color, you can add in some yellow food coloring now, but I chose not to.
Add dry ingredients. Last, you’ll gradually add in the flour, salt, and baking soda, mixing just until combined.
Roll and bake. Scoop batter out by tablespoon and roll into a ball, then roll into the powdered sugar to coat it well.
Bake them and let them cool, and you’ll have a lovely crinkle cookie–perfect for Easter, Mother’s Day, baby showers, bridal showers, tea parties, or just a regular old Tuesday!
Lemon Pudding Crinkle Cookies
These easy lemon pudding cookies are bright, zippy cookies with a soft and chewy interior.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 TBSP milk
- 3.4-oz box of instant lemon pudding mix
- 1 TBSP lemon extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Powdered sugar, for rolling cookies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
- Add egg and sour cream, mixing until combined.
- Add milk, pudding mix, and lemon extract, mixing to combine well.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
- Roll dough out by rounded tablespoon, forming a ball in your hands. Roll the ball in powdered sugar and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, until just starting to turn golden-brown but still soft in the middle.
- Allow to cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
36Serving Size:
1 cookieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 96Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 83mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 0gSugar: 9gProtein: 1g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.
Recommended Equipment:
- Stand mixer or handheld electric mixer
- Baking sheet
- Silicone mat
Made these for a cookie bake off at work. They were a great hit. I drizzled lemon icing over them. Delicious!!!!
Thank you, Susan–so glad they were a hit! 🙂
My family loves these cookies and we will definitely make them time & time again!
I’m glad to hear that your family enjoyed them, Richard! 🙂
These cookies turned out great my hubby loved them, I mixed 1/4 cup cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter, also did not have lemon extract so I used lemon zest and lemon juice
Hi Karen! Thank you for your kind words–I’m so glad the cookies were a hit with your hubby! Thank you for sharing the substitutions you used as well. 🙂
Do NOT freeze the dough beforehand. I froze the dough in balls the night before baking them in order to save time. it took super long to cook and they came out thin and sticky. it does not even remotely have the texture of a cookie, its more a sticky toffee mess that is difficult to clean. I was also very foolish and did not put any parchment paper, so I had to scrap off tons of goop so if you decide to make these, definately do not freeze the dough and do not forget the parchment paper.
Most of my “cookie goop” went straight into the garbage.
I’m so sorry you had such an unfortunate mess, Becky, but I appreciate you letting us know! Sometimes pudding mix does strange things at different temperatures, so that’s probably the culprit. I haven’t personally tried freezing the dough for these, so thank you for sharing.
Do these use instant or cooked pudding mix?
Hi Joya! I use dry instant pudding mix (so just the packet from the box, not prepared). Enjoy! 🙂
Is it really 1 tablespoon of lemon extract?!
Tasted and smell pretty strong as a dough.
Hoping it bakes off a bit!!
Hi Julie! Yes, I do use a full tablespoon of extract. You can always use less if you prefer, but hopefully you enjoyed them! 🙂
Hu. I just tried to make these cookies. The dough is really sticky and there is no way it can be rolled in my hand so I just used a cookie scoop. What do you think happened to the batter?
Hi Ruthie! I’m sorry to hear that! I’m not sure what happened–the dough shouldn’t be too sticky to handle. You could always try greasing your hands before rolling, or adding an extra 1/4 cup of flour to the cookie dough to make it easier to handle, if needed. Or your solution of using a cookie scoop is fine, too! 🙂
PLEASE edit the recipe to show INSTANT pudding mix so the next baker who wants to make the recipe won’t have to read through the entire comments section to find the answer.
Hi there! Thanks for the suggestion–I will update the recipe for clarity. Instant pudding packages are typically a different amount in ounces than Cook and Serve pudding packages, which can be helpful to know as well, so you can match the ounces from the recipe to your package. Hope that helps! 🙂
I refrigerated for 10 minutes before baking and while each batch cooked. That got rid of some of the stickiness.
Made a second batch with Pistacchio pudding and almond extract. Both were a big hit
Thank you, Jenn! I’m so glad to hear they were a hit!
Delicious! Made the exact recipe, but I only had the 2.9 oz Cook and Serve lemon pudding box on hand, so I used that (dry) instead. Worked just fine.
Hi Nancy! Thanks for letting us know that the cook and serve pudding worked well–I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies! 🙂
Can these be made into bars? If so, what size pan to use? How long to bake at what temperature?
Hi Kay! Unfortunately, I haven’t tried it myself, so I’m not sure if it would work. But you’ve given me an idea to try the next time I make them! 🙂
How do you measure your flour? Scoop and sweep or spoon and sweep?
Hi Erin! I use the scoop and sweep method. Hope that helps! 🙂