Mini Crinkle Cookies

5 from 2 rating

Mini Crinkle Cookies

These mini crinkle cookies bake up perfectly chewy and soft and are streaked with those gorgeous powdered sugar crinkles!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Servings: 40 cookies

Calories: 91kcal

Author: Chelsey White

Equipment

3 Large Baking Sheets (preferably light-colored metal, like aluminum)
Electric Hand Mixer
Lemon Zester
1 Tbsp Cookie Scoop

Ingredients

Mini Crinkle Cookies

2 cups + 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour 275g
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar 100g
1 Tbsp lemon or orange zest (zest of 1 large lemon/orange) 6g
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 113g
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar 133g
2 large eggs, room temperature 112g
2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 10g
1 tsp lemon or orange extract (optional)
1/2 tsp yellow, pink, purple, and green gel food coloring

Cookie Dusting Mixture

2/3 cup powdered sugar 80g
2/3 cup granulated sugar 133g

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F/175 C and line three large baking sheets (preferably light-colored metal, like aluminum) with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Set aside.
Whisk together 2 cups + 3 Tbsp (275g) of flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar and the zest of a large lemon or orange (about 6g). Use your fingertips to massage the zest into the sugar. The rubbing action releases the natural oils from the zest, intensifying the citrus flavor throughout the sugar.
In a large bowl, use a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment to cream together 1/2 cup or 1 stick (113g) of unsalted butter, 2/3 cup (133g) packed brown sugar, and 1/2 cup (100g) of the citrus sugar made in the previous step. Mix on a medium-high speed until the mixture becomes lighter in color.
Then mix in 2 large eggs (112g), 2 tsp (10g) vanilla extract, and 1 tsp lemon or orange extract (optional) on a medium speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on a low speed just until incorporated. The dough should be thick and a little bit sticky!
Divide the dough into four parts. One batch of dough is about 720g, so each portion of dough should be about 180g if you make 4 different colors. Use gel food coloring to make yellow, pink, purple, and green cookie dough.
Combine 2/3 cup powdered sugar and 2/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl.
Scoop the dough using a 1 Tbsp cookie scoop, and drop each cookie dough ball directly into the powdered sugar mixture. Be sure to completely coat each cookie and aim to get a thick coating of sugar. Repeat until you've used all the dough. You should end up with 10 cookies in each color and a total of 40 cookies.
Place the cookies on the prepared sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Then lightly flatten each ball to resemble a hockey puck. Bake one sheet of cookies at a time, and bake for 9-10 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 15 minutes on the baking tray before transferring them to a wire cooling rack. Bake time can vary if you make smaller or larger cookies, so keep an eye on them! If desired, top the cookies with some additional lemon/orange zest to really make the flavor pop!
Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Video

Notes

Yield

This recipe can be used to make 40 cookies using about 1 Tbsp of dough in each cookie. The yield and bake time can vary based on the size of your cookies.

This recipe can be halved or doubled to make more or fewer cookies.

Making These Mini Crinkle Cookies in Advance and Storage Tips

You can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature. If you want to stack the cookies on top of one another, I recommend adding a layer of parchment paper between them.

Scooped cookie dough balls can be frozen for up to a month if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container. I like to move the cookie dough to the fridge the night before I plan to bake the cookies and wait to roll them in the sugar mixture until right before they're baked.

Baked cookies can also be frozen! These cookies last for up to a month if frozen in an airtight container. The only downside is that some of the powdered sugar can dissolve as they thaw, so they won't look quite as pretty!

Tips for Making the Best Mini Crinkle Cookies

Really cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the first step of this recipe. It helps incorporate air into the dough, which makes fluffy and soft cookies.
Don’t overwork your cookie dough! It can overwork the gluten and result in tough and dense cookies. Once the flour is added, mix on a slow speed just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Lightly flatten the cookie dough balls out to a consistent thickness of about 1/2 inch. This will help them spread and get those beautiful crinkles, and help the cookies bake more evenly.
Don’t overbake your cookies. Err on the side of underbaking your cookies, and remember that the cookies continue to bake for a few minutes once they’re out of the oven.

Nutrition