Because graduation celebrations never finish right as the ceremony ends—even if you turn hoarse from cheering for your younger brother for earning the highest number of A+ grades in the history of the school’s major!—my family planned a full day of festivities for last Friday.
After snapping a few cell phone pictures outside of the theater, my parents and I hustled back to the parking garage and drove halfway across town. Instead of fighting the crowds and waiting for hours at one of the over-booked restaurants near campus, we ordered two fancy deep-dish pizzas to go from one of the best pizzerias in Northern California, which we brought back to my brother’s apartment along with a selection of ice cream and sorbet.
Despite the massive amount of cheese and sauce and meat and toppings, those two pizzas almost entirely disappeared within half an hour! All courtesy of our family, my brother’s friends, and his best friend’s family too. (And now I want to try baking my own deep-dish pizza…) But before any of us could fall fast asleep into a food coma…
We dashed back down to the car, parallel parked on the busy city streets, and drove the 45 minutes to my parents’ house in the suburbs. After Dad took a brief nap, we headed over to my grandma’s. With her slow creaky knees, it would’ve been too hard for her to walk up the hilly city streets to attend the ceremony, so my brother donned his cap and gown again to surprise her. It was the perfect sweet ending to the celebratory day!
Just like these chewy Skinny Lemon-doodles were the perfect sweet surprise for my brother! Because it’s his favorite flavor, I declared this Lemon Week on the blog to celebrate his graduation. We kicked it off with this lemon blueberry breakfast loaf, and now with these cookies… Well, let’s just say my brother barely shared a single bite!
Because most of the ingredients are fairly predictable and straightforward, let’s highlight the two main ones that provide these cookies with their iconic flavor. First up, the lemon zest. The zest from two lemons adds all of the sunshiny citrus taste—no juice required! The oils in the peel pack in quite a flavor punch. If you can find them, I highly recommend Meyer lemons because they’re slightly sweeter.
Secondly, the butter extract. This adds the sweet, buttery, almost cake-batter flavor that all snickerdoodle cookies have without excess butter from traditional recipes. Almost all grocery stores stock it on the baking aisle near the vanilla extract. (If you have a Walmart nearby, they also sell a big bottle on their wedding aisle!) If you can’t find butter extract, you can substitute vanilla, but the cookies won’t have the same iconic taste.
A final quick optional ingredient note… My brother is actually lactose-intolerant and allergic to eggs, so every cookie recipe I create for him contains neither! If you omit eggs from your diet as well, I highly recommend Ener-G. It’s an egg replacement that’s a shelf-stable powder and keeps for ages. Just whisk a little Ener-G with warm water, let it rest for 5 minutes, and it’ll behave just like an egg in this cookie recipe!
And of course, you can’t make snickerdoodles without the sparkly sugar coating! It almost looks like little glittering diamonds, don’t you think? After rolling it in the sugar and placing it on the baking sheet, you must flatten the cookie dough to your desired thickness and width. These cookies do not spread at all while baking!
But the cookies are still extremely soft, chewy, sweet, and perfect for any lemon lover! Somehow I think I’m going to bake these every time I see my brother this summer… He loves them that much!
| Skinny Lemon-doodles | | Print |
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour (measured correctly)
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2-3 tbsp lemon zest (about 2 medium lemons)
- 4 tbsp (48g) unsalted butter*, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites*, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp butter extract
- 1 ¼ cups (240g) granulated sugar, divided
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla, and butter extract. Stir in 1 cup of granulated sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring until incorporated.
- Add the remaining granulated sugar to a small bowl. Roll the cookie dough into 24 balls. Working with one ball at a time, roll in the granulated sugar, and place onto the prepared baking sheets. Flatten to the desired thickness and width. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Butter extract can be found on the baking aisle near the vanilla extract. It provides the iconic snickerdoodle taste without the excess butter of traditional recipes. If you cannot find butter extract, substitute vanilla extract instead, but the flavor won’t quite be the same.
Do not substitute stevia for the sugar; it does not work in this recipe because it changes the texture of the cookie dough and will make your cookies dry.
If the cookie dough is too sticky to roll, chill for at least 30 minutes. These cookies do not spread in the oven, so you must flatten the cookie dough before baking.
This recipe is easily halved if needed.
{vegan, low fat, low calorie}
More fun snickerdoodle recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ Pumpkin Snickerdoodles by Dessert for Two
♥ Chocolate Mocha Snickerdoodles by Crazy for Crust
♥ Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Blondies by Averie Cooks
♥ Snickery-doodles by Sally’s Baking Addiction
My first recipe from your site and they are soooo good! I live in a country without typical lemons in the supermarket but I subbed a really yummy lime/lemon cross and it’s so great! Will be trying more 🙂
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Kelly! Thank you for taking the time to let me know! 🙂 That means so much to me that you want to try more of my recipes — I can’t wait to hear what you pick next!
Hi Amy, I just happened upon your site. I’m looking for ways to reduce sugar. How do I bake a tasty treat with less sugar? Some of the sugar subs cause GI problems. I’m not sure what to do.
Thank you.
TB
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes, Teri! If you’re looking for a particular recipe in which to reduce the sugar, then I recommend using the “Recipes” tab at the top of my blog or use the Search Bar (located at the top of my blog, if you’re viewing on a computer, or the bottom of my blog, if you’re viewing on a mobile device). Additionally, if you click on the “Recipes” tab, there are a categories for low sugar recipes and sugar-free recipes. That may be helpful to you!
Then once you pick out a recipe to try, I’m happy to help you figure out how to modify it if the sugar content or sweetener options don’t work for your particular diet. These modifications do vary with each recipe, so I can’t give you a “blanket statement” modification or alternative. But I’m always happy to help you modify individual recipes! 🙂
(And If you’re looking for a low sugar alternative to these lemon snickerdoodles, then I recommend this recipe of mine instead! I’d love to hear what you think if you try those cookies!)
Sharon W. Says
Just made these. Scrumptious. Took a little time to prepare but was worth it. I would definitely recommend putting in the refrigerator for 1/2 to 1 hour before rolling in your hands.
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Sharon! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know — that truly means a lot to me! 🙂
Hi stevia will make these cookies dry… would granulated xylitol be ok? or it would cause the same problem? must be sugar?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Kathryn! I don’t have enough experience with xylitol to know whether it’ll work. However, if you have access to Lakanto’s 1:1 classic monk fruit sweetener (this one!), that would work! If you substitute this sweetener for the granulated sugar, you’ll also need to add 5 tablespoons of milk (any kind will work!) to the cookie dough. This is just because Lakanto’s monk fruit/erythritol sweetener both dissolves in and absorbs differently in liquids. However, the cookies’ sweetness level and texture will remain the same!
I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you try making them!
Tried these last night, and they were FANTASTIC. To up the nutritional value a tad, I used white whole wheat flour, and they were still adorable!
They were delicious! So chewy and soft, and yet the edges have a wonderful soft crunch to them. Amazing flavor. I can’t say enough about these. And butter extract is my new favorite thing for baking!!! Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Delaney!! That really means the world to me that you’d take the time to share your sweet comment and rate my recipe. Thank you so, SO much!! 🙂
Forgot to rate on my above comment 🙂
I checked this recipe several times once I had all the ingredients together. Doesn’t seem to be enough moisture. When I tried flattening them, they are a crumbly mess. And I have a degree in Home Ec.
I’m honored that you tried making my recipe, Beth! That sounds frustrating and not like how these cookies should turn out, so I’d love to help figure out what happened. 🙂 Did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? How did you measure the flour, with a kitchen scale or measuring cups? If the latter, did you use the method I outlined at the “measured correctly” link in the Ingredients list? (My links are the pink-colored text — I know that can be easy to miss!)
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I should have a much better idea of the potential culprit once I know your answers to all of them!
Um what if i don’t have unsalted butter ?? 🥺 I really wanna try this recipe.
I’m honored that you’d like to try making these cookies, Tiffany! You can substitute coconut oil, salted butter, or stick-style vegan butter, if you happen to have any of those. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these snickerdoodles if you try making them!
Hi Amy, I’ve done this recipe with almond plant butter- and they were great by the way, but this time I only have coconut oil. Will that affect the texture of the cookie? I’ve never used coconut oil jn a cookie before.
Yes! Coconut oil will work perfectly in place of the butter in these cookies. I actually use it ALL the time in my cookie recipes! If any of my cookie recipes call for melted butter, you can definitely substitute melted coconut oil. 🙂 I’m so glad that you’ve been enjoying your almond butter version, and I’d to hear what you think of them when made with coconut oil too, Cynthia!
It was really good. Super fluffy and soft. I even made a double batch! Can I freeze these by the way?
I’m so glad you enjoyed this version too, Cynthia! That really means a lot that you’d make a double batch too! 🙂 This is one of the few cookie recipes of mine that I don’t recommend freezing. The sugar coating doesn’t thaw very well; it just sort of dissolves, which changes the texture of the cookies. I wish that weren’t the case… It’d be so nice if these froze as well as other cookie recipes! 😉
These look really good! I was wondering if they can be made with a gluten free one-to-one flour. I make cookies for church on Sunday mornings and always try to haave a gluten free option. Thanks!
You’re so kind and thoughtful to make cookies for church and try to include a GF option Pam! I think a store-bought gluten-free flour blend should work (this is the one I use most!), as long as it’s measured carefully.
I’m so sorry I’m just now responding. I had some family things I needed to take care of, but if you do end up making them, I’d love to hear how your cookies turn out!
How many calories are in one cookie? I didn’t see a number, though i may have missed it