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
Can I just use oil in place of the butter, since it anyway must be melted?
You can, but I would actually recommend against it. Butter is imperative to the flavor and texture of snickerdoodle cookies, so the cookies won’t be quite the same if made with oil.
Hi I love lemon everything! I am Gluten Free so I was wondering if I could use my flour for this? I will also use your substitute for eggs! Thank you! Lisa Gilles
That is so sweet that he wore the cap and gown for your grandmother! I love it 🙂 And deep dish pizza, now that is the way to go. I am all over these soft and chewy cookies – lemon and cinnamon and sugar really does work and boy is it gooood. Gorgeous photos too!
You’re so sweet Mary Frances — thank you! As I remember, you have some really tempting lemon treats on your blog too… I bet my brother would go nuts for those!
Your parents have two solid kids to be proud of!! What an accomplishment for your brother, and then YOU going into chemistry, and turning your blogging passion into a HUGE success. You guys are awesome. Big congrats to your brother, these cookies look perfect.
Oh Brittany, you are just the sweetest! You made my heart all warm and fuzzy — thank you!
These are soooo amazing!!
I’m so, so glad you loved them bud!! I owe you LOTS more! ♥
How large would you say each cookie is? A teaspoon?
Each cookie uses about a tablespoon of dough. I hope you enjoy the cookies if you try them Mia!
These look LUSCIOUS! (that first photo especially!) And I love that your brother wore his cap and gown for Grandma… so cute! 🙂
Thank you so much sweetie! ♥
Amy of all your cookies, I would have to say these are my favorite !! and why have I never thought to use butter extract to reduce the butter used…duh
You’re so sweet Heather — thank you! I love butter extract, and it makes homemade vanilla cakes taste just like the classic boxed funfetti mixes too. It’s so versatile!
Scrumptious! I made these cookies last night, I ate the first cookie after it had cooled 10 minutes on the cookie sheet, it was warm, chewy with a slightly crispy crust from the butter and sugar. I ate five more after they had cooled on the wire rack, these were chewy and crispier. Got up this morning and had three for breakfast with my coffee, these were buttery, chewy and crispy. I ended up making 26 cookies, I was originally using a rounded tablespoon for measuring out my cookie balls that was only going to yield 18, so did a little less than a tablespoon. I will make these again, they are delicious and easy to make. I might roll them in cinnamon sugar next time.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies Vicky! That’s quite a compliment if they’re disappearing that quickly, so thank you! 🙂
could i brown the butter to add more flavor to the cookie? Also, how much sugar can i reduce without affecting the texture of the cookie too much?
Yes, you could brown the butter if you’d like Lina! However, I do not recommend reducing the sugar since it’s necessary for both taste and texture. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
This looks so good! Just wondering — whats the cornstarch for?
Thanks Marie! The cornstarch keeps the cookies very soft by absorbing moisture from the dough. I hope you enjoy them!