Lemon crinkle cheesecake cookies

Name: Lemon crinkle cheesecake cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 12 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup castor sugar (+ more for rolling); 1 lemon zest; 1/2 cup softened butter; Pinch of turmeric powder; 1 tbsp flax seed meal; 2 tbsp lemon juice; 1 cup flour; 3 tbsp corn flour; 1/2 tsp baking powder; Pinch of salt; 1/4 cup cream cheese (full fat); 2 tbsp heavy cream; 1 tsp lemon juice

Soft lemon cookie dough stuffed with cream cheese filling, rolled in sugar and baked. They are fudgy, chewy and lemony. A simple eggless cookie recipe.

These cookies were a dream. Apart from loving lemon anything I wanted to marry the flavors of lemon drizzle cake and a cheesecake without it becoming tooth numbingly sweet. That’s how they were born.

The cookie dough is eggless and I use flax seed meal to bind it together but that also helps balance the sweetness. We use lemon zest and juice in this cookie dough to give it a kick of lemon. The cheesecake filling is cream cheese and whipping cream. I don’t like to sweeten it as I want that saltiness to balance out the sweetness from the cookie dough.

I must admit, it took me a while to figure out a name for these cookies, they are lemon crinkle but they are also stuffed with cheesecake and they are soft but still every bit of a cookie. I asked my lovely ninjas on Instagram to help me decide and they choose this name. Thank you to my ninjas for helping a sister out!

What ingredients do you need to make these Lemon crinkle cheesecake cookies?

Lemons –

Shocker, I know. But we need fresh lemon to make these cookies. The box and extract won’t do the trick here. We are using the lemon zest and juice to make these cookies to give it that extra lemon flavor.

Flour –

I have used all purpose flour here, you can use cake flour as well to make these cookies. The recipe works well with a gluten free flour blend mixture.

Butter –

I have used salted butter that is room temperature or slightly melted as well. You can use unsalted and you can also use a vegan butter to keep this recipe vegan.

Sugar –

The recipe calls for castor sugar or granulated sugar or superfine sugar.

Turmeric powder –

These cookies are lemon cookies, so visually we are expecting lemon yellowish looking cookies. The zest and juice do not add enough color to the dough but a little pinch of turmeric powder does the trick. You don’t taste it in the cookie.

Flax seed meal –

This is basically flax seeds ground into a powder and it keeps the cookie eggless, you could use egg replacer powder, chia seed meal or if you are okay with consuming eggs, you can use a whole egg.

Cream cheese filling –

We need cream cheese and heavy cream that is beaten together until smooth. It must be full fat cream cheese and heavy creamy or else the filling will be very loose and ooze out of the cookie while baking.

Vegan option –

To make this recipe vegan, use a plant based butter, cream cheese and heavy cream. It works well.

What equipment do you need to make these Lemon crinkle cheesecake cookies?

To make the cookie dough we need a mixing bowl and rubber spatula. I like to scoop the dough using an ice cream scoop for even portions. The cheesecake filling is mixed in a bowl with a spoon. The cookies are baked in a baking tray lined with baking paper in the oven.

How to make these Lemon crinkle cheesecake cookies?

Preheat the oven to 180℃, line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside. In a large mixing bowl add the sugar and grate over the lemon zest. Rub the sugar and zest for a couple of minutes. Add the butter and mix until combined. Add the turmeric powder and mix well. Add the flax seed meal and mix until combined. Add the flour and salt, stir until smooth. Cover with a cling wrap and place in the fridge for 10 mins. In the mean time we can make the cheesecake filling, in another bowl add the room temperature cream cheese and beat well to break it up with a spoon. Stir until smooth, add the heavy cream and stir well until combined. Place in the fridge. Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and using a ice cream scoop, portion the dough. Time to get shaping and filling, remove the cheesecake filling from the fridge. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll into a ball and flatten between the palms of your hands. Add a teaspoon worth of the cheesecake mixture into the middle and using another piece of flattened cookie dough covered seal the edges. Roll between your palms into a ball being gentle, roll into sugar and place on the baking tray. Repeat until done, the dough should give you 10 large cookies. Bake for 10-12 mins. Let them cool down before serving.

Storing these Lemon crinkle cheesecake cookies?

Once these cookies are baked they store well at room temperate in an air tight container for 2 days. If you are storing them longer, place the container in the fridge for up to 1 week. The cookies can be frozen for up to 1 month as well. The stuffed and shaped cookies can be frozen raw in zip lock bags. When ready to eat, let them sit on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes before rolling in sugar and baking.

Now that we have covered how to make Lemon crinkle cheesecake cookies, you can have a look at the recipe video on my socials but let’s get to it. Don’t forget to follow along for more fun recipe inspiration.

If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to share it with me on instagram so I can see how it turned out. I’d love nothing more than to chat with you on your cooking/baking.