Easy 3-Ingredient Lemon Crinkle Cookies Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

This 3-Ingredient Lemon Crinkle Cookies Recipe is the easiest cookie recipe you’ll make! But don’t let the simplicity fool you. They are packed with sweet, fresh lemon flavor, and the texture is divine!

These soft and chewy cookies are dusted with powdered sugar, taking them to the next level. These easy lemon crinkle cookies are some of my favorite Christmas cookies, but they are perfect all year — fall, winter, spring, and summer!

Ingredient notes

• Cake mix | Choose your favorite lemon cake mix from your grocery store in the baking aisle. I used Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Lemon Supreme for my chewy lemon cookies.
• Whipped topping | Bring the cookie dough to life with frozen whipped topping, like the famous Cool Whip. 
• Powdered Sugar | Roll the lemon crinkles in powdered sugar for delicate sweetness and the crinkle effect.

How to make Lemon Cake Mix Cookies

Make this mouth-watering lemon cookies recipe with just three basic ingredients and a few simple steps!

STEP 1 |  Combine cookie dough

First, set the oven temperature to 350° F.

In the meantime, add the box cake mix and whipped topping to a large bowl, mixing with a spoon until fully incorporated. Yep, it is that easy!

STEP 2 | Scoop the cookies

Next, use an ice cream scoop or a medium cookie scoop to portion out each ball of dough. Place the balls into a separate bowl with powdered sugar.

STEP 3 | Coat with powdered sugar 

Then, use a fork to roll the cookie dough balls until they are coated with the powdered sugar and set them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

This way, your hands stay clean, and the ball keeps its scooped shape.

STEP 4 | Bake, cool, and enjoy!

Lastly, slip the baking sheet into the preheated oven to bake for about 12 minutes. Then, remove the cookies, letting them cool on the sheet pan for a few minutes.

Once cooled enough to handle, you can move the cookies to a wire rack to continue cooling, but it’s not necessary.

And all that’s left is to dig into the freshly baked lemon Cool Whip cookies!

For more lemon desserts, check out this classic Lemon Bundt Cake, decadent Lemon Ricotta Cake, and my fun Lemonade Icebox Pie in a Jar!

Variations and substitutions

• Homemade Whipped Cream. If you’re not a fan of frozen whipped topping, make your own whipped cream with heavy whipping cream, sugar, and a dash of vanilla extract.
• More Cake Mixes. Use this same recipe to make Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies, chocolate crinkle cookies, or other fun cake flavors, like raspberry or red velvet crinkle cookies. The lemon version is the winner for me, though.
• Bright Lemon Flavor. Add a bit of juice and zest from fresh lemons to boost the flavor for all my lemon lovers out there! You can also use lemon extract if preferred.
• Reduce the sugar with a sugar-free powdered sugar substitute, like monk fruit sweetener, and choose the sugar-free Cool Whip.
• Glaze the chewy cookies with this easy lemon glaze recipe for my Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins or the recipe from my Glazed Lemon Cake Mix Cookie.

Storage and reheating tips

• This chewy lemon cookie recipe will keep at room temperature for a couple of days when stored in a sealed container.
• For longer storage, place them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
• You can also freeze baked cookies for about two months and thaw them in the refrigerator overnight to enjoy the next day.

Frequently asked questions

This recipe is part of The Sweetest Season, an annual virtual cookie swap co-hosted by Erin of The Speckled Palate and Susannah of Feast + West. Every year, food bloggers get together to share new holiday cookie recipes to make and give.

This year we are raising money for Cookies 4 Kids’ Cancer, which is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.

Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted nearly $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers across the country. From these grants have stemmed 35+ treatments available to kids battling cancer today.

Help us raise money for this important cause! Donate through our fundraising page.

Another exciting thing is that Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO, meaning OXO will be matching every dollar raised through the end of 2023, up to $100,000. Whatever money we raise will automatically double on our fundraising page!

Serving suggestions

If you want something to sip on as you indulge in these chewy lemon crinkle cookies, try my Cranberry White Grape Christmas Punch and this Refreshing Blueberry Tea.

Behind the recipe: Box Cake Cookies

Did you know that the box cake mix has been around since 1933? Well, it took a few years after WWII to take off, but advertisements of this exciting new way to make a homemade cake began as early as the 1930s.

Magazines claimed this revolutionary cake mix only needed water and tasted as delicious as a from-scratch recipe. 

The first boxed mixes also included dried eggs, making it even easier. However, after some time, they came out with mixes that required fresh eggs (and later milk, oil, or butter, too), and home chefs were obsessed!

Today, cake mixes are commonly used and a staple in American pantries. This crinkle cake mix cookie recipe proves that box mixes are even used for more recipes than just cakes!