Lemon Curd Cookies
These lemon curd cookies are made with a soft and buttery shortbread thumbprint cookie that is filled with homemade lemon curd.
Ingredients
- 2 cup Flour AP, plain
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Lemon zest
- 12 tablespoon Butter softened, unsalted
- 1 cup Powder sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 Egg large
Lemon curd
- ⅓ cup Lemon juice fresh
- 1 tablespoon Lemon zest
- ⅔ cup Granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoon Butter
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 Egg large
- 3 Egg yolks large
Instructions
Make the cookie dough
- Preheat an oven to 180°C (350f) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the softened butter, lemon zest, powdered sugar, kosher salt, and vanilla extract. Cream the mixture with an electric hand mixer until it’s light, creamy, and smooth.
- Add the egg and mix until fully combined.
- Add the flour and baking powder, and fold with a spatula just until the dough comes together and no dry flour remains.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Overnight is great too, but not required.
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough using a small cookie scoop, roll into balls, and place on a lined baking sheet.
- Use your thumb or a teaspoon to make an indent in the center of each cookie.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes. Don’t overbake, this keeps the cookies soft.
- Right when you take them out of the oven, gently reshape the indents if needed using your thumb or a spoon.
Make the lemon curd
- Place all the lemon curd ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly.
- Once the butter melts, the mixture will look thin. Keep the heat low and continue whisking until it thickens, about 5 minutes.
- When thickened, pour the curd through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl to remove any lumps. This makes it perfectly smooth.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it cool for 20–30 minutes.
- Dust the cookies with powdered sugar, then spoon about 1 teaspoon of lemon curd into each indent. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Constantly whisk while making the curd! It is really important if you want to get a smooth and silky curd.
- Use room-temperature butter. Softened butter creams better and gives the cookies their tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Mix only until combined. Overmixing the dough can make the cookies dense. Stop as soon as the flour disappears.
- Make deep indents. Press firmly with your thumb or a teaspoon. If the indent is too shallow, the curd will sit on top instead of inside the cookie.
- Fix the indents after baking. The cookies puff in the oven, so reshape the centers while they're hot for a clean, bakery-style look.
- Cook the curd slowly. Keep the heat low and whisk constantly to prevent curdling and keep the curd silky smooth.
- Always use fresh lemons. Fresh lemon juice and zest give the curd a bright, clean flavor that bottled juice can’t match.
- Strain for a perfect texture. Pouring the curd through a fine strainer removes any lumps and makes the filling glossy and smooth.
- Cool completely before filling. If the cookies or curd are warm, the curd can melt or slide off. Let everything cool fully before assembly.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with the back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cookies release easily from the pan.
Nutrition
Calories: 149kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 2gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 156mgPotassium: 26mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 315IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 1mg
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