Lemon Curd Cookies
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If you love my lemon crinkle cookies, you’re going to fall even deeper in love with my lemon curd cookies.
These cookies have a similar soft and tender cookie dough base as my viral Coffee Cake Cookies. It’s a buttery, sugar cookie dough and in this recipe of course is infused with plenty of bright lemony flavor.
Each thin and chewy cookie is filled with my homemade easy lemon curd recipe and then they are dusted with powdered sugar.
You will adore the perfectly crispy edges, soft and tangy center and how beautiful they are! I mean…just look at these photos!
They taste like Spring and Summer in cookie form and will brighten up any lemon lovers day!
And pssst, this is the May Kroll’s Korner Baking Challenge recipe of the month! 🤗
Why This Recipe Works:
- They’re the perfect thin and chewy cookie
- Melt in your mouth delicious!
- They’re tender, pillow soft and easy to make.
- They use my simple 4 ingredient homemade curd recipe
- The dough can be made in advance.
- A lemon lovers dream treat!
What is Lemon Curd?
Lemon curd is a creamy mixture made from lemon juice, sugar, eggs and butter. The ingredients are cooked together until the mixture thickens. When cooled, the lemon curd becomes thick enough to spread and is used as a topping for a variety of desserts and breads. You can make curd from plenty of juices and fruits like oranges, limes, raspberries, strawberries, mangoes, cranberries, etc.
Ingredient Notes
For the ingredient measurements and entire recipe, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the blog post where the recipe card is located.
- Cake Flour: (spooned and leveled): If you know me and my cookies, you know I love adding cake flour with all-purpose flour to make the perfect cookie!
- Fresh Lemon Juice: be sure to use freshly-squeezed lemon juice for the ultimate flavor.
- Lemon Zest: lemon zest gets added in with the eggs and extracts but if you want to infuse even more lemon flavor, rub with zest with the sugar before creaming the butter and sugar together. I use this lemon zest method in my lemon poppyseed muffins and it helps to release the lemons natural oils into the sugar and gives the cookies even more lemon flavor.
- Lemon Extract: some people have made without and just added a little more zest and have had great results.
- Lemon curd: please, please do not use store-bought lemon curd. It is just not the same. Try my 4 ingredient easy lemon curd recipe!
- Other ingredients needed: baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.
Step by Step Directions
For the full recipe instructions, scroll down to the bottom of the blog post to the recipe card.
- Make the lemon curd first and refrigerate until chilled and thickened.
- Cream the butter and sugar together.
- Add the eggs, extracts, lemon juice and zest.
- Gradually add in the dry ingredients.
- Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days in advance.
- Scoop into small 1-1/2 Tbsp. sized cookie dough balls.
- Roll in granulated sugar, then in powdered sugar.
- Use your thumb, the end of a wooden spoon, or a wine cork to press a shallow indentation into the middle of each cookie. Fill each indent with about 1 teaspoon chilled lemon curd. (essentially making a lemon thumbprint cookie!)
- Bake for 9-10 minutes at 350°F or until edges are set and slightly golden brown.
- Remove to a cooling rack.
- Add more lemon curd on top if desired, garnish with more powdered sugar. Enjoy.
Expert Tips and Variations
- Spoon and level the flour: Make sure to spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife instead of scooping the flour with your measuring cup. This helps prevent you from using too much flour in the cookies. Too much flour can cause the cookies to be cakey and bland.
- Pro tip: rub the lemon zest and sugar together and then cream the butter and lemon sugars together for a more lemony forward cookie!
- Chilling the dough helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much and also helps the flavors develop.
- Be sure to not over bake the cookies. Slightly under baked is the way to go, and they will be dry if you over bake.
- Make the easy lemon curd in advance. Lemon curd is simple to make, but it does require fridge time. When making these cookies, prep the lemon curd the day before.
- If you need to make the cookie dough in advance, keep the cookie dough chilled in the fridge for up to 3 days. Then bring to room temperature and bake as directed.
- Careful not to over mix the cookie dough after the dry ingredients are added in. This can lead to dense, dry cookies.
- Remove the cookies to a cooling rack about 1 minute after they are pulled from the oven. I found if I left these cookies on the cookie sheet, they continued to bake a were dry.
FAQ
Store lemon curd cookies in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Whether you use store-bought or homemade curd, the curd needs to be kept in refrigerated. Freeze the cookies for up to 3 months.
What can I make with leftover lemon curd?
You can add to to cheesecake, pancakes, waffles, cupcakes, biscuits, scones, yogurt, ice cream…the options are endless!
How do I prep my baking sheet?
Either parchment paper or Silicon baking mats work well.
Can I use a hand mixer if I don’t own a stand mixer?
Yes! A hand mixer will work fine. It might be hard to mix in the beginning with the cold butter, but it will all come together.
Can I make these gluten free?
Yes! Replace both flours with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free flour. Works perfectly!
Yes! Follow same directions, roll into cookie dough balls and bake.
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Ingredients
- Lemon curd recipe
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold, cubed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. lemon extract
- 2 Tbsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tsp. lemon zest
For rolling and dusting
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
Last step! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Make the them curd first. I like to make the curd the day before so it's chilled and ready to go when I want to make these lemon curd cookies.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl: All-Purpose flour, cake flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until combined, about 2-3 minutes. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. (Pro tip: I love rubbing the lemon zest and sugar together in this step, and then creaming the butter and lemon sugar together for a more lemony forward cookie!)
- Add in the egg, egg yolk, lemon juice, lemon zest (if you didn't add it in the previous step), lemon extract, vanilla extract. Gradually add in the dry ingredients just until combined, careful not to over mix.
- Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 days. Chilling the dough helps develop the flavors, prevents cookies from spreading and just makes the dough easier to work with.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat/silicone baking mats.
- Let the dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes. Then scoop and roll the cookie dough into 1-1 1/2 Tbsp. sized cookie dough balls. Roll in graduated sugar first, then in powdered sugar and place on prepared cookie sheet. Recipe yields ~32 cookies
- Use your thumb, the end of a wooden spoon, or a wine cork to press a shallow indentation into the middle of each cookie. Fill each indent with about 1 teaspoon chilled lemon curd.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Do not over bake. Remove from the oven, let them cool for just a minute or two then transfer to a cooling rack. Transferring them early on helps prevent them from cooking longer on the hot baking sheet.
- If your cookies aren't perfectly circular, while the cookies are still warm, place a circular cookie cutter or a circular drinking glass around one of the cookies (it should be larger than the cookie so you don’t cut off any edges) and give the cookies a spin. Swirling the cookie should help to smooth out any uneven edges.
- Add more lemon curd in the middle, if desired, and dust with additional powdered sugar.
- Store lemon curd cookies in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Whether you use store-bought or homemade curd, the cookies needs to be kept in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
-
- Spoon and level the flour: Make sure to spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife instead of scooping the flour with your measuring cup. This helps prevent you from using too much flour in the cookies. Too much flour can cause the cookies to be cakey and bland.
- Be sure to not over bake the cookies. Slightly under baked is the way to go, and they will be dry if you over bake.
- Make the easy lemon curd in advance. Lemon curd is simple to make, but it does require fridge time. When making these cookies, prep the lemon curd the day before.
- Careful not to over mix the cookie dough after the dry ingredients are added in. This can lead to dense, dry cookies.
These cookies are so moist and full of flavor. The lemon curd was so easy to make. The step-by-step directions are always so helpful. Fun treat to deliver to some neighbors who enjoyed them as well. I have plenty of lemon curd left over and I am planning to top it on some homemade vanilla ice cream
SO PRETTY!! thank you soo much. lemon curd and vanilla ice cream also sounds incredible. mmmmm
These were so easy to make and I substituted lemon emulsion for lemon extract. The curd is delicious on its own and I would add it to anything honestly. I will happily make this all summer for get togethers
Gorgeous! So glad you enjoyed them. Thank you!
These will be on repeat. They are everything you want out of a lemon cookie!!
so pretty!! thank you soo much!! 🙂
Oh. My. Gosh. These are perfect!! I made them and distributed to some of my coworkers and all of them raved over them and begged me to make more!! I bake a lot of different cookies and other goodies and I’ve been told these are the best ones I’ve shared with them. That’s high praise! I can’t wait until I have the time to make more. I’ll also try making orange and lime versions too. YUM! Thanks Tawnie!
AMAZING! I am so glad they’re loved by so many 🙂 thank you!! they look perfect in your photo!!
I have to admit I’m not the biggest fan of lemon desserts, I’ll usually skip in favor of anything else, so I wasn’t super stoked about this challenge. But the point of a baking challenge is to try new things that you normally wouldn’t bake yourself-and I’m so glad that I did! These blew my mind! The tartness of the lemon curd is well balanced by the sweetness of the cookie, and it all comes together with a cakey, chewy, and crispy-edged texture. I absolutely loved this, as did my family, and I’ll be making this again for sure!
I am so glad to hear that!! They look beautiful. Thank you!!
I was so excited to make this recipe because we are lemon lovers!! The lemon curd is full of lemon flavor and the perfect amount of sweet and tart. And it was very easy to make! Each cookie is like an individual lemon bar!! Soft, chewy, and melt in your mouth. And I love that I have enough lemon curd left over to use for additional cookies, Dutch babies and lemon bars! Delicious!!
I am soo glad! Thank you!!
I was so excited to make this recipe because we are lemon lovers!! The lemon curd is full of lemon flavor and the perfect amount of sweet and tart. And it was very easy to make! Each cookie is like an individual lemon bar!! Soft, chewy, and melt in your mouth. And I love that I have enough lemon curd left over to use for additional cookies, Dutch babies and lemon bars! All I can say is Delicious!!
Amazing! Thank you sooo much!!
The perfect summer cookie! So fresh tasting with just the right amount of tang and sweet.
They look delish! Thank you so much:)
These are my new favorite lemon cookie! The curd is very easy to make and just the right balance of sweet and tart and the cookies are tender and light. I used a small measuring spoon dipped in sugar to make the indentations and it worked perfectly. They are just delicious!
they’re so pretty!! thank you sooo much!!
I love lemon so I was so excited to make these even though the idea of making curd from scratch made me nervous 😬 boy did it pay off!! DELICIOUS!!
Yay! I am so glad. Thank you!! 🙂