Lemon Curd Cookies

5 from 1 vote

Surprise your family and friends with freshly baked lemon curd cookies! These delicious cookies are so easy to make, you'll be whipping them up in no time at all. No chilling is required, so you can have sunshine in a cookie in under 30 minutes!

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine: American, Southern

Servings: Cookies

Calories: 132kcal

Author: Elizabeth (Beth) Mueller

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons salted butter softened
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon zest freshly zest, about 1 lemon
3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Lemon curd
2 - 3 tablespoons raw sugar turbinado sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine softened butter and white sugar. Mix until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and lemon zest, and mix to combine.
Add the flour and mix just until combined.
Scoop 1 ½ tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. I use a #40 scoop.
Place the cookie balls onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper, or lightly sprayed with cooking spray. You only need about 1/2 inch space between cookies.
Make an indent in the center of each cookie ball, using the back of a rounded measuring teaspoon or your thumb.
Fill the indent with lemon curd, being careful not to overfill.
Place the filled cookies into the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or just until the bottom edges start to turn golden brown.
While the cookies are still hot, sprinkle the cookies with the raw sugar.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheet.

Notes

- Do not overmix the cookie dough once the flour has been added. It will make your cookies tough instead of tender.

- Do not overfill the thumbprint with too much filling. The mounds of lemon curd will flatten as it heats up and spread over the cookie if overfilled.

- Sprinkle the top of the cookies with coarse sugar while they are still warm so the sugar sticks to the cookies.

- If you don't have any coarse, raw, or turbinado sugar you can use powdered sugar. Wait until the cookies have completely cooled before using powdered or confectioners sugar or it will melt and make the tops of your cookies gummy.

- If your dough is too crumbly to form into balls or add a thumbprint you probably need a bit more butter. This recipe has more butter than most recipes because I was always struggling with crumbly dough. If you find using this cookie recipe with extra butter still leaves your cookie dough crumbly, try adding an additional tablespoon of softened butter. Don’t worry, shortbread cookies tend to be dry. A little extra butter may make them spread a bit more.

- Storing - to store these cookies, place sheets of parchment or wax paper between layers of cookies and place into an airtight container. They will last for about 4 days at room temperature, up to 7 days in the refrigerator, and 3 months in the freezer.

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