Lemon Sandwich Cookies
These diminutive lemon cookies, filled with lemon curd, would be perfect to include in a May basket. Adapted from
thekitchn.com’s lemon curd sandwich cookies and Ina Garten’s lemon curd recipes, they are a tart-sweet welcome to spring. Makes about 45 (1-inch) cookie sandwiches
Lemon curd:
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
Finely minced zest of 1 lemon
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
5 large eggs 1⁄2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar 1 large egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
2 3⁄4 cups flour
Make lemon curd: With a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat sugar, lemon zest and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and thoroughly mix in. Beat in lemon juice and salt.
Scrape mixture into a 2-quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently. It will thicken at 170 degrees, just below a simmer. Cool down and refrigerate before filling cookies. (Makes 3 cups.)
Make cookies: Add butter, cream cheese and sugar to standing mixer bowl and beat until light and fluffy (or beat with an electric hand mixer), about 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in egg yolk, vanilla, lemon zest and salt. Add flour and stir until just combined. Divide dough in half. Gently roll between two pieces of floured parchment, into a flat disk about 1⁄4 inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour (up to several days).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a 1
1⁄2-inch round cutter (or whatever size you choose), cut out cookie rounds and place one inch apart on a baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven 6 to 8 minutes until edges are golden. Let cool on baking sheet a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. When completely cool, place a teaspoon of lemon curd on one cookie and place a second cookie on top.
Note: Use leftover curd to top toast.