Lemon Thumbprint Cookies
Total Time
4 hours
Prep Time
3 hours, 40 minutes (includes chilling)
Cook Time
13 minutes
Rating
4.5 out of 5 stars
(51)
Ingredients
36-40 cookies
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 Tablespoon (8g) cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 14 Tablespoons (200g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (140g) homemade lemon curd or store-bought
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) fresh lemon juice
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Preparation
Chef’s notes
Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions:
You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Unbaked shaped cookie dough balls (that are not coated in sugar and filled with curd) freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw for 30 minutes, and then coat in sugar, carefully indent and fill, and then bake. Baked and cooled cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
Special Tools:
Citrus Juicer, Citrus Zester, Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand), Glass Mixing Bowl, Whisk, Vanilla Bean Paste, Baking Sheets, Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Sheets, Cooling Rack, Squeeze Bottle (optional for drizzling icing)
Butter:
The dough recipe calls for 14 Tablespoons (200g) of butter, so not quite 1 full cup. In testing, the cookies overspread when using a full cup (2 sticks/226g) of butter.
Vanilla:
I love using vanilla bean paste in these cookies because it combines both extract AND vanilla bean seeds, and adds extra flavor. You can, of course, use pure vanilla extract instead. If you want that extra vanilla bean flavor, feel free to add the seeds scraped from 1/2 of a vanilla bean. (This is in addition to the liquid vanilla extract.)
Lemon Curd:
You need about 1/2 cup (140g) of lemon curd. I recommend making the whole recipe for homemade lemon curd. You can freeze the leftover lemon curd for up to 3-6 months, or enjoy on yogurt, toast, waffles/pancakes, biscuits, and scones.
Instead of Lemon Curd:
Instead or lemon curd, try raspberry, apricot, or strawberry preserves/jam. Keep in mind that the lemon flavor won’t be as strong without the lemon curd, so I recommend keeping the lemon icing on top. (For that pop of lemon flavor!)
Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.