These rich, buttery and tart Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies are a fun, easy and delicious dessert made with a pudding-infused butter cookie dough, and lusciously tangy lemon curd. This Lemon curd cookies recipe is a great addition to any cookie tray!
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These Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies combine 2 of my favorite dessert flavors into one irresistible little cookie. A cross between a classic, buttery thumbprint cookie and a lemon meringue pie, these cookies are a real treat, and are gone as quickly as they are made. And with a soft, pillowy cookie made with a pudding-infused dough, and creamy, dreamy lemon curd- I mean how can you really go wrong?
Making the cookie dough
This cookie dough comes together really easily, with a handful of simple ingredients, and a sturdy hand mixer.
What goes into the Lemon curd cookies recipe:
- A couple sticks of softened, unsalted butter.
- Organic Cane sugar. Now, I say it below in the recipe notes- you CAN use regular old granulated sugar for these, if you must. But let me just say that I tried baking with organic cane sugar, and it ruined me. It's perfectly balanced sweetness that's not overpowering, and to me, certainly worth the extra couple bucks.
- 2 eggs.
- Real vanilla extract.
- Some A/P flour. My fav is hands-down King Arthur.
- A touch of baking soda and salt.
- The pièce de résistance- a box of lemon flavored pudding mix.
Once you've got your ingredients ready to go- it's just a quick mix and fold, and you've got your buttery, lemony dough ready to go. Pop that bad boy in the fridge for a few hours to overnight, and it's ready to bake!
Forming and filling the cookies
Once your dough has chilled, it's time to form and bake the cookies!
To make the cookies easy and even, I like to scoop it with a tablespoon measuring spoon, then roll them in my hands gently until smooth. But you can certainly eyeball it.
I like to preheat the oven, line a few baking sheets with parchment, and then roll the cookies. Then it's just an assembly line of rolling the little cookies and placing them onto the prepared sheets.
How to make lemon cookies look pretty
Once all the cookie balls are ready to go- you'll hold the cookie in place gently, and press your thumb into the center to form a pocket for the filling. And that, ladies and gentleman, is why they call 'em thumbprints!
Once the cookies are all imprinted for greatness, you'll spoon a bit of prepared lemon curd into the center of each cookie. Not familiar with lemon curd? Think of it as a rich and tangy lemon jam. Coincidentally- you'll find it with the jarred jams at your local grocer.
After all the cookies are filled, they will bake for about 10-12 minutes, until they are a light golden color.
Finishing touches for perfect, pretty cookies
Once your cookies are baked to perfection, transfer them to a wire rack to cool, and dust them gently with some powdered sugar- then watch them vanish as quickly as they appeared.
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More great dessert recipes
Honey & Rum Whipped Cream
Blackberry Lime Cheesecake Bars
Chocolate Pistachio Cookie Bars
Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup organic cane sugar*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 3.4 oz box of lemon flavored pudding mix
- ¼ cup prepared lemon curd, for filling
- powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Making the dough 1. With a hand mixer, cream together the softened butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth- about a minute. 2. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients with a spatular or spoon until well combined. 3. Form dough into a ball and wrap or plastic wrap, or transfer to a resealable bag. 4. Chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator, or overnight before baking.Baking the cookies 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. (Makes bout 3 trays full, but you can reuse the parchment to bake an additional batch). 2. Roll dough with your hands into roughly 1” smooth balls (about a tablespoon each), and place onto parchment lined sheets, spaced out (about 4 cookies widthwise. 3. Gently hold each cookie in place, and press the centers with your thumb to form a pocket for the filling. 4. Once all cookies are pressed, carefully spoon a small amount of Leon curd into the center of each cookie, being mindful to not overfill too much. 5. Once all cookies are filled with lemon curd, transfer to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, until light golden brown. 6. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool, and dust with powdered sugar (using a sifter or small sieve). 7. Makes about 40 cookies. Cookies will keep for 1-2 weeks in an airtight container.
*Substitutions:
You can substitute can sugar for regular granulated sugar
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Barb says
I don't see eggs listed in your ingredients, just in the instructions. how many?
Sharon Farnell says
Hi Barb, thank you so much for calling that to my attention, and I apologize for the oversight. There are 2 large eggs in the recipe. I am updating it now as well.