Lemon Shortbread Cookies
These lemon shortbread cookies, filled with tangy lemon curd, are buttery, flaky and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. A classic holiday cookie that is always a favorite.
Lemon desserts are one of my favorites as they are light and tangy, rather than overly sweet. These lemon shortbread cookies, filled with creamy lemon curd, are always a hit.
If you like this recipe, you may also enjoy an easy lemon poke cake or delicious lemon truffles.
Shortbread is a holiday classic and is one of the simplest cookies to make. There has rarely been a holiday table where I haven’t seen shortbread.
Traditionally, shortbread is nothing more than flour, butter and sugar, making it a simple and fairly inexpensive cookie. You can also whip up a large batch in a short amount of time.
While plain shortbread is fine, it is also fun to dress this cookie up. And there are so many ways to transform shortbread.
One of my favourite ways is by turning them into delicious, lemon-filled sandwich cookies.
The tangy flavour of the lemon pairs perfectly with the buttery shortbread and the custard-like filling is perfect with the flaky cookie.
I always use my homemade lemon curd, because is is simple to make and is super tangy, but you can use store-bought if you prefer.
If lemon isn’t your favourite flavour, raspberry or strawberry jam are excellent alternatives.
Serve them on a platter with other holiday treats such as Cashew Turtles, Avalanche Cookies, or simple coconut Macaroon Cookies.
Why we love Lemon Shortbread
Classic shortbread cookies require just a few simple ingredients and come together quickly and easily.
They bake quickly, and it’s easy to make a large batch in a relatively short time.
These shortbread cookies have the addition of lemon zest. By cutting holes in half of the cookies, we can turn them into delicious, lemon-filled sandwich cookies with little effort.
Step by Step Instructions
Begin by placing all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse just until it starts forming a ball. If it seems really dry and won’t come together, add 2-3 teaspoons of water and pulse a few more times.
Next, we need to roll and cut the cookies.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface or pastry mat and roll to about 1/4 inch thick.
Cut into rounds with a cookie cutter, or use any shape you like. To make them into sandwich cookies, cut a hole in the middle of half of the cookies. I don’t have any tiny cookie cutters, so I use the end of a piping tip.
Place the cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 18 minutes.
Once the cookies are baked, remove from the baking sheet onto a cooling rack. If you are making them into sandwich cookies, make sure they are completely cooled before starting.
To fill them with lemon curd, place a spoonful of curd on one whole cookie and place a cutout cookie on top.
To finish, dust cookies with powdered sugar.
I always leave a few without filling them, but you can fill them all or leave them all plain. Whatever you like.
Top Tips & FAQS
To freeze these cookies, store them in an airtight container once they have fully cooled. I recommend placing a piece of parchment or wax paper between each layer to prevent the lemon curd from sticking.
You can store unfilled shortbread cookies at room temperature for a couple of weeks in an airtight container.
Filled cookies should be stored in the fridge and will keep a couple of weeks. They will keep several months in the freezer.
More Lemon Recipes
Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Salted butter softened, cubed (but not melted)
- 1/2 Cup Powdered sugar plus extra for dusting
- 2 tsp Lemon zest
- 1 3/4 Cup All-purpose flour
- 1/2 Cup Lemon curd
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place butter, flour, powdered sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it begins to form a ball. If it is really dry and won't come together you can add 2-3 tsp of water until it just begins to form a ball.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface and form it into a ball with your hands.
- Lightly dust the top of the ball with flour and then roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick.
- Using a 2 inch cookie cutter, cut the dough into cookies. Cut a hole in half of the cookies using the end of a piping tip or a small cookie cutter. Gather scraps and continue rolling and cutting until you have used all the dough.
- Place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes until bottoms are lightly brown. You can place these very close together as they should not spread.
- Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool completly before filling.
- To fill, add 1-2 teaspoons of lemon curd the the middle of a whole cookie, then place a cut-out cookie on top. Repeat for all cookies.
- Lightly dust the tops with powdered sugar and move to an air-tight container for storage.
Notes
- Makes 20 Sandwich cookies or 40 plain cookies.Â
- If you do not have a food processor you can place the ingredients in a large bowl and use a hand mixer. Â Mix until ingredients begin to come together to form a ball.Â
- If the dough is soft or sticky after mixing, or your house is warm, Â wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30-40 minutes before rolling. Â This will help keep it from sticking to the rolling pin and make it easier to manage.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
These were so good! I loved it and not too sweet! I would dust the powdered sugar on the top cookie half before assembling cookies, so you can see the lemon curd in the middle! Otherwise it’s perfect!
I really wanted this to work, but the dough was unmanageable, too soft even after chilling… I ended up just rolling it by hand and they were delicious!