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A stack of Lemon Thumbprint Cookies surrounded by more cookies sits on parchment paper, showcasing their delightful lemon curd centers.
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Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

These lemon thumbprint cookies are tangy and easy to make. The finished cookies have soft centers, light chew around the edges and a pool of sharp lemon in the middle.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Total Time27 minutes
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cookies, lemon, Thumbprint
Servings: 12 cookies approx.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Make the Cookie Dough

  • Use an electric hand mixer to cream the butter and sugars together in a large mixing bowl.
  • Whisk for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
  • Add the egg and vanilla.
  • Whisk for another 2 minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy.
  • Reduce the speed of your mixer.
  • Gently whisk the baking powder, baking soda, and flour into the wet ingredients, making sure no pockets of dry flour remain in your cookie dough.

Shape and Bake the Cookies

  • Use a standard size cookie scoop to drop balls of cookie dough onto a baking sheet. Flatten each ball into a thick disc and use your thumb or the back of a tablespoon to create an indent in the middle of each cookie.
  • Fill each indent with lemon curd and bake for 12 minutes.

Cool and Enjoy

  • Let them cool for a few minutes and then transfer onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before serving.

Notes

Soften the butter properly: You want butter that's soft enough to press a finger into easily, not greasy or melted, so it creams smoothly with the sugar.
Press deep thumbprints: Make the indents deep and wide enough that the lemon curd sits in a little well instead of sliding over the edge while the cookies bake.
Space them out: I recommend spacing your cookies 1 ½ to 2 inches apart. I could fit 6 comfortably on my 9 x 13-inch pan.
Don't overbake: Pull the tray when the edges are just turning lightly golden and the centers look set. The cookies will firm up more as they cool.
Let them cool on the tray first: Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes so the structure sets around the warm lemon curd before you move them to a cooling rack.

Nutrition

Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 235mg | Potassium: 40mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 256IU | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg

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