Print
Stack of lemon shortbread cookies

Lemon Shortbread Cookies


  • Author: Vera Z.
  • Prep Time: 45 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 4 hours
  • Yield: 18 cookies 1x
  • Category: Desserts
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

Lemon Shortbread Cookies, with bits of white chocolate and topped with lemon curd, are delicious and refreshing treats! A sweet and sour concoction of incredible flavor makes these easy shortbread cookies the perfect snack for hot summer days.


Ingredients

Shortbread Cookies:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter-softened
  • ½ cup + 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • grated zest from 1 lemon
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3.5 oz. white chocolate chopped into small pieces

Homemade Lemon Curd:

  • ½ cup lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Decoration:

  • 1.52 oz. white chocolate
  • 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil

Instructions

  1. To make homemade lemon curd, in a sauce pan melt the butter.  Remove from the heat, add sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest, whisk to combine. Add eggs and whisk well. Place over medium heat and cook for 5-6 minutes until all sugar dissolve and the mixture is thick enough to hold the marks from a whisk. Cool completely.
  2. To make the shortbread cookie dough mix butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until smooth.
  3. Turn your mixer on low speed and gradually add flour. Mix until combine.
  4. Stir in finely chopped white chocolate.
  5. Transfer the dough on a piece of parchment paper and roll into log (about 1 ½ -1 ¾  inch diameter). Gently press with your hands, wrap tightly in parchment paper and refrigerate the log for 2 hours to firm. If you make ahead, you can store the dough up to four days in a fridge or freeze up to 3 months, but then you must wrap the log with plastic wrap!
  6. When the log is firm, preheat oven to 325 F, line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  7. Unwrap the log and using serrated knife cut into 1/3-inch thick slices. If the dough crumbles too much leave it at room temperature 5-8 mins then slice.
  8. If the slices lose their shape press it back together with your fingers and place them onto baking sheet with one inch of space between.
  9. Bake 15-20 minutes until the edges are lightly golden.
  10. When remove baked cookies from the oven gently press the center of each warm cookie with the bottom of the glass to make the space for lemon curd. Cool on baking sheets for 5 mins then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
  11. Spread about 1-1 ½ teaspoons of lemon curd on each cookie.
  12. Melt about 1.5-2 oz white chocolate with ½ teaspoon coconut oil, transfer to a piping bag or zip-lock bag, cut of the corner and decorate the cookies.