Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies
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Satisfy your sweet tooth with these soft, chewy Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies. Easy to make and bursting with vibrant lemon flavor, they’re the perfect treat for any lemon lover this spring and summer!
This recipe was originally shared in 2023.
Today, we’re excited to share our newest recipe…lemon curd thumbprint cookies! This recipe combines two of our most popular posts — lemon crinkle cookies and lemon bars. Lemon is a reader favorite on our blog, from classic lemon pound cake to a twist on the Italian classic – lemon tiramisu!
So, these lemon cookies just seemed like the perfect treat to share to bring some much-needed sunshine. ☀️ 🍋
Fresh Lemon In Every Bite
So many lemon recipes call for the use of lemon extract and while that works in a pinch, there is nothing like the fresh, bright flavor of a real lemon. From the cookie to the curd, every bite is bursting with fresh lemon.
Why You Will Love These Lemon Curd Cookies:
- Each cookie is like an individual lemon bar!
- There’s NO chill time and no stand mixer needed.
- Comes together in just under 40 minutes.
- Soft, chewy, and melts in your mouth.
- Full of lemon flavor!
See what some of our readers had to say:
There Are 3 Elements To The Perfect Lemon Curd Cookie
During development of this recipe, we tried many different variations of these cookies. We swapped the classic butter-based cookie to oil-based. We also found other small details that make ALL the difference in crafting the perfect lemon curd cookie. Let’s get into it, shall we?
- Cookie: Like I mentioned above, we spent many hours in the kitchen testing different ways to craft the perfect cookie. When we were first developing the cookie, we used a butter-based cookie similar to our Funfetti Cookies. The butter created a greasy cookie that had an unpleasant flavor and burned on the bottom. Since we often swap fats in our citrus cakes, like our Iced Lemon Loaf and our Key Lime Pound Cake, we thought…how about we do that for this cookie? With a few tweaks and adjustments to the recipe, we finally achieved a cookie that was tender, FULL of lemon flavor, and melt-in-the-mouth delicious.
- Lemon Curd: On top of an extra lemony cookie, we filled these cookies with a fresh, bright lemon curd! If you’ve ever made our Pavlova or our Lemon Coconut Cake, this will be very familiar for you. It’s an easy recipe that really provides a delicious flavor. We found that the curd works best if you add it to the cookies AFTER (yes, after!) baking.
- Sugar: While it might not seem important, we found that unlike our lemon crinkle cookies, these lemon curd cookies needed to only be rolled in powdered sugar! With the addition of lemon curd, rolling the cookies in granulated sugar and powdered sugar caused too much spread; and they were more like pancakes than a cookies. So, we opted to just use the powdered sugar to give it that stunning “crinkle” look without causing too much spread!
First, Make The Homemade Lemon Curd
Instead of diving head first into cookie baking, we gotta make our curd! While you can use store-bought lemon curd to fill these cookies, we really recommend making your own as the flavor is MUCH more delicious and it only takes about 10 minutes! So, go ahead and gather the ingredients listed below:
We have made lemon curd hundreds of times since starting our blog. It’s kind of our “secret weapon” for extra lemony flavor! Luckily, it’s SO easy to make and truly minimal effort. All you need to do is whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and lemon juice together in a glass bowl. Place over a bain-marie (or, pot of simmering water!) and stir continually, being sure to scrape the sides of the bowl, until thickened.
As a quick precaution, to ensure there are no lumps of cooked egg yolk in your curd, we recommend straining the curd through a fine meshed sieve. Once you’ve done this, just mix in your butter and lemon zest and set aside!
⊹ Tip For Success! ⊹
Do NOT use a metal mixing bowl to make the curd. This will leave a metallic flavor in the curd due to the acidity. You must use a glass bowl.
You’ll Need These Ingredients For The Cookies:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda
- Lemon Zest & Juice
- Eggs
- Vegetable Oil
- Vanilla Extract
Make The Cookie Dough
To make the dough, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Set aside. Then, in a separate bowl, combine eggs, oil, lemon juice, and vanilla. Whisk well. Pour over dry ingredients and stir until combined.
How To Shape These Cookies
To shape the cookies, we used a medium sized cookie scoop (1½ Tablespoons) and rolled the dough in our palms to create a smooth, round ball. From there, roll the cookie dough balls in powdered sugar and place on prepared pans (15 cookies per pan).
Bake And Then Fill
Place the cookies in a 350°F oven and bake for 12 minutes. You may have noticed that unlike most thumbprint cookie recipes, we will fill these cookies AFTER they are baked. So, once they come out of the oven, immediately use the back of a rounded teaspoon to make an indentation in each cookie. Fill each cookie with about 1½ teaspoons curd.
✳ Recipe FAQ’s
When you make these Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.
Happy baking!
x, Caylie
Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 3 Tablespoons salted butter, sliced, room temperature
Cookies
- 1⅝ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2½ Tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Coating
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Lemon Curd
- Combine sugar, egg yolks, and lemon juice in a small, heatproof glass bowl.
- Whisk until smooth.
- Place bowl over a pot of simmering water.
- Cook, stirring continually with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, until thickened, about 10 minutes. (If you have a thermometer, cook the curd to 170℉/77℃.)
- Remove from heat.
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl.
- Stir in butter and lemon zest.
- Set aside to cool.
Cookies
- Heat oven to 350℉/177℃.
- Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest in a large bowl.
- Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs, oil, lemon juice, and vanilla.
- Whisk well.
- Pour over dry ingredients.
- Stir until combined.
- Use a medium (1½ Tablespoon) cookie scoop to portion dough.
- Roll dough into balls.
- Roll each ball in powdered sugar.
- Place 2-inches apart on prepared pans.
- Bake for 12 minutes, until cooked but still slightly soft on top.
- Remove from oven.
- Immediately use the back of a rounded 1½ teaspoon measuring spoon to make a rounded indentation within the center of each cookie.
- Fill each cookie with about 1½ teaspoons curd.
Notes + Tips!
- Room temperature is about 70℉/21℃.
- Use an oven thermometer to ensure accurate cooking temperatures.
- You can use store-bought lemon curd.
- Store-bought lemon juice may be used for this recipe, but the flavor will not be as strong and may have a metallic flavor.
- When making the curd, the texture should be about pudding consistency. (It should coat the back of a spoon.) It takes anywhere from 10-25 minutes to thicken. Just be sure to use a heatproof GLASS bowl and place over a simmering (not boiling) pot of water.
- Don’t waste the egg whites from the curd! Use them to make our meringue cookies or save the rest for breakfast!
- Don’t skip lining your pan!
- Fresh juice is always better. While using store-bought is convenient, the flavor of fresh squeezed lemons is unmatched.
- You can use a rubber spatula to fold the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients to ensure you don’t overwork the dough. Mix until just blended together and you don’t see any flour. The dough is very stiff and may seem a bit dry, but once all the flour is incorporated, it will be fine!
- The cookie dough is a little sticky. Be sure to clean your hands often when rolling.
- Even when fully baked, these cookies should be pale. You do not need to brown them!
- Don’t skip coating them with powdered sugar.
- For the best results, sift the powdered sugar before you roll the cookies!
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What adjustments would I need to make for high altitude (8,350 ft.)? Would I add additional flour and decrease the sugar? Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you
Hi Ann! Please visit out Conversions + FAQ’s page for information on what we found when it comes to high altitude baking. Please let us know if you have any further questions! x, Caylie
Do they freeze well
Hi J! The instructions for freezing the cookies are in the post. Let me know if you have any other questions.
So happy with how these cookies came out! Quite difficult forming the dough into balls but worth the effort! Had to make two batches of the curd; the first try the curd did not thicken. I messed by forgetting to add the butter to my curd though. How would this effect the taste or should I try to scoop the curd out, reheat and proceed with the butter and refill? They are intended to be gifted. Thank-you!
Hi Sharon! The butter makes it smooth and silky. Do not scoop it out and try to recook. It won’t work. Just taste one of the cookies and see how they taste. If you’re happy, go with it. Otherwise, you’ll need to remake. Let me know if you have any further questions.
Delicious! I used store bought lemon curd but fresh lemon juice and rind.
These are amazing…the cookie bakes up nice and light…I made the indentation an then added the curd before baking…they turned out beautifully…sent these to two different Christmas parties…and the host never put them out at either event because …they were just too good to share
Hi Kenn! That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for sharing our cookies with everyone. I’m glad to hear they were a success! 🥰 Happy holidays!! x, Caylie
I received 7 pounds of organic lemons from a friend’s tree a couple of weeks ago and made lemon curd to use them up. I used a different recipe for the curd but it was almost identical to this one. No problem with the lemon curd. My problem was with the cookies flattening out so much that it was impossible to make an indentation after baking. I tried to salvage the flat cookies by making sandwich cookies with lemon curd in between but I personally feel that the sweetness of the cookie is too much with the sweetness of lemon curd. I think lemon curd would pair better with a plain, less sweet shortbread. I made dozens of other cookies this month for the holidays, using the same containers of leavening I used for these cookies, and they all came out as expected without flattening. I think the flatness of these cookies could be due to other factors. What else could it be? Altitude? I’m at 6800 feet. I baked them in a propane oven at 350 Fahrenheit for 12 minutes.
Hi Barrie! I’m sorry to hear these cookies didn’t work for you. The altitude could certainly be a factor. With the thinner atmosphere, they would almost certainly have risen too fast and fallen flat. There are a lot of other adjustments needed when you are at that altitude, tweaks to the dough and a different oven temperature for sure. I’m not an expert on that. We lived in the mountains for a while, but no where near that altitude. As far as the sweetness goes, since you used someone else’s curd, I can’t give you an answer. When made with our complete recipe, ours are balanced.
I baked mine same amount of time…I had no issue with my cookies spreading
I made these cookies today for the first time. Followed directions exactly as written but curd did not thicken, even at 170 degree. I whisked 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and slowly added. Presto…. Perfect and delicious curd. The cookie batter was thick and crispy and holds the curd perfectly.
l made them. the curd is fantastic, followed the recipe, came out grate. but what the cookies concerned, the dough seem to be ok, but out of the oven, they came out flat.
l wasn’t satisfied. what did l do wrong? l baked them 12 minutes at 175 degrees.
any help? thank you for your replay.
Hi Renata! It sounds like either you baking powder or your baking soda have gone flat. An easy way to check is to spoon some baking soda into a bowl and add a little vinegar. If it fizzes, it’s good. With baking powder, spoon some into a bowl and pour some really hot water over it. If it fizzes it’s good. If leavening is not the problem, let me know and I’ll help you troubleshoot it.
l’m afraid, both leavening powder were good, tested it.
all the same, the biscuits are fabulous, the taste is amazing, so l’ll keep the recipe,
perhaps next time l’ll be luckier, hehe
These are ridiculously delicious. I had some lemon curd in my freezer and wanted to make my boyfriend a lemony treat! Wow! And EASY
Hi Shannon! We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed these cookies. They are some of our favorites! We hope you find more recipes to share with your loved ones on our blog 💛✨ x, Caylie
Unfortunately, these cookies came out pretty dry for me. I’m not sure why, I correctly measured all of the dry ingredients and followed the recipe exactly. I was hoping they would be more soft and chewy, but they almost had a stale texture. I may try it a second time just to make sure.
Hi Leah! I’m so sorry to hear these cookies didn’t turn our right. I would love to help you troubleshoot this! If the cookies were hard/crumbly in texture, this may be due to over-baking the cookies. We hope you try this recipe again! Please let us know if you ever have any questions. We’re always here to help! x, Caylie
The curd tasted almost metallic and very eggy. I’m not sure if there wasn’t enough sugar in the there but I followed the recipe. The cookies without the curd tasted amazing and I really loved the chewy texture. Not sure what I did wrong with the curd, big bummer 🙁
Hi Gianna! I’m glad you liked the cookie, and I would love to help you troubleshoot the curd. Did you put the curd in a metal bowl at any point? Coming into contact with metal can cause a metallic taste. As far as eggy, you probably overcooked your curd. I hope you decide to try again. If you do, let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be happy to help.
The texture is strange, not what I would expect from a thumbprint cookie. It was chewy, which was probably due to the oil. The curd also doesn’t set firm, so we found it a bit runny. Overall I was disappointed, as I had high hopes.
Hi Angel! We intended for this cookie to be chewy. It’s a combo of our readers favorite recipes on the blog! If the curd didn’t set, it sounds like it wasn’t cooked long enough. We have a professional gas range that we cook on, so ours may cook faster than others. There are photos in the post above to help you know what texture everything should be. I hope you try these cookies again! x, Caylie
If your curd is runny, it is because you did’t cook the mixture long enough for the eggs to thicken the mixture.
Hi there. These look fab. Wondering if the curd sets and if these would be good packaged in a box.
Thanks!!
Hi Randi! The curd does set up (as-in, when you take a bite, it won’t spill out!), but it will not work packaged in a box, as the curd still is very soft and sticky. Hope this helps and I hope you try these cookies! x, Caylie
Absolutely delicious, the perfect light dessert for spring!
Hi Angelina! So happy to hear you loved this recipe 🥰 We hope you find more to love on our blog! x, Caylie
The number of eggs between metric and US measurements is inconsistent… I used the metric measurements and it said to add 2 eggs to the dough and it definitely ended up too wet, even with extra flour :’) they still tasted okay because of the curd though!
Hi! Thank you for letting us know about the inconsistency. The recipe card is now fixed! Glad to hear the cookies still came out okay 🥰 x, Caylie
I’m kind of afraid to try this cookie recipe as I’m finding as I copy it, that the ingredient lists for both batch size and metric conversions are not consistent with each other. Curd states 4 yolks for 1X, but on metric it states 6 yolks. This inconsistency continues through both categories. I’m confused.
Hi Rea! I apologize for the confusion. The metric conversion is built into the recipe card. It’s usually pretty accurate. I’m not sure what happened this time, but it looks like all the ingredients were multiplied times 1.5. I really appreciate you calling this to my attention. Everything is corrected now. Make sure you reload the page to get the corrected version. Let me know if there is anything else, or if you have any questions.