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Cute, tangy, & perfectly sweetened lemon thumbprint cookies! They’re filled with my homemade lemon curd, but feel free to use your favorite store-bought brand. These cookies are easy, fun, and simple to make, plus perfect for any lemon lovers out there. 🍋❤️

Baked lemon curd thumbprint cookies on a wire rack.

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🍋 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • It’s super cute! The lemon design adds such a fun spin on traditional lemon thumbprint cookies.
  • You won’t need any special equipment. The dough easily comes together in one bowl with a hand whisk or electric mixer.
  • The recipe is versatile. Swap out the lemon curd for other fillings, like ganaches or jams! Or, try following my cute strawberry thumbprint cookie recipe.

Ingredients

To make these lemon curd cookies, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Labeled ingredients laid out on a wooden backdrop.
  • You’ll need softened unsalted butter, which you’ll cream with the granulated and brown sugars. You’ll also need a little extra granulated sugar to roll the cookie dough balls in before shaping.
  • Cornstarch helps the cookies keep their shape, while also remaining soft.
  • I used homemade lemon curd to fill my cookies. Feel free to use store-bought if you have a favorite brand!
  • After baking, I decorated the cookies with chocolate melting wafers, but you can always use chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars instead. I used milk chocolate wafers for the lemon stems and dyed white chocolate wafers with green food coloring for the leaves.
    • It’s best to use oil-based food coloring so the chocolate doesn’t seize. However, if you don’t have it on hand (like me), you can always stir in 1-2 tsp neutral oil (canola, vegetable) to the melted chocolate so it comes back together.

For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.

How To Make Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

Glass mixing bowl with butter and sugars lightly creamed together.

Step 1: Lightly cream softened butter and sugars until smooth.

Glass mixing bowl with batter, ready for dry ingredients to be added.

Step 2: Mix in egg and vanilla extract until fully combined.

Thumbprint cookie dough ready to be scooped.

Step 3: Stir in dry ingredients until no dry spots remain. Roll 1 ½ tablespoon cookie dough balls into sugar, then place on a lined cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.

Shaping middle of thumbprint cookie with a knife to make it look like a lemon center.

Step 4: Use your thumb or thin end of a spatula to create circle indents. (Tip: The deeper the cavity, the more lemon curd you can add!) Use a knife to drag out the edges to create a lemon shape.

Spooning in lemon curd to the middle of the thumbprint cookie.

Step 5: Fill cavities with lemon curd, making sure to not overfill. Bake at 350°F/177°C for 11-13 minutes, or until edges are set and lightly golden brown.

Baked lemon curd thumbprint cookies on a wire rack.

Step 6: Use melted chocolates to draw on lemon stem and leaves. Enjoy!

For full instructions, see the recipe card below.

💡 Baking Tips

  • Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
  • If the dough is sticking when making the circle imprints, try lightly flouring your thumb or the end of the silicone spatula.

Storage

Store the lemon thumbprint cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

If you’d like to make the cookie dough ahead of time, I recommend following the recipe right until you add the filling. I’d line a baking sheet or plate, place the unfilled imprinted cookies in a single layer, and freeze for 1-2 hours.

Once frozen, transfer them to an airtight container/Ziploc and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake, place the raw cookies on a lined cookie sheet, fill, and bake. Since the dough is frozen, you may need to add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.

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Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️

📖 Recipe

Baked lemon curd thumbprint cookies on a wire rack.

Cute Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

Bianca Fernandez
Cute, tangy, & perfectly sweetened lemon thumbprint cookies! They're filled with my homemade lemon curd, but feel free to use your favorite store-bought brand. So easy and fun to bake. 🍋❤️
5 from 1 vote

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enter your email and i’ll send it directly to your inbox! & as a bonus, you’ll get new recipes & resources sent to you every month. 💛

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
Total Time 43 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 20 lemon thumbprint cookies

Equipment

Ingredients 

Dry Ingredients:

  • 1 ¾ cup (218.75 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp (8 g) cornstarch
  • 1 tsp (4 g) baking powder
  • ½ tsp (3 g) table salt

Wet Ingredients:

  • ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter softened
  • cup (66.67 g) granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp (36 g) brown sugar light or dark
  • 1 tbsp (15 g) vanilla extract can sub 1:1 vanilla paste
  • 1 (1) egg room temperature

For rolling:

  • ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar

Filling:

Decoration (optional):

Instructions 

For the cookie dough:

  • In a medium bowl, stir together all of the dry ingredients: 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp baking powder, and ½ tsp table salt.
  • In a large bowl, lightly cream the softened ½ cup unsalted butter, ⅓ cup granulated sugar, and 3 tbsp brown sugar until smooth with an electric/stand mixer or hand whisk.
  • Mix in 1 tbsp vanilla extract and 1 egg until smooth.
  • Dump in all of the dry ingredients. Fold using silicone spatula until no dry spots remains.

Shape & bake cookies:

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F/177°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Add ¼ cup granulated sugar into small bowl or plate.
  • Use a small cookie dough scoop to gather dough into a ball (about1 ½ tablespoon each). Roll into granulated sugar and place onto lined cookie sheet, spacing cookies about 3 inches apart.
  • Using your thumb or thin end of a spatula, make a circle indentation in the middle of the cookies. Use a knife to drag out two pointed ends to resemble a lemon.
    Tip: If dough is sticky, lightly flour your thumb or spatula every time you create an indent.
  • Spoon lemon curd into the middles, making sure not to overfill.
  • Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until edges are set and lightly golden brown. Let cookies rest on baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to fully cool.

Decorate:

  • Note: You can a piping bag, toothpick, or cookie scribe to add on the details. I used piping bags.
  • Add 1 tbsp white chocolate chips to small microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between with a silicone spatula, until fully melted. Use this to draw on the stems.
  • Melt 1 tbsp white chocolate chipsDye with green green oil-based food coloring. Use this for the leaves.
    Tip: If you don't have oil-based food coloring, then the chocolate will seize/become lumpy. To counter this, stir in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time, until it becomes smooth again.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

  • Storage: Keep cookies at room temp in airtight container for up to 5 days.
  • Tip for measuring ingredients: I weigh my ingredients with a kitchen scale, rather than using measuring cups because it is more accurate. If using measuring cups, I recommend spooning flour into the cup and overfilling it, then leveling it off with a knife.
Serving: 1 cookieCalories: 139kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 2gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 102mgPotassium: 22mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 154IUVitamin C: 0.004mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg

The nutritional information is an estimated value per serving.

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One Comment

5 from 1 vote

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