Lemon thumbprint cookies made with buttery soft cookies & filled with creamy lemon curd! Perfectly sweet & tart thumbprint cookies with bright lemon flavor.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract. Add flour and salt and mix until incorporated and dough comes together in a ball. If desired, chill for 30 minutes.
Form dough into 1-inch balls (make sure they’re perfectly round), and arrange on prepared cookie sheet. Use a ½ tsp. measuring spoon to create perfectly circular craters in the center.
Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cookie sheet from oven. If indentations look shallow, further define them again and fill each with about 1/2 tsp of lemon curd.
Bake for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until curd melts slightly and edges of cookies are lightly golden. Cool. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.
Lemon Curd Instructions
Melt butter in medium glass bowl in the microwave. Add sugar and stir. Microwave 1 minute.
Add lemon juice and lemon zest. Microwave 2 minutes.
Beat eggs and yolks until smooth. Pour out about 1/3 cup of hot lemon butter mixture into a 1 cup measuring cup.
Add in about 1/4 of the egg mixture. Stir constantly, then pour into the bowl with the rest of the lemon mixture. Stir, then microwave for 1 minute.
Repeat process, tempering eggs with a small amount of lemon mixture so that the eggs don’t cook. Stir after each 1 minute interval in the microwave. Continue until all of the eggs are mixed in.
Microwave 2 minutes, stopping at 1 minute to stir again. Add in vanilla extract.
Run mixture through strainer, if desired. I like to do this when the lemon curd is hot because it’s quick & easy. Straining yields a lovely smooth lemon curd, so I highly recommend it.
Transfer lemon curd to jars and refrigerate. Curd will thicken upon cooling.