Lemon Sandwich Cookies

Thank you Bakers Royal

Lets begin with why you should make these lemon sandwich cookies: The cookies themselves are soft and crumbly, the flavor is lemony but not tart, its sweetness is refined not over the top and the filling is a lemon cream cheese frosting that adds a rich creaminess to the ensemble to tie it altogether.

Lemon Sandwich Cookies

This marks the first of a few holiday cookies to come. I realize I’m a little late getting started on this year. If you recall last year I started the season with these Coffee Cake Cookies and then moved on to these Pumpkin Pie Cookies and then on to a few others. This year it seems like being late is the theme for everything.

But things are letting up finally, the book is almost finished. Yay, to that because it has been crazy busy and crazy tough developing and testing recipes, running a blog and working full time. And, oh yeah – the family, so we’ve all been wearing wrinkled clothes and maybe eating cereal for more than just breakfast.

PRINT
this recipe

LEMON SANDWICH COOKIES

YIELD: Makes 20-22 1 1/2 inch cookie sandwiches

Ingredients:

LEMON SPRITZ COOKIES

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup confectioner sugar
• 1 large egg, plus one egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon oil (or 1 teaspoon of lemon extract)
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

FILLING

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioner sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon oil (or 1 teaspoon of lemon extract)
• Confectioner sugar for dusting

Directions:

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bake sheet with parchment paper.

TO MAKE LEMON SPRITZ COOKIE

1. Cream butter with granulated and confectioner sugar until light and fluffy. Add in egg and beat until combined. Add in egg yolk and beat until combined. Add in lemon oil (or extract) and lemon zest beat and beat until combined.
2. Whisk cornstarch and flour together. Add flour mixture into wet mixture and light beat until combined.
3. Transfer dough to cookie press or a pastry bag fitted with a open star tip. Pipe dough in a circular motion working from the outside towards the center. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until bottoms turn golden.

TO MAKE FILLING

1. Beat cream cheese and butter until combined. Add in remaining ingredients and beat until well combined and smooth.

ASSEMBLY

1. Spread a teaspoon and a half of filling on underside of one lemon spritz cookie and place a second lemon spritz cookie bottom side down on top of filling.

A few notes:

• The cookies are basically a spritz recipe, so if you have a cookie press you can use that to push your dough through for any decorative finish. If you don't have a cookie press, fit a pastry bag with an open star tip to pipe and shape the cookies like you see in the pictures. Alternately, you can gently roll the dough into 1/2 inch balls.
• If you can't find lemon oil, lemon extract will work. Keep in mind the extract contains alcohol so it will cause the wet mix to slightly seperate and appear somewhat curdled. Do not over beat hoping it will become homogenized, it actually makes it worse.
• Your palate your preference, so choose a filling that suits your taste. Any buttercream frosting will work or to stay on the fruity side try using a jam or curd.
• The lemon sandwich cookies can be made unassembled (without filling) three days advance. Store cookies in an airtight container to keep fresh. Fully assembled cookies can be made one day ahead.