Lemon Bar Cookies
Sweet, soft, and full of spring vibes. These Lemon Bar Cookies are so delicious for any occasion! Made with a soft, buttery cookie base and lemon curd filling that's the perfect balance of sweet and tart, then drizzled with icing. Top it all off with a little lemon zest for the best spring-inspired cookies!
Ingredients
Lemon Curd Filling
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks room temperature
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest about 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice about 2 lemons
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter very soft at room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest about 1 lemon
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Icing Drizzle
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon milk or water
- lemon zest optional
Instructions
Make The Curd Filling
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and butter.
- Heat in the microwave for 30-second intervals, whisking in between, for a total of 3-5 minutes until the mixture is thickened like lemon curd.
- Once thickened, optionally, strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl to remove any potential clumps. Press plastic wrap onto the surface of the lemon curd in the bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Mix The Cookie Dough
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine the softened butter, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest in a bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a large bowl and hand-held electric mixer or rubber spatula). Mix for 2 minutes until fluffy.
- Scrape down the bowl and add salt and flour. Mix everything together until a cookie dough forms. Be careful not to overmix otherwise the dough can become tough.
- Scoop 2 tablespoonfuls of dough per cookie and roll into balls. Place the cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart.
- Lightly press down each cookie so the tops are ever-so-slightly flattened. Then, use your thumb to create a well in the center of each cookie. Fill each cookie cavity with a heaping 1 teaspoon of lemon curd.
Bake The Cookies
- Bake cookies in the center rack of the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are a very light golden brown color. The top of the cookies should still remain quite pale in color.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and place the cookie sheet onto a wire rack to cool.
Drizzle Icing
- While the cookies cool, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until a thicken but drizzle-able consistency forms.
- Drizzle the glaze over each cookie (they should be mostly cool). Garnish with a sprinkle of lemon zest.
- Allow the cookies to set for 20 minutes before storing or enjoying!
Notes
- Instead of making lemon curd, feel free to buy it and use a total of 1/2 cup of lemon curd for this recipe!
- These lemon bar cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!