Lemon Cream Cookies

Lemon Cream Cookies!

As the summer winds down and the nights are cooler I thought I’d share my greatest find from my summer recipes.  Lemon Cream Cookies!  I don’t know about you, but I love a sandwiched cookie.  For some reason it brings me back to my childhood.  I feel like a kid, remembering those vanilla and chocolate cream cookies we used to eat like there was no tomorrow.  What I found this summer was a recipe for a cookie with a lemon cream filling.  It was a no brainer to try these and I’m so excited that I did.  The cookies are perfect.  Crunchy and sturdy enough to be sandwiched together between a simple lemon buttercream filling. 

I found this particular recipe in Nick Malgieri’s book, “Cookies Unlimited”.  He has these listed as YoYo’s.  A simple vanilla cookie with a lemon cream filling.  I added lemon zest and lemon oil to the cookie batter, as I wanted my cookie to burst with a bold lemon flavor.

As with all my new recipe finds, I always bake my first batch as the recipe reads and then tweak it to my liking if necessary.  If you don’t have any lemon oil, lemon juice works as a decent substitute.

These cookies, before being baked, have to be flattened slightly as there’s not much spread to them as they bake.  That is one thing that I did not realize, so my first batch of cookies came out a little thick.  And then of course making a sandwich cookie made for a pretty hardy bite of a cookie.  So the second time around I flatten them a bit more but used a scoop that was just a bit too large, so the cookies were thin enough, but quite large.  Not a great presentation. 

The third try was the charm.  Perfect!  Mind you, nothing goes to waste with me.  All three batches of cookies were either packaged and mailed to friends with hopes of some honest feedback, or of course eaten by husband, who is a trooper, and will eat just about anything I make.

Give them a try.  And with any baking, time and patience is your friend.  You can make the cream filling first and hold it aside as you prepare and bake the cookies.  Let them cool completely before filling them.  Do not overfill the cookies or they will ooze with the first bite.  I find it easiest to put the filling in a pastry bag and pipe a dollop of cream filling onto the center of the cookie.  Then carefully placing the top cookie on, gently pressing down for the desired effect.  They package well and make for a great gift.  Enjoy!

                                          Lemon Cream Cookies

1 and 1/3 cups AP flour         6 oz butter, room temp           Lemon Filling:

1/3 cup cornstarch                2/3 cups 10x sugar                   3 oz. butter

½ tsp baking powder            1 Tblsp lemon zest                   1 cup 10x sugar

¼ tsp salt                            ½ tsp lemon oil                        1 Tblsp lemon juice

                                           ½ tsp vanilla extract

Make the lemon filling and set aside.  Combine the dry ingredients and set aside.  Beat butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.  Mix in the zest, oil and extract.  Mix in the dry ingredients until combined.   

Using a small scoop, scoop about 1" balls of dough onto a parchment line sheet tray.  Place about 2" apart.  Press the cookie slightly with the palm of your hand and then press with a floured fork to make cross marks on the cookie.  Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown.  Cool completely and fill with the Lemon Filling.  (Dollop the cream from a pastry bag.)