These lemon thumbprint cookies are a lemon lovers’ dream cookie! Enjoy sweet, soft lemon sugar cookies filled with lemon curd and drizzled with lemon icing. I like to make the lemon curd from scratch because the flavor is superior (honestly, it’s just so good!), but feel free to use store-bought. Instead of lemon curd, you can substitute raspberry, strawberry, or apricot preserves/jam.
A sunny burst of citrus is just the thing to brighten up a gray winter day and add a pop of unexpected flavor to a holiday cookie tray. Among the deep dark flavors of chocolate and spice, like gingerbread cookies, Andes mint chocolate cookies, or chocolate ginger sparkle cookies, these lemon thumbprints shine like twinkly lights in the night. 😉
Loads of Lemon
These lemon thumbprints are flavored with real lemon all the way through, from the cookie dough to the lemon curd filling to the icing on top. Fresh lemon juice and zest are key to all that flavor.
There are 3 parts to these lemon thumbprint cookies:
- Buttery, vanilla bean-speckled lemon sugar cookie dough
- Creamy, tangy lemon curd (homemade or store-bought)
- 2-ingredient lemon icing
Make the Homemade Lemon Curd First
Have you made lemon curd before? It’s delicious on so many recipes, like atop this lemon cheesecake or pavlova. You can use store-bought lemon curd in these cookies in a pinch, but I encourage you to try making it from scratch—it’s surprisingly easy, takes just 10 minutes on the stove, and tastes so much better!
I have a complete separate page dedicated to homemade lemon curd, with a video tutorial to help. It’s just 5 ingredients: egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and butter.
- Tip: I recommend making it ahead of time, so it has plenty of time to cool completely. It keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 10 days, so you can make it well in advance of making these lemon thumbprint cookies.
You could also play around with flavors and try filling the lemon thumbprints with fruit jam, like I use in these peanut butter & jam thumbprint cookies.
Here’s What You Need for These Lemon Thumbprint Cookies:
As a point of reference, I based this cookie dough off my recipe for butter cookies. Like a shortbread cookie, there’s no leavening agent, but—unlike shortbread—there is an egg, which makes the thumbprints less crumbly. Grab these ingredients:
- Butter: Creamed butter makes up the base of these cookies.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the tart lemon in the dough, and we’ll
- Lemon Zest + Juice: Remember to zest the lemon before slicing it and juicing it—it’s a lot harder the other way around!
- Egg: One egg provides softness and richness.
- Vanilla Bean Paste: You could use pure vanilla extract instead, but I really love the extra flavor the vanilla bean in the paste gives these lemon thumbprints.
- Flour: All-purpose flour gives the dough structure.
- Cornstarch: A little cornstarch makes for extra-soft cookies; it’s an ingredient in these soft chocolate chip cookies, too.
- Salt: A little salt balances the sweet and amplifies the lemon and vanilla flavors.
Make the Lemon Cookie Dough & Chill
The dough comes together quickly with an electric mixer, which is required for creaming the butter and sugar together.
This creamy dough needs to chill for at least 3 hours before it’s ready to be rolled and shaped.
How to Shape & Fill Lemon Thumbprints
Once the dough has chilled, you can shape the cookies. Scoop the dough with a Tablespoon and then roll the dough into balls. Roll the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar before placing on a baking sheet.
Use your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each cookie dough ball, then spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of lemon curd into each. Bake the cookies for about 12–13 minutes.
Optional Lemon Icing Is the Icing on the… Cookies
While it’s entirely optional, I love these cookies with a drizzle of icing on top. It’s just that little something extra that makes them look like you bought them from a fancy bakery. Plus, it tastes fantastic!
You need just 2 ingredients: confectioners’ sugar and fresh lemon juice. Whisk it together until smooth, and drizzle it on the cooled cookies. I used a squeeze bottle to apply this sweet finishing touch, but you can simply use a spoon or fork.
The icing sets in about 30 minutes or so, and then you can stack and store the cookies.
You need about 1/2 cup (140g) of lemon curd. If using homemade, I recommend making the whole recipe for homemade lemon curd. You can freeze the leftover lemon curd for up to 3-6 months, or enjoy on yogurt, toast, waffles/pancakes, biscuits, and scones.
Yes, you can absolutely skip the lemon curd. Instead, try raspberry, apricot, or strawberry preserves/jam. Keep in mind that the lemon flavor won’t be as strong without the lemon curd, so I recommend keeping the lemon icing on top. (For that pop of lemon flavor!)
If you want even more lemon flavor in your cookies, feel free to add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract to the cookie dough when you add the vanilla bean paste.
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
- Mint Chocolate Checkerboard Cookies
- Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Brownie Cookies
- Cookies in a Jar (with free printable)
- Lemon Crinkles
and here’s my video tutorial & guide for how to freeze cookie dough.
Lemon Thumbprints
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 40 minutes (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 36-40 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Sweet, soft lemon thumbprints are filled with lemon curd and drizzled with lemon icing. Instead of homemade lemon curd, you can use store-bought; or substitute raspberry, strawberry, or apricot preserves/jam. This is a very soft and creamy butter cookie dough, so refrigerating it before shaping is imperative. A quick chill after shaping as the oven preheats is helpful, too.
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 Tablespoon (8g) cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 14 Tablespoons (200g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (see Note)
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
Coating & Filling
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (140g) homemade lemon curd or store-bought
Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Make the dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and salt until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until creamed, about 1 minute. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, egg, and vanilla bean paste and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. The wet ingredients will look curdled, but will smooth out when you add the dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. Dough will be very creamy. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and up to 3 days. Chilling is imperative for this soft dough.
- Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Make room in the refrigerator for baking sheets, so the shape cookies can chill as the oven preheats in step 7.
- Shape & coat the dough: Place granulated sugar in a small bowl. Scoop cold dough (about 1 Tablespoon (18g) of dough each) and roll into balls. Roll each dough ball in granulated sugar and place 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets.
- Fill the cookies: Use your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each cookie dough ball. Fill each with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon curd.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Place baking sheets with unbaked cookies in the refrigerator while the oven preheats. (Or transfer all cookies to 1 baking sheet, or a few plates, if your refrigerator doesn’t have room. I recommend chilling the shaped cookies for a few minutes, to prevent over-spreading.)
- Once oven preheats, bake shaped cookies for 12–13 minutes, or until edges appear set and are very lightly beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the icing: In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle over cooled cookies. (You can use a spoon or fork for this, or a squeeze bottle.) Icing will set at room temperature after about 30 minutes, and then you can stack, store, transport, and gift the cookies.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions:Â You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Unbaked shaped cookie dough balls (that are not coated in sugar and filled with curd) freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw for 30 minutes, and then coat in sugar, carefully indent and fill, and then bake. See this post on how to freeze cookie dough for more information and a video tutorial. Baked and cooled cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Citrus Juicer | Citrus Zester | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Vanilla Bean Paste | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Sheets | Cooling Rack | Squeeze Bottle (optional for drizzling icing)
- Butter: The dough recipe calls for 14 Tablespoons (200g) of butter, so not quite 1 full cup. In testing, the cookies overspread when using a full cup (2 sticks/226g) of butter.
- Vanilla: I love using vanilla bean paste in these cookies because it combines both extract AND vanilla bean seeds, and adds extra flavor. You can, of course, use pure vanilla extract instead. If you want that extra vanilla bean flavor, feel free to add the seeds scraped from 1/2 of a vanilla bean. (This is in addition to the liquid vanilla extract.)
- Lemon Curd: You need about 1/2 cup (140g) of lemon curd. I recommend making the whole recipe for homemade lemon curd. You can freeze the leftover lemon curd for up to 3-6 months, or enjoy on yogurt, toast, waffles/pancakes, biscuits, and scones.
- Instead of Lemon Curd: Instead or lemon curd, try raspberry, apricot, or strawberry preserves/jam. Keep in mind that the lemon flavor won’t be as strong without the lemon curd, so I recommend keeping the lemon icing on top. (For that pop of lemon flavor!)
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
I made these cookies yesterday and lemon is definitely my favorite flavor, but often recipes turn out, well, not that lemony! This recipe on the other hand is superb! Mine came out just like your photo and taste devine. They are stackable. Thanks so much for your wonderful recipes! I used homemade lemon curd.
I am excited to try this recipie! Can I bake the cookies and then freeze them? Will they still be as good?
Absolutely! See freezing instructions. You can freeze them with or without the icing.
Help! The cookies are delish but I cannot get the icing not to spread and drip down so it looks messy. I made sure the cookies were cooled completely. I have even tried putting the icing in the fridge for ten minutes but that did not significantly help. Should I use less liquid? I’m stumped.
Hi Laura! Try adding a little more confectioners’ sugar to the icing until you reach the desired consistency.
I loved the recipe but did have a few cookies that spread out some. I used a piping bag to fill the cookie . I knew the curd would smooth out but it was fast and easy. Looked pretty. I think I may have put too much curd in each cookie. I used the whole recipe of curd. Would that be the reason my cookies flattened out? They sure taste good.
Hi Winnie! You only need about 1/2 cup lemon curd for these cookies, and our lemon curd recipe makes 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups, so you should have plenty left over. Sounds like yours were over-filled. So glad you enjoyed them, though.
A favorite at the cookie exchange! Here’s a tip…use a wine cork to make the indentation!
Hi
I am excited to make the lemon thumb print cookies with lemons from my lemonmyer tree. I want to freeze the cookie dough. Do I make the round balls like the recipe says? Then continue with your freezing instructions?
Thank you
Nikki
Hi Nikki, yes – see recipe notes: Unbaked shaped cookie dough balls (that are not coated in sugar and filled with curd) freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw for 30 minutes, and then coat in sugar, carefully indent and fill, and then bake.
Do you have to use all butter? Can you be half butter have something else?
Hi Lucia! We highly recommend sticking with butter for the best texture and flavor.
I just made your lemon thumbprint cookies, and they are delicious. I am now ready to start the marshmallow hot cocoa cookies. Thank-you for the great recipes. These are my Christmas gifts for friends and family, but I don’t know if they are going to get them or not, they are so good.
We’re so glad you’re enjoying the new Cookie Palooza recipes, Raylene!
Fun! I wanted to try something different and had fewer options, being allergic to nuts and corn. My cookies overspread so they look more like eggs than cookies but they still taste great – very delicate (kinda crisp instead of soft or chewy) and lemony! I was sure the dough was cold enough, but seems not.
I substituted corn starch for potato starch, though a suggestion below recommends just using a little extra flour. So just here to say potato starch works fine too!
Fun! I wanted to try something different and had fewer options, being allergic to nuts and corn. My cookies overspread so they look more like eggs than cookies but they still taste great – very delicate (kinda crisp instead of soft or chewy) and lemony! I was sure the dough was cold enough, but seems not.
I substituted corn starch for potato starch, though a suggestion below recommends just using a little extra flour. So just here to say potato starch works fine too!
Really delicious, bright flavor, melt in your mouth texture. These will be a lovely addition to my cookie trays this year!
These were excellent, my family loves lemon and these deliver. I used homemade lemon curd and made (and shaped) the cookies the night before to prevent spreading. Only change was to increase the salt since I use kosher salt.
My husband’s new favorite cookie! They’re up there for me, too. I used my favorite store-bought lemon curd from Trader Joe’s. They also have a vanilla bean paste this time of year that’s great in these cookies! Another slam dunk. Sally never misses!
My family and I love everything lemon so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try. This recipe is absolutely delicious – a true treat of sweet and sour! This recipe will be making its way into my cookie rotation for many years to come!
If using jam instead of lemon curd how do I prevent the jam from becoming too liquid and running over the cookie?
That typically doesn’t happen when using jam in thumbprint cookies, unless it’s a liquid/thin jam. Jam or preserves are usually thick, and that shouldn’t happen.
Hi! I am allergic to corn so cornstarch is a no go for me. Is there a substitute you can recommend?
Hi Sandy, you can just replace with 1 extra Tbsp of flour.
I’m also allergic to corn and hadn’t seen this so used potato starch. My cookies are divine – they overspread, but that’s likely unrelated.
I had issues with your lemon curd not setting. I am not sure where the problem was but the curd was runny. When baking, the curd ran off the cookie and onto the parchment. They tastes good, but looked like a mess. I will probably try them again but would take any tips in getting the curd to set.
Hi Katie, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. It sounds like the curd wasn’t quite thick enough before adding to the cookies. When making the curd, you’ll want to whisk and cook until the mixture becomes thick (resembling the texture of hollandaise sauce). This can take up to 10 minutes. If curd isn’t thickening, turn up the heat and constantly whisk. Be sure to also let it cool completely before adding to the cookies. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Thank you for giving these a try!
Chilled overnight and after shaping but they’ve spread a lot. Any advice?
Did you happen to use 1 full cup of butter, or only 14 Tbsp? Also, be sure the butter is still cool to the touch, and not overly softened. The cookies are going to spread, as all cookies do, but if they spread into puddles, using butter that’s still cool to the touch will help for next time.
These were great! Excellent flavor and I used the homemade lemon curd. Thanks Sally.
i am looking forward to making these for Christmas! Love lemon and I certainly agree with you homemade lemon curd is 100x better. Does this recipe double well, or better to do separate batches?
Hi Pam, for best results, and to not overwhelm your mixer (since it makes so many cookies/so much cookie dough), I recommend making 2 separate batches.
Love it! Especially the lemon curd recipe. Thank you.
Oh my word!! I made your awesome lemon curd again ….for these cookies. 5 Stars for sure. I did 1/3 with lemon curd, did 1/3 with raspberry preserves and 1/3 with strawberry preserves. Everyone loved them. Thank you so much. Merry early Christmas to you, your family & staff
These are tender and perfectly lemony! Thanks for a new Christmas cookie- I don’t usually do lemon but yes- these are on the tray this year!
Can’t wait to make these tonight! What does the rolling in sugar add to the dough? Is it a step that can be skipped?
You can skip it. It does add a little sparkle, and a little bit of crisp on the exterior.
Could you use canned lemon pie filling?
Hi Melinda! You probably could, though the lemon flavor may be not as strong. If you don’t want to make homemade curd, we would use a store-bought lemon curd instead.
These are so amazing. The way the flavors come together are amazing. This website is so reliable for the best recipes on earth!!!
I give cookies for Christmas, and would love to make some of these for the baskets! Do they hold up if bagged up and put in a basket for gifts? Just wondering how long they would stay fresh with the lemon curd. Thanks! Love your site use recipes all the time :0)
Hi Beth, these cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week, and the icing will set at room temperature after about 30 minutes, and then you can stack and store the cookies. So that should work well! Hope they’re a hit.
Growing up, both my parents always requested a lemon coconut cake for their birthdays (1 day apart). Do you think I could add coconut to these as a fun surprise for them for Christmas? Sprinkle on top or roll them it in instead of the sugar?
Hi Jamie, you could absolutely roll the cookies in coconut instead of sugar. That’s what I would do. You can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut, and just make sure that you chop it/pulse it fine so it coats the dough balls nicely.
Can’t wait to try these. My family loves orange, do you think we could substitute orange for the lemon in this recipe, or will it be too sweet?
Hi Ann, you may not be able to taste the orange as much, unless you supplement in some orange extract (add 1/2 or 1 teaspoon with the vanilla).
I would love to make these but I have friends who are gluten-free. Do you think this recipe will work with King Arthur Measure-for-Measure Gluten Free flour?
Hi Andria, we haven’t tested it so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you do, though!
I’m thinking of using up some leftover cranberry sauce? Would that work for the middle or is it too bulky with the cranberries?
I can’t see why not! You can always pulse it a couple times in the food processor to break down any large clumps (but don’t turn it into a liquid).