Yield: 14 lemon curd linzer cookies // Total Time: 1 hr. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links. //

Lemon Curd Linzer Cookies

Hello hello! I’m here today with these delicious and adorable lemon curd linzer cookies. I’ve been wanting to tackle linzer cookies for a while now – and I’m so happy with the results! They start with buttery almond sugar cookie base and get filled with zesty and super flavorful lemon curd. I stamped out a little bunny design but the possibilities are really endless. I hope you’ll love these cookies as much as I do!

Why you’ll love these lemon curd linzer cookies

1. They’re super easy to make. I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of rolling out cookies but this dough is super easy to work with. The cookie dough comes together in one bowl and while it’s more easily done with a hand mixer – you can certainly put the dough together without one.It also rolls out like a dream!

2. The lemon curd is SUPER lemon-y. I’m talking the perfect balance between sharp, zesty lemon flavor and sweetness. This is definitely one of those times where I highly recommend making it yourself for the best flavor. It’s also super easy to make as the recipe doesn’t require any egg tempering!

3. They’re perfect for spring. To me, lemon just screams springtime, and the little bunny is just the icing on the cake.

Recipe tips

Cookie Cutters

• Here is the pack I used to get the little bunny cookie cutter! I used a 2″ linzer cookie cutter from a different set – as the cutter in this set isn’t quite big enough.

Weigh your ingredients

• Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. Not weighing your ingredients can lead to adding too much or too little of an ingredient which can give you some undesirable results. This kitchen scale is super cheap and worked well for me when I was starting out! If you don’t have access to a scale, here is the best way to measure flour: fluff up the flour with a fork, then use a spoon to scoop it into your measuring cup. Use a knife to level off the top of the cup, then use as directed.

Room temperature ingredients

• It is important for the ingredients to be at room temperature so that they properly incorporate with each other. Take out the butter and egg 30 minutes and up to 1 hr 30 min. before starting the recipe. Here’s how to get room temperature ingredients FAST if you’re in a time crunch or forgot to take the ingredients out (like I often do):
  • Egg: place the egg in a bowl and run hot water over it for 1 continuous minute, or let it sit in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
  • Butter: slice the butter into 1 tbsp. slices and place them flat on a plate. Microwave in 5-second intervals until the butter is soft to the touch, but not melting.

Don’t over-beat the butter

• We’re going to beat some softened butter and powdered sugar together at the start of the cookie recipe, but only until they have combined. Over-beating the mixture will incorporate more air into the dough, which will make these cookies more puffy rather than flat.

How to stop linzer cookies from spreading

• After stamping out the cookies, we’ll freeze them for 10 minutes and then pop them in the oven straight from the freezer. Making the dough cold allows the butter and other ingredients to firm up – which makes it take longer for them to melt in the oven.

Ingredients and substitutions

For the linzer cookies:

All purpose flour: for structure.

Salt: a little bit of salt helps balance and bring out the flavor and sweetness of the dough.

Almond flour: essential to linzer cookies. Make sure you are using almond flour and not almond meal, which is a bit more coarse than almond flour.

Powdered sugar: for sweetness and giving the cookies that melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Egg yolk: helps bind the dough together and adds some richness.

Unsalted butter: for tenderness and flavor. You can use salted butter in place of the unsalted, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the cookies. I haven’t tried it – but I don’t see why you couldn’t substitute in your favorite dairy-free butter stick here to make these dairy free!

Vanilla: for flavor.

Lemon zest: we’ll add a little bit of lemon zest to compliment the lemon curd filling.

For the lemon curd:

Egg yolks: thickens up the curd.

Granulated sugar: to sweeten and thicken up the curd. I would recommend against trying to cut the sugar here as it would affect the flavor/texture too much.

Lemon: the star of the show – we’ll be using both the zest and the juice for maximum flavor.

Salt: like with the dough, a bit of salt helps with the flavor and sweetness of the curd.

Unsalted butter: helps thicken the curd and make it creamy. You can substitute in salted butter here, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the curd! You can also use your favorite dairy-free butter stick as a substitute.

How to make linzer cookies with lemon curd

Here are the steps to follow to make these cookies. You can find the complete recipe (which is printable!) at the end of this blog post.

1.Make the dough. Beat together the butter, powdered sugar and lemon zest until combined, then beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. Then add in your dry ingredients and beat until combined. Shape the dough into a square and cover tightly with plastic wrap.

2. Chill the dough. Annoying, I know, but trust me when I say you probably won’t like how the cookies turn out without chilling the dough! It just needs a quick 30 minutes in the fridge, and in the meantime, you can make the lemon curd.

3. Make the lemon curd. Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan and whisk vigorously over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Strain the curd through a fine mesh sieve and immediately whisk in the butter until smooth. Let the curd chill in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the cookies.

4. Roll out the dough. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it’s about 1/4″ thick, then stamp out your cookies. To half of the cookies, stamp out a little design in the middle. These will be the tops of your cookie sandwiches. Repeat with the remaining dough 2x.

5. Freeze, then bake. Transfer all of the cookies to a lined baking sheet, and place them in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up. Preheat your oven in the meantime, and pop the cookies in once the oven has preheated and they have been freezing for 10 minutes.

6. Assemble the linzer cookies. Once the cookies have cooled, dust all of the cookies that have a bunny (or your cut out of choice) with powdered sugar. Dab ~3/4 tsp. of lemon curd into the middle of the bottom cookies, then top off with the cut out cookies.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Can I double this recipe?

• Of course! I even more strongly recommend measuring by weight if you are going to double the recipe for the best results.

Can I make these cookies ahead of time?

• Cookie dough: You can definitely make the shortbread cookie dough ahead of time! Simply roll out the dough, stamp it, and when it’s time to place them in the freezer, you can just leave them like that overnight. If you want to make the dough even further in advance, transfer the cookies to an airtight container in the freezer once they have frozen on the baking sheet.
• Lemon curd: The lemon curd will stay good for up to 2 weeks if stored in an airtight container in the fridge – so you can plan accordingly with how far in advance you want to make the curd and how long you expect to keep the cookies after baking them.

How should I store these cookies?

• The lemon curd in these cookies means you’re going to have to store them in the fridge. The cookies should not stay out at room temperature for more than 4 hours. To avoid having to eat cold cookies, you can just pop them out at room temperature for 30 minutes before eating or serving.

What should I do with my leftover egg whites?

• Egg whites will be good in your fridge for ~4 days, or they will freeze well for up to 3 months! You could, of course, also make one of these recipes which use egg whites: small batch vanilla cupcakes, small batch double chocolate chip cookies.

A note on oven temperature

Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature. For example, I always have to set my oven to 330°F if I want it to bake at 350°F. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.

Tools and ingredients

You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!