Filled Lemon Cookies

Filled lemon cookies are pure melt-in-your-mouth shortbread sandwiched around a zingy lemon filling. The dough is minimalist: butter, powdered sugar, flour, salt, and lemon extract. That powdered sugar instead of granulated is what gives the cookie its signature sandy, shortbread-crumbly texture.

Rolling the dough into logs and chilling it firm is the right move. Cold dough slices clean into thin, uniform rounds that bake up flat and crisp. Any warmer and they smush under the knife and lose their shape.

These bake fast at a high heat. Eight minutes at 400°F (200°C) is all it takes for golden edges. Watch them closely in those last two minutes. Shortbread goes from pale to burnt in the blink of an eye.

Pro Tips

• Flour your hands generously when shaping the logs, the dough is buttery and sticks.
• Chill at least three hours, overnight is better. Frozen logs slice even cleaner.
• Flip the log a quarter turn every few slices to keep it from flattening on one side.
• Let cookies cool completely before filling, warm shortbread crumbles under pressure.

Variations

• Use lemon curd as the filling for an extra tart, jammy center.
• Swap lemon extract for orange or almond extract and match the filling flavor.
• Dip the finished sandwiches halfway in white chocolate and let set for a gift-worthy version.
• Roll the log in turbinado sugar before slicing for sparkly, crunchy edges.