My easy recipe for cream cheese lemon curd thumbprint cookies recipe is so simple to make. Perfect made with my small batch homemade lemon curd recipe or mix it up and use a fresh pear jam. You can also make a small amount of lemon curd in the microwave with great results.
More favorite cookies The Easiest Vanilla Cookies Recipe Ever & Fudgy Chocolate Cookies Recipe or a single-serving of Butter cookies. In the mood for a light cookie, try my small batch Orange Sugar cookies with this easy orange curd recipe.
Why You Will Love These Cookies
Slightly crispy edges and melt in your mouth creamy homemade lemon curd make these a light and delicious cookie that is extra easy to make.
Ingredients
- The cream cheese should be at room temperature.
- The butter should be softened and at room temperature.
- vanilla extract or substitute a vanilla paste.
- powdered sugar makes it much easier to cream the ingredients without a gritty texture.
- I prefer using my homemade lemon curd, but you also get great results using a store-bought version.
Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl, add the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and butter. Use an electric mixer on the low setting and cream the ingredients until smooth.
Add in the all-purpose flour and continue mixing to form a stiff batter.
Line a half baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out dough into equal size 1-inch balls and place the dough balls onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.
Lightly knead each ball and pat down into a roughly 2-inch diameter cookie and 1/4 inch thick. Place back on parchment lined cookie sheet. My small quarter sheet pan is perfect for making small-batch cookies.
Use your thumb or back of a small spoon to make a small impression in the center of the cookie dough.
Spoon in 1 teaspoon of lemon curd or other jam into the middle of each cookie.
Bake in 375 degree oven for about 20-22 minutes. Cookies will be lightly browned.
Remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar. Let cool slightly before serving.
Cookie Filling Variations
- Different Flavor Curd: Orange curd is really good.
- Homemade or Store bought Jam: try a homemade strawberry rhubarb jam or your favorite store bought jam.
How to store the cookies
If you don’t gobble these all up the same day, store the thumbprint cookies in an airtight container and can be stored refrigerated for 2-3 days. They will taste best if you let them return to room temperature before serving.
Cookie Tips
This recipe does not require rolling out the dough, I’ll lightly knead and pat the dough into the desired size and shape using my hands. For some recipes, this works almost as well as rolling out the dough. Be aware that with drop cookies you might not have a uniformly sized cookie.
The taste and consistency of these cream cheese lemon curd cookies are part cookie, part biscuit.
With the jam in the middle, you want to make sure the center is cooked properly. I usually sacrifice one cookie by taking it out of the oven after twenty minutes and cutting it in half. For a smaller cookie reduce the cooking time to around 15 minutes.
Before baking, it’s always a good idea to check the temperature of your oven. Using an accurate oven thermometer makes all the difference in your baked goods.
These lemon curd cookies are equally good with any other jam you might have hanging around in your refrigerator. I always have five or six different varieties and when I start getting overwhelmed with jams and preserves I make up a batch or two of these cookies.
Yes, Let the cookies cool down to room temperature then place the cookies in a single layer in Ziploc freezer bag or airtight container. It’s good to use parchment paper in between the layers.
For best quality freeze for up to a month. These can be frozen longer but I’ve never had them in my freezer longer than a month.
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Small Batch Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 ounce cream cheese
- ¾ cups flour
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons lemon curd
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a large bowl use an electric hand mixer to mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and butter together.
- Add in the flour to form a stiff batter.
- Line a half baking sheet with parchment paper
- Scoop out dough into equal size balls onto baking sheet.
- Lightly knead each ball and pat down into a roughly 1.5 inch diameter cookie and 1/4 inch thick. Place back on cookie sheet. Press down lightly and make a small impression in center of cookie dough. Chill cookie dough for about 1 hour.
- Spoon in 1 teaspoon of preserves into the middle and spread being careful not to reach the ends.
- Bake in 375 degree oven for about 20-22 minutes. Cookies will be lightly browned.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar. Let cool slightly before serving.
Notes
- Chill dough before baking.
- For variety make half the batch with pear jam and half with lemon curd.
- With the jam in the middle, you want to make sure the center is
cooked properly. - Before baking, use an oven thermometer to check the temperature of
your oven .
Really tasty cookies.