Lemon Cookie Cups

Lemon Cookie Cups. If the title along doesn't make your taste buds tingle, perhaps the description will! What you have here are two-bite-sized sugar cookie cups filled with a rich and tangy lush and sweet lemon curd.

Are they tingling yet? I hope so because these cookie cups are amazing and would be the perfect addition to any Holiday Cookie Tray for celebrating or gift giving. They would also be perfect to serve at any kind of wedding or shower, or tea party for that matter!

These tasty little cookie cups remind me very much of Lemon Bars. I adapted the recipe from one I found on Six Sisters! I am crazy about lemon anything and when I saw these I immediately had to print out the recipe!
I really despair of the light at this time of year. My lemon filling doesn't look as yellow as theirs does. But trust me when I tell you it is beautiful and lemony, be it bright yellow or not!

You can of course, use a ready made Lemon Curd if you don't want to go to all the trouble of making your own. There are many quality ones available today.
It really isn't that hard to make your own however and so if you are keen I say go for it! Homemade lemon curd is the best!

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE LEMON COOKIE CUPS
You probably have everything you need in the kitchen right now to make these delicious cookie cups! I always keep lemons in my kitchen. I envy anyone who has a lemon tree in their yard who can just go outside and pick them! Lemons are one of my favorite fruits!
For the lemon filling:

6 TBS (about 85g) butter softened
1 cup (200g) sugar
2 large free range eggs divided
2 large free range egg yolks
⅔ cup (160ml) lemon juice

For the cookie cups:

2 3/4 cups (344g) plain all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup (227g) butter softened
1 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

You will also need:

Icing sugar to dust the tops when done

Lemons yield about 1/4 cup (60ml) of juice per lemon. Did you know how to pick good lemons? Pick lemons that are unblemished, firm, heavy and thin skinned. Thick skinned lemons tend to be dryer.
Also a lemon that is light (weight wise) will not yield much juice. Bring your lemons to room temperature and roll them firmly across the counter beneath your palm a few times and they will yield even more juice!

I always scrub my lemons also. This helps to get rid of any pesticides, insect eggs, etc. If there is mold on your lemons DON"T buy them! A good lemon will not have any mold on it.
We are coming into citrus season in January/February. This is when citrus fruit is at its best and freshest. Did you know you can freeze lemon juice and zest? You can. Both freeze beautifully.

It is an easy thing to buy a whole net bag of lemons during season and wash them, then finely grate the zest from them, pop it into a zip lock baggie and freeze. Or you can dry it in a dehydrator, which works very well also.
They can then be juiced, the juiced poured into ice cube trays and then frozen. Pop the frozen cubes out and into some zip lock baggies and you are good to go. You will have fresh frozen lemon juice on tap whenever you need it. So very handy! Each cube will hold about 1 TBS of lemon juice!

HOW TO MAKE LEMON COOKIE CUPS
These are really not that involved. If the thought of making a lemon curd frightens you, by all meals use a ready made curd!

Preheat oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.Whisk the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in a small bowl and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a larger bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in dry ingredients until combined. You may need to knead it a few minutes with your hands to really bring the dough together.Roll into 1 inch balls and place into the prepared muffin tin. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.Press the insides of the cookies down with the backside of a wooden spoon to make an indent for filling. Leave in the pan and cool completely.

For the Lemon curd filling, cream together the 6 Tablespoons softened butter with 1 cup (200g) of the sugar. Mix in 2 whole eggs and the 2 egg yolks, beating until well combined.

Whisk in the lemon juice thoroughly and then pour the filling mixture into a saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly for about 5 minutes until smooth and thickened.Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon about a teaspoon of the curd into each cooled cookie cup. Place the muffin tin in fridge for 30 minutes, or until lemon curd has set up.Carefully remove the cups from the pan and dust with icing sugar to serve. Store in the refrigerator.

These were incredibly moreish, dangerous almost. I found myself wondering how wonderful they would be filled with some of my lemon, lime and ginger curd.
I would think that they are also delicious filled with dulce de leche, or jam, or even marmalade! Mmm . . . Hazelnut spread would also be very nice!

Some other fancy cookie cups, tarts, etc. that you might also enjoy that I have baked here in The English Kitchen are:

CAPE BRETON PORK PIES - Also called "Porkie Pies" which is Cockney rhyming slang for lies. Because there is no pork at all in these lovely filled cookies. What you have here is a brown sugar cookie cup filled with a sweet date filling and topped with a buttercream icing. Delicious morsels of tastiness! These are fabulous on a holiday cookie tray!

LEMON BUTTER TARTS - These tangy, yet sweet and rich tarts have all of the appeal of a butter tart except that the filling is made with lemon. I added dried currants to half of them. Currants and lemon go very well together. These go perfect with a hot cup of tea, or served as a dessert with a dollop of whipped cream on top!

⅔Yield: 24 cookie cupsAuthor: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 18 MinInactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 H & 3 MSweet and tart, these always go down a real treat. If you don't want to make the lemon filling from scratch you can use a good quality ready made lemon curd. They are delicious either way!

Ingredients

For the lemon filling:

6 TBS (about 85g) butter softened
1 cup (200g) sugar
2 large free range eggs divided
2 large free range egg yolks
⅔ cup (160ml) lemon juice

For the cookie cups:

2 3/4 cups (344g) plain all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup (227g) butter softened
1 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

You will also need:

Icing sugar to dust the tops when done

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in a small bowl and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a larger bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in dry ingredients until combined. You may need to knead it a few minutes with your hands to really bring the dough together.
Roll into 1 inch balls and place into the prepared muffin tin. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
Press the insides of the cookies down with the backside of a wooden spoon to make an indent for filling. Leave in the pan and cool completely.
For the Lemon curd filling, cream together the 6 Tablespoons softened butter with 1 cup (200g) of the sugar. Mix in 2 whole eggs and the 2 egg yolks, beating until well combined.
Whisk in the lemon juice thoroughly and then pour the filling mixture into a saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly for about 5 minutes until smooth and thickened.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon about a teaspoon of the curd into each cooled cookie cup. Place the muffin tin in fridge for 30 minutes, or until lemon curd has set up.
Carefully remove the cups from the pan and dust with icing sugar to serve. Store in the refrigerator.

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