Lemon Meringue Pie Cookies
After making my key lime pie thumbprint cookies, many of my followers suggested making a lemon meringue pie version. I also had this idea, just saying. But I couldn’t just take the same recipe and add lemon juice instead of lime juice. That would be a) lame b) boring c) inauthentic and d) gross. The key (get it?) difference with the would-be lemon version is that lemon meringue pie shouldn’t ever be made in a graham cracker crust. That means the base cookie dough would have to be entirely different. I had a couple different routes. Do I just use pie crust as the base? That sounded nasty to me, personally. I could use a shortbread crust, but then that felt too similar to a lemon bar. So I opted for a traditional sugar cookie dough; it is a cookie after all. Secondly, lemon meringue pie’s filling is pure lemon curd, not a condensed milk custard like with key lime pie (or a posset like with my key lime pie cookies). That introduces a lot of risk because lemon curd is A LOT finickier than key lime pie filling. You have to cook the curd first on the stove top and then you want to bake it just right in the oven. Then, there’s the whole ordeal of making a meringue to finish the cookies. That’s a pain in the a**, agreed.
So why make these cookies? Truthfully, they’re transcendent. I have never had a cookie like this before. I don’t actually know if I’ve ever had meringue on top of a cookie before now that I think about it (and I’m tempted to continue the trend). The balance between sweet/buttery sugar cookie dough, sunny/tart/zippy lemon curd, and just-sweet-enough/caramelized meringue can’t be beat. Sure, you could just make a regular ‘ole lemon meringue pie. But that’s no fun! And this way everyone gets a perfectly perfect lemon meringue pie (cookie) all to themself.
Tips
Make the lemon curd up to a few days in advance. Making the curd, cookies, and meringue all in one day is a lot of work. It also makes extra curd, consider it a bonus that you can use for English muffins, scones, or just eat by the spoon.
The hardest part of this recipe is baking the cookies. It’s definitely a dance, especially with two trays of cookies simultaneously. You can make it much easier (though more time-consuming) by baking 1 tray of cookies at a time. Most people should probably do that tbh.
When the cookies are in for their first bake, if you pull the cookies too early, they won’t fully bake when the lemon curd goes in. If you pull the cookies too late, I think they won’t be flexible enough to make a divot for the lemon curd and might crumble too much. It’s imperative you pull each tray of cookies out when they are 1-2 minutes away from being perfectly cooked; the key sign is that they’ll start to pick up golden color around the edge.
Refrigerating the cookies will also firm them up considerably in a way that makes them easier to handle.
14 large cookies
Ingredients
For the lemon curd (makes extra fyi, but I think that’s a good thing):
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar (250g)
Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 large egg plus 5 egg yolks
1 cup lemon juice (240g) (you can also use Meyer lemons, cut back on sugar by 1/4 cup)
3 tbsp unsalted butter (42g), chilled
2 tsp vanilla extract
For the dough:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (226g)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar (250g)
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (320g)
For the meringue (optional):
4 egg whites (120g)
1 cup granulated or raw cane sugar (200g)
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar (55g)
Special Equipment
Kitchen torch (optional)
Hand or stand mixer
Directions
Make the lemon curd : In a medium saucepan, add the sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest into the sugar with your finger tips for 30 seconds. Add the lemon juice, egg, yolks, and salt. Whisk to combine. Place pot over medium heat and whisk continuously until the lemon curd thickens, 5-7 minutes. Dump lemon curd into a heat proof bowl. Stir in the butter and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap ensuring the plastic touches the top of the curd and refrigerate until ready to use (can be made several days in advance).
Make the cookie dough: Add the butter and sugar to a large bowl. Beat with a hand-mixer (you can also do by hand) on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and egg yolk until combined. Beat in the vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour and beat on low until just combined.
Prepare to bake: Preheat oven to 350F with a rack in the upper and lower thirds. Grease a 1/3 cup flat-bottomed measuring cup (or anything flat-bottomed with about a 2” diameter) and set aside. Remove lemon curd from the refrigerator and stir it with a spoon to revive it a bit. Line two half-sheet trays with parchment paper. Using a quarter-cup ice cream scoop, plop 6-7 cookie dough balls evenly spaced on the trays. Flatten the balls slightly.
Bake the cookies: Bake both trays for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are picking up color around the edges/are just a couple minutes from being totally cooked. Reduce oven heat to 300F. Working quickly (sorry), remove the tray with the slightly more-cooked cookies from the oven, leaving the other one in the oven. Using the prepared measuring cup, press down into the center of each cookie, creating a ~1/4” deep divot (if the cookie “walls” break apart too much, just smoosh it back together). Spoon 1-2 tbsp lemon curd into each divot, just to fill them. Return tray to the oven and repeat with the other tray. Once both trays are back in the oven, bake for another 5-8 minutes to set the lemon curd (if you shake the pans the curd just wobbles slightly). Remove trays from the oven and let cool completely. (The cookies at this point can be finished if you’d like, sans meringue).
Meringue: Set a medium saucepan with 1” of water over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. In the bowl of a stand mixer add the egg whites, granulated sugar, and salt. Set over the simmering water and whisk continuously until when you feel the egg whites they don’t feel grainy and are very warm. Attach bowl to the stand mixer and turn to high speed. Allow machine to run until the meringue cools down and holds peaks, about 3-4 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and whisk that in until incorporated. Transfer meringue to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2” round tip (or any tip you desire). Pipe meringue on top of the lemon curd in a design you like. Using a kitchen torch, torch the meringue to caramelize it. Cookies are best stored in a single layer on a baking tray, covered with plastic wrap, and refrigerated for up to 4 days (honestly, I recommend refrigerating regardless because it prevents the cookies from being too fragile).
