Lemon Meringue Cookies

Lemon Sugar Cookies//Torched Meringue//Lemon Curd

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There’s something about lemon desserts that just feels like sunshine. These cookies started as a simple craving for something citrusy and chewy, but they quickly turned into one of my new favourite creations.

The base of this recipe is inspired by the incredible lemon sugar cookies from Sarah Kieffer over at The Vanilla Bean Blog. Her cookie recipes are famously reliable, and after making her lemon sugar cookies I knew they would be the perfect starting point for a little experimenting. I made a few small tweaks to the dough and method, but the heart of the cookie comes from her original recipe—so full credit for the delicious foundation goes to Sarah.

From there, I leaned fully into the lemon meringue pie vibes.

Each soft, chewy lemon cookie gets topped with a cloud of fluffy meringue that’s lightly blow-torched until golden and toasty. Then comes the best part: silky, vibrant lemon curd piped right on top. The combination is honestly dreamy—sweet, tangy, creamy, and a little toasty all at once.

They taste like a lemon meringue pie and a bakery cookie had the most delicious baby (that sounded less creepy in my head).

These are the kind of cookies that feel a little extra special, too—the kind you bring out for a baby shower, bridal shower, Easter table, or a sunny spring or summer get-together. They look beautiful, taste bright and fresh, and always seem to disappear faster than expected.

If you love lemon desserts, these Lemon Meringue Cookies are going to be very hard to stop eating. I definitely couldn’t. 🍋

Recipe:

Makes 15 large cookies

Notes

• I specify the type of salt used, as different salts are more or less salty than others. If you don’t have the same kind of salt used, be mindful of this and adjust accordingly. Generally speaking, pink Himalayan salt is less salty than most others.

• I had a little bit of leftover lemon curd - but you can't easily scale the recipe down further without dividing up an egg and an egg yolk. So enjoy what's left in your morning yoghurt, on pancakes, the options are endless.

• If you don't have a blow torch, no problem! The meringue is already cooked, it's just a fun finishing touch, but not necessary.

• I like to pipe the meringue and lemon curd on just half of each cookie. That way it's not too sweet overall, and you can just alternate bites with and without. Also, the cookies are just so delicious by themselves that sometimes you just want a plain bite!

• You can make these cookies in a single day. Or, if you'd prefer, you can spread the baking out over 2-3 days. When I made them for a Saturday event, I made the lemon curd and cookie dough on the Thursday night, I baked the cookies on the Friday night, and then I made the meringue and assembled them on the Saturday morning. Again, you can make everything in one day, but if you have the luxury of planning ahead, feel free to spread out the labour so that each step feels like light work!

• These cookies are best eaten the day they are made (baked), or the next day.

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 425 g all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 250 g butter, room temperature

• 525 g sugar

• Zest of 4 1/2 medium lemons

• 1 1/2 tsp fine white salt

• 2 eggs, room temperature

• 1 egg yolk, room temperature

• 1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract

• 2 1/4 tsp lemon extract

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for 2 minutes.

3. Add in 450 g of the sugar, the lemon zest, and salt. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in the sides with a spatula, and beat again for a further 2 minutes.

4. Add in the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and lemon extract. Combine on low speed.

5. Add in the flour mixture. Combine on low speed. Do not over mix.

6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refridgerate for a minumum of 1 hour, or up to 24 hours if you have the luxury of planning ahead. The longer the dough sits, the more the flavour develops and the texture improves.

7. Make the lemon curd during this waiting period (recipe below).

8. When you're ready to bake your cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

9. Line 2-4 baking trays with parchment paper, depending on their size.

10. Place the remaining 75 g of sugar in a bowl.

11. Roll the cookie dough into 85 g balls, and roll them in the sugar. Place 3-4 cookies on each baking sheet if they're small, more if they're jumbo baker's sheets like mine. Just know that they will spread, so make sure they're nicely spaced apart. I also like to give each one a little hit down, creating a slightly flat bottom, so that they don't roll once they start to get warm in the oven.

12. Bake 1 sheet at a time, on the center rack. For each sheet, bake for 5 minutes, then rotate it, and bake for 5 more minutes. Then, reach in with an oven glove, pinch the pan and the parchment paper firmly, lift one side of the pan about 7 cm, and let it drop. Do this 5 times. Then bake for a final 2 minutes.

13. Remove from oven, and place the baking tray on a wire rack to cool while you bake the next tray. Right before the next tray is done baking, transfer the cooled cookies onto the wire rack. Repeat until all of the cookies are baked and cooled.

14. Proceed to making the meringue (recipe below).

Lemon Curd

Ingredients

• 45 g (3 tbsp) lemon juice

• Zest of 1 1/2 normal-sized lemons

• 65 g sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 egg yolk

• 90 g cold butter, cut into cubes

• 1/8 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)

Instructions

1. Measure the lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, egg, and egg yolk into a blender. Blend on high until completely smooth—about 1 minute.

2. Pour the blended mixture into a heat-proof bowl, set over a saucepan of simmering water (medium-low heat). Make sure that the water level is low enough that it doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Whisk occasionally. It’s done when it has thickened up, and resembles curd, about 10 minutes. Note that it will become thicker as it cools.

3. Remove from heat. Whisk in cold butter cubes, 1-2 at a time.

4. Whisk in salt.

5. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Meringue

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites

• 100 g sugar

• 1/2 tsp lemon juice

• Small pinch of salt

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Place the egg whites, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a clean and heat-proof bowl, set over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure that the water level is low enough that it doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Whisk continually until the sugar has dissolved (using clean hands, pinch the mixture and rub your fingers together—if it’s not granular, it’s done).

2. When the sugar in the egg whites has dissolved, remove the bowl from the heat, and beat it on high with electric beaters until you have a solid meringue, and the bowl is cool to the touch, 4-10 minutes.

3. Add in the vanilla. Beat on high speed for another 1-2 minutes. It should be stiff.

4. You’re now ready to move onto the assembly!

Assembly

You'll need:

• The cookies, fully cooled

• The meringue

• The lemon curd

• 2 piping bags

• A kitchen blow torch

• Extra lemon zest, optional

Instructions

1. Fill the first piping bag with the meringue, using your desired nozzle, and cut off the tip.

2. Pipe the meringue on the cookies. I like to stick to half of the cookie only.

3. Lightly toast the meringue with a blow torch.

4. Fill the second bag with lemon curd (no nozzle), and pipe little dots between the meringue.

5. Option to top the meringue/lemon curd with a little extra lemon zest.

6. Enjoy!

Store the cookies at room-temperature, whether in a tupperware, or covered by plastic wrap. They are best eaten the day they are made, or the next day. Do not leave them outside of the fridge for longer than that.

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