Lemon-Filled Sandwich Cookies
Dainty little butter cookies with a lemon filling and pecan topping.
Servings 32
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour (195 grams)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- 4 ounces butter, softened (114 grams(
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 tablespoon water (14 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup chopped pecans – set aside
Lemon Filling
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120 grams(
- 2 teaspoons butter, softened (8 grams)
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
- 4 ½ teaspoons lemon juice or use more or less as needed
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Separate the eggs. Put the whites in the refrigerator.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugar until creamy, then beat in the egg yolks, water and vanilla.
- When thoroughly mixed, add flour mixture and stir until you have a dough. Divide it in half and shape each half of dough into a 7 inch long cylinder that is about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Wrap the cylinders in waxed paper and chill for at least 4 hours. They need to be very firm, so that you can slice them. Alternatively, divide into 4 parts and roll each part into a ⅛ inch thick slab. Use a 1 ½ to 1 ¾ inch cutter to cut circles.
- Preheat oven to 400 degree F.
- Have ready two parchment or non-stick foil lined cookie sheets. For crisper cookies, I recommend using a regular cookie sheet over an insulated cookie sheet.
- Remove cylinders from the refrigerator and slice into ⅛ inch thick slices. Place slices on cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart (or a little less).
- Remove egg whites from refrigerator and whisk until frothy. Add pecans and mix until pecans are coated with egg whites. Spoon ½ teaspoon of pecan/white mixture on top of HALF of the cookie slices.
- Bake cookies one sheet at a time on center rack for 6 minutes or until edges are brown. Let cookies cool slightly then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Make filling. Stir together all filling ingredients, adjusting liquid if necessary, and beat until light and creamy. Spread filling over half of the cookie bottoms, then cap with pecan topped cookies.
- The yield will depend on how thinly you slice the dough. The original recipe says 48 cookies, but I have not been able to get that many without making the cookies very tiny. A more realistic yield is 32 to 36.