These lemon curd cookies are every lemon dessert lover’s dream. Delicious homemade lemon curd and creamy buttercream are sandwiched between gluten free lemon cookies covered with lemon icing – and to top it all off, these daisy sandwich cookies couldn’t be prettier if they tried!
A bouquet of daisies. “Don’t cry, Shopgirl. Don’t cry.” F-O-X.
We all have that one movie, right? THE movie. The one that’s just so right and all the quotes are gaaah so spot on and it’s just… life. Yeah? Yeah.
Well, You’ve Got Mail is THE movie for me. It’s full of little gems that make me all choked up and, yes, I did just spend 15 minutes reading movie quotes on IMDb. So. Many. Feels.
And it’s so damn real. And it has an answer for everything.
In the middle of an existential crisis, not knowing who you are? Go to Starbucks.
Preparing for an exam or important presentation? Quote Godfather, while awkwardly pretend-boxing.
Have no clue what the answer to a question is but want to appear cute? Resort to spelling. (Works only for ages below 6 years. Sorry.)
Don’t know which day it is because you’re lousy at that sort of thing? Quote Godfather. Again.
Giving a bouquet of flowers? Daisies. Daisies are the way to go. Or, in the timeless words of Kathleen Kelly: “They’re so friendly. Don’t you think daisies are the friendliest flower?”
And if daisies are the friendliest flower, then surely these daisy sandwich cookies have to be the most delicious lemon curd cookies you’ve ever tasted. (And the prettiest.)
The gluten free lemon cookies themselves are a variation on the good ol’ shortbread cookie – but the addition of an egg keeps them from being too crumbly and dry (which is a common problem with gluten free cookies).
We’ll start by creaming together butter and sugar into pale, fluffy (sweet) submission. Then, the star of the cookie show is added: lemon zest. Be generous, and don’t forget to breathe in the aromatic, zesty scent. You know it’s the beginning of something mouthwatering.
An egg is mixed in, flour, xanthan gum and salt are sifted together and then we’ll mix mix mix knead knead knead until you get a smooth cookie dough. Easy peasy. (And if a bit disappears… into your mouth… nobody will know.)
After allowing it to chill in the fridge, we’ll roll out the cookie dough about 3 mm thick, and use a pretty flower-shaped cookie cutter to cut out cookie dough daisies. For half of them, we’ll cut out a circle – use a bottle cap, a piping nozzle… anything, really. Get creative. As long as it’s the approximately right size, you’re good.
Then, you can totally spend 5 minutes arranging the cookies on the baking sheet so that it looks nice. Or not. The oven won’t judge.
The cookies are baked at 355 ºF (180 ºC) for 14 minutes until light golden brown and smelling waaaay too tempting for their own good. Allow them to cool on a rack and prepare the other ingredients – lemon curd, buttercream and lemon juice icing. Arranging it in a pretty way gets bonus points.
The sandwich cookie tops get dipped into the lemon icing – dipping your fingers alongside the cookies is inevitable and expected – and when they dry, they get the most amazing crisp lemony layer on top that gives a satisfying crackle snap crackle when you bite into them. (Plus, the white icing gives the cookies the whole daisy petal look.)
We’ll pipe a ring of buttercream on the sandwich cookie bottoms, to prevent the lemon curd cookies from leaking everywhere. Think more pretty daisies and less yellow oozing thingies.
Finally, lemon curd is spooned into the buttercream rings and the dried cookie tops are placed on top. Et voila – daisy lemon curd cookies are done!
The final result are lemon curd cookies that are… everything. Aromatic and zingy, buttery and crumbly, creamy and delicious. And let’s not forget: utterly beautiful in the best way possible – the one that makes you smile.
The daisies in the photo (the flower-flower ones, not the flower-cookie ones) are the last remnants of summer. The trees are decidedly not green anymore, the mornings are getting darker and chillier… but occasionally, there’s still a friendly yellow-and-white head peaking out, making us smile.
Kathleen Kelly was right, as it turns out. About many things.
Good comebacks are hard to come up with on the spot. Sometimes, it’s better that way.
Talking about nothing with the right person means more than talking about something with the wrong person.
And daisies are the friendliest flower.
Daisy Lemon Curd Sandwich Cookies (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
For gluten free lemon cookies:
- 2 sticks (226 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100 g) caster gugar
- zest of 2 lemons
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups (360 g) plain gluten free flour blend (I've used a simple store-bought blend of rice, potato and maize flour with no added xanthan gum)
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- pinch of salt
For homemade lemon curd:
- 1/2 cup (100 mL) lemon juice (use freshly squeezed lemon juice)
- 2/3 cup (135 g) caster sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 5 egg yolks
- 6 tbsp (85 g) unsalted butted, at room temperature
For buttercream:
- 4/5 stick (90 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cups (95 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tbsp milk
For lemon juice icing:
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
You will also need:
- flower-shaped cookie cutter, about 2 1/2 inch in diameter
- round piping nozzle or bottle cap, with which you can cut out circles about 3/4 inch in diameter
Instructions
For gluten free lemon cookies:
- In a bowl, cream together butter, sugar and lemon zest.
- Add the eggs, one at a time and mix well.
- Sift together the dry ingredients and add them to the wet mixture. Using a wooden spoon, mix all ingredients together until you get an even, smooth cookie dough that comes together in a ball.
- Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
- Pre-heat the oven to 355 ºF (180 ºC) and line a baking sheet with baking/greaseproof paper.
- Roll out the chilled cookie dough until it's about 3 mm thick. Using a flower-shaped cookie cutter about 2 1/2 inch in diameter, cut out cookie dough flowers and place them on the lined baking sheet. Leave about 1 inch in between the cookies.
- For half of the cookies, cut out circles from their middle, about 1/2 in diameter, using a bottle cap or a piping nozzle (or anything with a circular shape and of suitable diameter).
- Bake the cookies in the pre-heated oven at 355 ºF (180 ºC) for 13 - 14 minutes or until golden brown.
- Allow to cool.
For homemade lemon curd:
- In a heatproof bowl above simmering water, combine all lemon curd ingredients except the butter. Whisk briefly until the eggs are evenly incorporated.
- Cook the lemon curd above the simmering water until it starts thickening – stir constantly but do not whisk. Whisking will create a foam (from the egg yolks and the sugar), which will make your lemon curd frothy and not at all lemon curdy.
- After about 10 minutes, the lemon curd should have thickened significantly. If it hasn't, transfer the mixture into a saucepan and cook on direct (medium-low) heat for a few minutes, stirring vigorously.
- Stir in the butter, 1 tbsp at a time, until all butter has melted and has been completely incorporated.
- Allow the lemon curd to cool, stirring occasionally to prevent "skin" formation on top.
For buttercream:
- In a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer with the double whisk attachment), cream together butter and 1/2 of the powdered sugar. Whisk on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
- Add the milk and the rest of the powdered sugar. Whisk on medium-high speed for a further 5 - 7 minutes until the buttercream is super fluffy and almost white.
For lemon juice icing:
- In a bowl, mix together the lemon juice and powdered sugar until you get a thick white (but slightly runny) paste.
Assembling the daisy sandwich cookies:
- Dip the tops of the sandwich cookies (i.e. the cookies with a hole) into the icing and allow them to dry on a rack. As they dry, the icing will harden.
- Pipe a ring of buttercream, about 1/4 inch high, around the edge of the sandwich bottoms (i.e. the cookies without a hole) – see the picture in text for clarification.
- Spoon about 1 tsp worth of lemon curd into the buttercream ring (see the picture in text for clarification). The lemon curd should completely fill the buttercream ring, up to the top.
- Place the iced cookie on top of the buttercream + lemon curd, pressing down slightly so that the lemon curd fills up the hole in the cookie slightly.
- Et voila – you've made daisy sandwich cookies! Enjoy!
Storage:
- The daisy lemon curd sandwich cookies keep well in a closed container in a cool dry space for about 1 week (if they don't disapear within the hour...).
Looking for more gluten free sweet deliciousness? You’ve come to the right place!
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