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Lemon Meringue Pie Cookies have all the flavor of the classic pie! Thick & chewy lemon sugar cookies are filled with bright & tangy lemon curd, then topped with dollops of meringue.
Why you’ll love Lemon Meringue Cookies:
- Easier than Pie – If pie baking isn’t a strength, you can still enjoy the flavor of Lemon Meringue Pie with these much easier cookies!
- Bright Lemon Flavor – The lemon curd is bursting with bright & tart lemon flavor, the cookies are chewy with crisp edges, and the meringue melts in your mouth!
- Centerpiece Dessert – If decorating fancy cakes isn’t your thing, don’t fret! These cookies are cute enough to steal the show – with far less effort required.
Ingredient Overview:
As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Use the table of contents (back at the top, below the first image, to navigate).
- Butter – I always use salted butter because in my experience, it lends the best flavor, but feel free to use unsalted butter if that’s what you prefer.
- Eggs – To cut down on the number of eggs, we’re making my lemon curd with 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks. The 2 leftover whites will make our meringue!
- Flour – Spoon your flour into the measuring cup, then level it with a flat utensil for best results, or use a scale. Scooping the measuring cup directly into your flour will lead to too much flour, and a potentially dry bake.
- Lemon Juice – Use freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Recipe Variations:
- Dairy-free – Use your favorite, trusted, dairy-free butter in the cookies and curd.
- Other Fruits – Lemon not your thing? Try my Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Cookies or my Cherry Pie Cookies instead!
How to Make Lemon Meringue Cookies:
Step 1: Make the Lemon Curd. Cook together eggs, lemon juice & zest, sugar, and salt. Strain and stir in the butter and vanilla. Let cool completely. This is the same trusted recipe I use in my Lemon Meringue Cheesecake and Lemon Tiramisu!
Step 2: Make the Cookie Dough. Melt butter in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the sugars, then the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients until a dough forms. Scoop into 65 gram balls and chill.
Step 3: Bake Cookies. Bake cookies as directed in the recipe below. Scoot the cookies and indent with a tablespoon, then let them cool completely.
Step 4: Make the Meringue. Heat egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Then, beat with vanilla until stiff peaks form.
Step 5: Assemble. Add a generous 1-2 tbsp of lemon curd to each cookie, and pipe on the meringue. Toast the meringue with a kitchen torch!
Serving + Storing:
Enjoy cookies once assembled. Store cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-6 days. The meringue should hold up in the fridge just fine, as long as you followed the recipe.
Expert Baking Tips:
- Oven Thermometer – An oven thermometer will tell you if your oven is actually running at the temperature you set it to. Your oven may not be accurate. Accurate oven temperature is crucial for most bakes, so I leave an oven thermometer in at all times to keep an eye on my oven’s calibration.
- Kitchen Scale – A food scale is the best way to make sure your flour is at the proper weight, since amounts will vary SO widely based on how you measure it, as well as the measuring cup you use, as they are not standardized.
FAQs:
Can I double or halve this recipe?
Yes you can do either! Be careful with a double batch of the lemon curd, it’ll take longer to cook but don’t be tempted to turn the heat up or you’ll scramble the eggs.
Special Tools:
- Stand Mixer – I have had better success with a stand mixer than an electric mixer, but you should theoretically be able to make the swiss meringue in either. If you own both, opt for the stand mixer.
- Instant Read Thermometer – You’ll need an instant read thermometer to check the temperature when making the meringue.
- Kitchen Torch – You know those cute little hand held kitchen torches? They crap out after a couple uses – don’t waste your money on those cheap things. Buy this Bernzomatic Trigger Start Torch and a few Propane Tanks to go with it – it’s a much higher-quality torch and has lasted me for years!
More Unique Cookie Recipes:
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Lemon Meringue Pie Cookies
Lemon Meringue Pie Cookies have all the flavor of the classic pie! Thick & chewy lemon sugar cookies are filled with bright & tangy lemon curd, then topped with dollops of meringue.
Ingredients
For the Lemon Curd:
- zest of 2 large lemons
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar , 183 grams
- 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp lemon juice, 213 grams
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup salted butter, cubed, 113 grams
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Cookies:
- 14 and 1/2 tbsp salted butter, melted, 206 grams
- zest of 1 large lemon
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar , 156 grams
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed , 165 grams
- 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled or weighed , 390 grams
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the Meringue
- 2 large egg whites, at room temperature , Use the egg whites leftover from the curd!
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar , 105 grams
- tsp cream of tartar
- tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract , I like to use vanilla bean paste for those little flecks of vanilla! 8 grams
Instructions
- Make the Lemon Curd: Use a non-metal pan – It can react with the lemon and leave a metallic taste. Use a ceramic pan and even a silicone whisk if you've had issues with this in the past. Add lemon zest and sugar to a medium saucepan, rubbing the lemon zest into the sugar well with clean fingers. Add the lemon juice, eggs, and salt to the same pot. Whisk until well combined. Cook, whisking constantly, over low heat, for 10-14 minutes or until the temperature on a candy thermometer reaches 195° F. (It will seem like nothing is happening until around 8-12 minutes in. Trust the process! Don't be tempted to turn the heat up.) Keep a wooden spoon handy – the mixture should coat the back of the spoon, and hold a trail when you drag your finger through the curd on the spoon. Remove the saucepan from the heat immediately, and strain it through a sieve into a medium glass bowl to remove any lumps. Whisk the vanilla & butter into the hot curd mixture until fully combined. Let the curd cool completely in the fridge.Make-Ahead Tip: This can be done up to 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight jar in the fridge.zest of 2 large lemons, 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar , 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp lemon juice, 2 large eggs, at room temperature , 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature , pinch of salt, 1/2 cup salted butter, cubed, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Make the Cookie Dough: In a large bowl, melt the butter. Rub the lemon zest into the granulated sugar with clean hands until it resembles a wet sandy mixture. Whisk in the sugars. Then whisk in the eggs and vanilla, until well combined and smooth. Stir in the dry ingredients until fully incorporated into a smooth dough (a hand mixer helps here, as this takes some elbow grease!). Make-Ahead Tip: Dough can be balled and frozen for 2 months or so before using. Thaw in the fridge overnight before baking.14 and 1/2 tbsp salted butter, melted, zest of 1 large lemon, 3/4 cup granulated sugar , 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed , 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract , 2 large eggs, at room temperature , 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled or weighed , 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt
- Scoop & Chill the Dough: Scoop the dough into balls 65 grams in size, and place in an airtight container to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, in the freezer for 1 hour, or in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Bake the Cookies: Preheat your oven to 365° F. Line a few cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place about 5 cookies on each of your prepared baking sheets, with room for them to spread. Keep remaining pans of dough in the fridge until ready to bake. Bake for 9-11 minutes. The edges of the cookies should look and feel set when tapped with a fingertip, and the centers will be puffy and look just a tad underdone. They will set up as they cool. Immediately place a round cutter around the outside of each cookie and swirl the cookie within it to "scoot" them into perfect circles. This also helps them appear thicker! Then, press an indent into the centers with the back of a tablespoon. Let cool a few more minutes on the cookie sheet, then, once they feel sturdy enough, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the Meringue: Once the cookies are just about cool, and your curd has had time to chill in the fridge, begin on the meringue. This must be used as soon as you make it! Read these directions thoroughly before you begin to ensure success. Add an inch or so of water to a small/medium saucepan. Make sure your bowl doesn't sit in the water. Test it by setting the bowl on the pot, over the water, lifting off and seeing if the bottom is wet. If you have a stand mixer, you can use it's metal bowl. In your selected bowl, whisk together room temperature egg whites, granulated sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Set the bowl over the pot of water. Turn the heat to low, then cook, whisking constantly until an instant thermometer holds steady at 175℉. (Mine was registering between 175℉ and 180℉ depending on where I stuck the thermometer without hitting the bottom of the bowl. Keep going until you don't see any reading below 175 ℉.) This will take about 8 minutes, but go by temp, not by time.Remove from the heat immediately, and add the vanilla.Hand Mixer: Beat with a hand mixer on high speed for 2-3 minutes. We're looking for a thick mixture with stiff peaks. It will look thick and smooth, but then it will move past smooth and look like it's starting to clump a bit – this is the thickness/stiffness we want. Stand Mixer: Mix with the whisk attachment on high speed (I like to keep it between 8-9, not at 10) for 2-4 minutes. The mixture will grow up the sides of the bowl, and is ready when it seems to have stopped growing, and is balling up inside the whisk attachment (it will almost look a tad clumpy, as opposed to smooth & silky). When you lift the whisk attachment out and flip it so the bottom is pointing up, the meringue should stand stiffly up, with only the slightest bit of the tip top strand of meringue flipping over.Immediately fill a piping bag, fitted with a tip, with the meringue.2 large egg whites, at room temperature , 1/2 cup granulated sugar , tsp cream of tartar, tsp salt, 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Assemble Cookies: Immediately assemble your cookies. Spoon 1-2 tbsp of curd into the center of each cookie. Pipe small dollops of meringue onto the tops of the cookies, then toast with a kitchen torch. (Special tools are linked just above the recipe card in the blog post.)
- Serve & Store: Enjoy immediately once assembled! Store cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-6 days. They must be refrigerated due to the meringue (stability) and curd.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 351kcal, Carbohydrates: 48g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 100mg, Sodium: 256mg, Potassium: 74mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 32g, Vitamin A: 527IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 38mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
These were delicious, thank you for another great recipe!!
Thank you so much, Wendi!!
These were the best cookies ever thank you so much for the recipe!!!😍
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Melissa!
WOW, first off these cookies are so beautiful!! I’m making them for a niece’s bridal shower!!! She loves lemon & I thought these would be perfect I can make them the exact size I want & they decorate beautifully. Thank you & I can’t wait to order your book. Do you have a signed copy or could I mail you one to sign for her wedding gift? If not it’s ok. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Bea! Regarding the cookbook, please email me at bluebowlblogging@gmail.com and we can certainly arrange something! 🙂 Thanks so much for your support!
These cookies are so delicious!!
Thank you so much, Dana!