If the dream fairies are taking requests, tonight I’d like my dreams to include:
the bright green grass of a perfectly manicured baseball field.
first kisses.
lemonade so cold and tart it almost hurts my teeth.
… maybe a waterfall… that might be nice.
… the sound of my aunt dede humming to herself?…. that could be pretty special.
and perhaps these lemon cookies, cold… from the freezer.
I rarely put in dream requests, but I’m feeling rather particular tonight. K. Thanks.
These cookies: little dreams… I swear to it.
Light meringues are infused with lemon zest and vanilla and baked until crisp and dry. That’s just the beginning.
I used this tip and a piping bag to make little meringue star cookies. It’s a big tip… although I’m not smart enough to know the size.
I piped 50 stars between two sheets. Half of the stars stayed full and pretty, the other half of the stars I smoothed into a flat-ish circle. The flat meringues will be the bottom of the lemon meringue sandwich.
These cookies bake in a low low oven for 2 hours. The result is a crisp, light-as-air, dream cookie. Dreeeeaaaaammmmm cookie.
Citrus curd… Hello!
So easy to make. So bright and happy. So easy to shovel in my face with a spoon at midnight after I’ve already gotten out of bed to make myself a random bowl of grits.
… or whatever.
The hardest part about making curd is straining it through a fine mesh strainer… and we both know that’s no effort at all.
Oh, wait. Another tough part is when you fill the curd jar too full… and you have to spoon a good portion into you mouth to keep it from overflowing. That’s hard.
Lemon bottom. Lemon curd middle. Lemon top.
Sandwiched together, they’re the perfect bite. All you need is a big mouth.
These little clouds are delicate, sweet and bright. They taste exactly like Lemon Meringue Pie. They’re my dream come true. I wish I could tell you that I shared these cookies with people that I know and love, but the truth is… I shoved most of these cookies in my mouth before I told anyone that I even made them.
There are a few tricks you should know when making these cookies:
Humidity will effect the meringues. The more humid, or moist the air, the stickier the meringues will get. It’s just one of those things.
These are not really travel cookies. They should be assembled right before they’re eaten. I like the curd cold cold cold in these cookies. I assembled the cookies, and left them to chill in the freezer for 20 minutes before serving… to myself. They were incredible!
Assemble. Chill for 20 minutes to an hour. Serve. Freak out. …that’s how it should go.
Oh! You may have a bit of extra curd left over. Eat it. Just eat it.
Lemon Meringue Cookies
Makes: about 25 cookies
For the Meringues:
2 large egg whites
pinch of salt
2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Place two racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Foil will also work in a pinch. Set the baking pans aside.
Place the egg whites (save the yolks for the curd) in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat egg whites, on medium speed, until foamy. Add the pinch of salt and increase speed to medium-high. Slowly begin to sprinkle in the sugar. Continue to beat eggs until they become thick, glossy and hold stiff peeks. The egg whites will be the consistency of melted marshmallow.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Spoon into a piping bag, fitted with a large star tip. Pipe about a teaspoons worth of meringue onto the baking sheet. Stars can be close together, as they won’t spread or puff during baking. Pipe stars onto the two baking sheets until no meringue remains in the bag. Using the back of a spoon, flatten out half of the meringue stars, making them as flat as possible, but not necessarily a larger circle than the original piped star. The flattened star will become the bottom of the sandwich cookie.
Bake meringues for 2 hours, until no longer sticky , but firm and hardened.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet before filling and sandwiching.
For the Lemon Curd:
from: David Lebovitz
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and set aside.
In a medium pot, whisk together lemon juice, granulated sugar, eggs, yolks, and pinch of salt. Place the pot over a medium-low flame and add butter. Stir mixture with a whisk, and spatula. The spatula will help you get into the corners of the pan, ensuring that none of the curd over-cooks too much. Cook the curd until the butter is melted, and the mixture is the thickness of warm hot fudge. The whisk will begin to leave a trail of whisk marks and the mixture will have the distinct smell of lemon curd. You don’t really need to boil lemon curd… it’s probably done it if gets to the boiling stage.
Remove from the flame and immediately pour into the fine mesh strainer over the medium bowl. Press through the strainer, leaving any cooked egg bits in the strainer, and not in your beautiful curd.
Place curd in a jar, with a piece of plastic wrap placed directly over the curd. Place in the fridge until completely cold.
To fill the cookies, spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of curd onto a flattened bottom cookie. Top with a star shaped cookie. Place cookies in a single layer on a tray and place in the freezer for 20 minutes to an hour. I love these cookies right out of the freezer. You can also fill them and serve them immediately. These cookies do not last well if willed and left to sit.
Curd should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Curd lasts for about a week. Meringues should be kept in an airtight container, in a dry area, at room temperature. Meringues last for about 5 days… though humidity makes them sticky balls.
Recipe: Lemon Meringue Cookies
Summary: Lemon Meringues with Sweet Lemon Curd
Ingredients
- For the Meringues:
- 2 large egg whites
- pinch of salt
- 2/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- For the Lemon Curd:
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- pinch of salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
For the Meringue Cookies:
- Place two racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Foil will also work in a pinch. Set the baking pans aside.
- Place the egg whites (save the yolks for the curd) in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat egg whites, on medium speed, until foamy. Add the pinch of salt and increase speed to medium-high. Slowly begin to sprinkle in the sugar. Continue to beat eggs until they become thick, glossy and hold stiff peeks. The egg whites will be the consistency of melted marshmallow.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Spoon into a piping bag, fitted with a large star tip. Pipe about a teaspoons worth of meringue onto the baking sheet. Stars can be close together, as they won’t spread or puff during baking. Pipe stars onto the two baking sheets until no meringue remains in the bag. Using the back of a spoon, flatten out half of the meringue stars, making them as flat as possible, but not necessarily a larger circle than the original piped star. The flattened star will become the bottom of the sandwich cookie.
- Bake meringues for 2 hours, until no longer sticky , but firm and hardened.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet before filling and sandwiching.
- For the Lemon Curd:
- Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a medium pot, whisk together lemon juice, granulated sugar, eggs, yolks, and pinch of salt. Place the pot over a medium-low flame and add butter. Stir mixture with a whisk, and spatula. The spatula will help you get into the corners of the pan, ensuring that none of the curd over-cooks too much. Cook the curd until the butter is melted, and the mixture is the thickness of warm hot fudge. The whisk will begin to leave a trail of whisk marks and the mixture will have the distinct smell of lemon curd. You don’t really need to boil lemon curd… it’s probably done it if gets to the boiling stage.
- Remove from the flame and immediately pour into the fine mesh strainer over the medium bowl. Press through the strainer, leaving any cooked egg bits in the strainer, and not in your beautiful curd.
- Place curd in a jar, with a piece of plastic wrap placed directly over the curd. Place in the fridge until completely cold.
- To fill the cookies, spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of curd onto a flattened bottom cookie. Top with a star shaped cookie. Place cookies in a single layer on a tray and place in the freezer for 20 minutes to an hour. I love these cookies right out of the freezer. You can also fill them and serve them immediately. These cookies do not last well if willed and left to sit.
- Curd should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Curd lasts for about a week. Meringues should be kept in an airtight container, in a dry area, at room temperature. Meringues last for about 5 days… though humidity makes them sticky balls.
Preparation time: 30 minute(s)
Cooking time: 2 hour(s)
Diet type: Vegetarian
Number of servings (yield): 12
Meal type: dessert
Culinary tradition: USA (General)
My rating
Rocky Mountain Woman
Just the thing to brighten up this snowy day out here in the mountains.
lovely!
Stacy @ Say It With Sprinkles
Lemons makes me think of summer because they’re bright, and yellow, and pretty….so I’m sold!
Kelly
These are so gorgeous and sunny they make me wish I liked lemon. I may have to make them for some event in which I can share them with others.
Ella @ The Single Girl's Kitchen
oh yuuuummmm. i’m normally not a huge lemon cookie fan, but these look awesome. I think I might try them dipped in chocolate…
Allison
Absolutely adorable. And I love me some cookie time straight from the freezer. Mmmmm.
Gen
I just loooooooooooove them! A dream in a cookie!
Lauren@LittleYellowKitchen
These are too cute. I wanna squeeze their little cheekies! Question: How lemony did the actual meringue cookie turn out?? I have a bajillion clementines from my tree and want to sub clementine zest but I’m worried it wont be flavorful enough with only 1 tsp. Would it mess things up to add some clementine juice instead of vanilla extract?? Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks — Lauren not-really a Baker :)
joythebaker
the lemon in the cookie is actually pretty flavorful. i think you’d be good with just the zest in the cookie. And! you should totally look up a clementine curd and switch these cookies up completely!
Lauren@LittleYellowKitchen
Great idear!! They do have to travel though…maybe we could do some assembly on site. We are making them for a friends bachelorette party in LA this weekend. Stop by if you want to taste one haha :)
Simona
wait… epiphany…. put the lemon curd in the ice-cream maker, make lemon curd ice cream meringue sandwhiches….. eureka, anyone?
Simona
Whoa….
1. too many eggwhites in my freezer from the girls always baking something that requires them to “reserve egg white for another time”. Tired of angel food cake. About 30 eggwhites waiting.
2. eating eggwhites = protein
3. lemon juice? = fruit AND vitamin C!
4. bit of sugar? ppfffffffft
this totally completes a well balanced dinner today oh yeah…..
abby
How did you do it? I mean, how did you know I canned a batch of lemon curd this weekend that I was thinking up uses for, and that it left me with 6 egg whites to find a use for? This will be made tonight or tomorrow night. Pity my roommate is out of town so she won’t be able to share with me. :)
Lindy
lemon meringue pie is my faaavorite! I made lemon curd the other day and am racking my brain for all the ways to eat it up. it is so delish and would be great in these cookies!! keep the lemon recipes coming!
jen @ the baked life
droooool……
I love lemon curd so much. I want to eat it on everything.
Ellie@fitforthesoul
These are sooooooooo gorgeous!! sounds great. It also brings back memories from childhood b/c in argentina we eat meringues all.the.time. It’s like, one of the after school snacks–along with dulce de leche haha.
Caroline
Just looking at these make me happy. Can’t wait to eat them.
Cory @ {relish}
i am nothing short of obsessed lately with all things lemon – lemon marmalade, lemon bars, creamy lemony pasta……i seriously cannot get enough!!! i LOVE (love) meringue and lemon curd and wonder if this would work in slightly larger portions…almost like lemon meringue whoopie pie sized? to serve at a dinner party i am helping to host friday…i love the small size for cookies/everyday but am looking for something a bit more ‘personal’ size if that makes sense.
thoughts?