Description
These Lemon Crème Brûlée Cookies combine a delicate lemon sugar cookie base with a creamy, tangy lemon pastry cream topped with a caramelized brûlée sugar crust. Perfectly tender and bursting with citrus flavor, they are a delightful treat for any occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
Lemon Pastry Cream
- 2 1/4 cups whole milk
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut in cubes
Lemon Sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
Lemon Sugar Cookies
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar (for the brûlée topping)
Instructions
- Heat Milk: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium-low heat just until steaming, then reduce heat to low until ready to use.
- Mix Egg Yolk Mixture: In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, salt, vanilla bean paste, and cornstarch until combined and pale yellow.
- Temper Egg Mixture: Slowly add 1/4 of the heated milk to the egg mixture, stirring vigorously, then add the remaining milk and stir to combine thoroughly.
- Cook Pastry Cream: Transfer mixture back to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 12 minutes, whisking continuously until thick and soft peaks form.
- Finish Pastry Cream: Remove from heat, stir in butter cubes until melted and combined. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface and chill until cold.
- Prepare Lemon Sugar: Combine sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and set aside for rolling the cookies.
- Preheat Oven: Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the softened butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Mix in the egg, vanilla bean paste, and lemon zest on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Combine Dough: Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until just combined and dough forms.
- Shape Cookies: Scoop dough into balls using a large cookie scoop, roll each ball in lemon sugar, place on prepared sheets and slightly flatten.
- Bake Cookies: Bake 6 cookies per sheet for 10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Shape Edges: While warm, use a circular cookie cutter to perfect the cookie shape.
- Assemble Cookies: Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip with the chilled pastry cream. Pipe cream onto each cooled cookie top.
- Brûlée Topping: Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar on each filled cookie and use a kitchen torch to caramelize until golden brown and fragrant.
- Serve: Let brûléed cookies cool for 10 minutes before serving. Add pastry cream just before serving to avoid sogginess.
Notes
- Ensure pastry cream is fully chilled before piping to prevent melting or soggy cookies.
- Use lemon zest from unwaxed lemons for the brightest flavor.
- If you don’t have vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract can be substituted.
- The brûlée topping is best done just before serving; cookies can get soggy if assembled too far in advance.
- For even baking, bake only 6 cookies at a time and rotate trays halfway if needed.
- Cookie cutter used after baking helps achieve professional, uniform shapes.
- Store leftover cookies without pastry cream in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 180 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 80 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg
