Lemon Creme Sandwich Cookies

My boyfriend’s favorite cookies…

Ingredients:

Cookies:
1 1/2 cups of flour, sifted
1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1 tablespoon chilled lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 large egg white, beaten until slightly frothy
Sugar, for sprinkling

Lemon filling:
1/2 stick unsalted butter, soft
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with a rack in the middle.

Place the flour into a bowl, and cut in the butter pieces, using the same method as biscuits. You want the butter pieces to be about pea size, covered in flour. It does not have to be perfect. You can also do this in a food processor or stand mixer.

Add the lemon juice and the water, a little at a time, while mixing. Stop mixing as soon as the mixture comes together.

Divide the dough into two balls and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

On a floured surface roll out the dough to a maximum thickness of 1/8. (Personally, I will roll it out the thinnest I can and still move the cookies, because I like cookies with more filling than dough).

Cut out the cookies with a 2″ cutter and transfer to a baking sheet. Use a pastry brush (or clean hands) to brush each cookie with the egg white, and then sprinkle granulated sugar over it. (The dough does NOT have sugar, so don’t be skimpy; the sugar also gives them a nice crunch).

Bake for 9-12 minutes, or just until the bottoms begin to gold. Remove sheet from oven, let cool 5 minutes and remove cookies to cooling rack (or dish, if you don’t have a rack).

You can prepare the filling while they bake or while they cool: Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. I like to refrigerate it before assembling the cookies because it lets me have a thicker filling.
Do not assemble the cookies until everything is cool; if the cookies are still warm they will melt the butter in the filling, leaving you with a wimpy-filled cookie and a big mess. Use the fridge if you have to (but don’t tell anyone I told you that).

To assemble take one cookie, spread the filling on the underside and stick on another cookie, with the underside towards the filling. Store in an airtight container, in the fridge.