Lemon Sandwich Cookies with Strawberry Frosting

These lemon sandwich cookies with strawberry frosting are soft, chewy and bursting with flavor. You get two chewy lemon cookies with strawberry buttercream in the middle that's made from real berries. Perfect for spring!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Lemon Sandwich Cookies, Lemon Sandwich Cookies with Strawberry Frosting

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 10

Cooling 1

Total Time 2

Servings sandwich cookies

Calories 435kcal

Author Fiona Dowling

Equipment

Cookie Sheets

Ingredients

Lemon Cookies

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (219 grams)
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter (112 grams) softened but not starting to melt
1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons lemon extract
1 large egg room temperature

Strawberry Frosting

8 ounces strawberries (226 grams) cored
¾ cup unsalted butter (168 grams) slightly softened, but not starting to melt
3-4 cups powdered sugar (330-440 grams)
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon heavy cream (15 ml) if needed

Instructions

Lemon Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until fluffy (you will still see granules of sugar).
Beat in the egg, vanilla extract and lemon extract into the butter mixture until incorporated and you no longer see pieces of egg.
Starting with the mixer on a low speed, beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture. I typically do this about ½ at a time until all the flour mixture has been added.
Form the cookie dough into balls with about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of dough each. Use a cookie scoop for uniform balls. They should each be a bit smaller than a golf ball.
Bake 1 cookie sheet at a time in the middle of the oven for about 9-11 minutes, or until the tops look just set. If your cookies don't spread as much as you'd like - flatten the cookie dough balls before baking. You'll get about 24 cookies in total - which will give you 12 cookie sandwiches.
Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Strawberry Frosting

Core the berries. Then add the berries to a food processor or blender and pulse until the berries are a puree.
Pour the puree through a metal sifter to remove the seeds. You will likely need to press it through using the back of a metal spoon or rubber spatula.
Add the seedless puree to a small saucepan over low-medium heat. Bring the puree to a very gentle boil (not a rapid bowl - or the puree can burn) while gently stirring. Continue to boil the puree while gently stirring until it is thick like jam and a deep red color. This may take anywhere from 10-20 minutes.
Remove from the stove. Cool the puree fully. You can speed this up by transferring the reduced puree to a different bowl and cooling in the fridge.
Once the puree is fully cooled, in a large bowl beat the butter until smooth.
Add in 2 cups powdered sugar along with the salt. Beat together, starting with the mixer on a low speed and gradually increasing to medium speed until incorporated.
Add in 2 tablespoons of the fully cooled reduced strawberry puree and beat until incorporated.
Beat in the rest of the powdered sugar about ½ cup at a time, adding in 1 more tablespoon of the cooled and reduced strawberry puree. Adding more sugar will make the frosting thicker. If needed, beat in 1 tablespoon of cream. Adding in the cream will make the frosting thinner and less sweet.

Assembling the Cookies

Once the cookies are fully cooled, spread the bottom of 1 cookie with strawberry frosting. Then place a second cookie on top and flatten slightly. Repeat with the rest of the cookies.

Notes

Lemon Extract: This can be found in the baking aisle near the vanilla extract. It can be substituted with 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Do not use lemon juice from a bottle.
Strawberries: Instead of using strawberries, pureeing them, and then boiling down - simply skip steps 1-4 of the frosting and substitute the reduced puree with strawberry jam. Use 2-3 tablespoons of high quality strawberry preserves or jam.
Storage: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 8 hours or in the fridge for up to 4 days. Unfrosted cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only and based on 1 cookie sandwich, assuming the recipe yields 12 uniform cookie sandwiches and all the frosting is used.

Nutrition