Description
These Lemon Crème Brûlée Cookies feature a tender lemon sugar cookie base topped with a rich, tangy lemon pastry cream and finished with a caramelized brûlée sugar crust. Perfect for an elegant treat, these cookies balance creamy, citrusy, and crunchy textures beautifully.
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 whole milk over medium-low heat until steaming, then reduce heat to low to keep warm.
- Mix egg yolks and sugar: In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, salt, vanilla bean paste, and cornstarch until pale yellow and smooth.
- Temper eggs: Gradually add 1/4 of the heated milk to the egg mixture while stirring vigorously, then add the remaining milk and stir to combine.
- Cook pastry cream: Transfer mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking continuously for 8-12 minutes until thick and soft peaks form.
- Add butter and chill: Remove from heat, stir in butter cubes until combined, cover with plastic wrap directly on top to prevent skin, and chill in the fridge until cold.
- Prepare lemon sugar: Combine sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and set aside.
- Preheat oven and prep pans: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix dry ingredients: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar: Using an electric mixer on high speed, cream unsalted butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add wet ingredients: Mix in egg, vanilla bean paste, and lemon zest on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- Combine dough: Gradually mix in dry ingredients on low speed just until dough forms.
- Form cookies: Scoop dough into large balls, roll in lemon sugar, place on prepared baking sheets, and slightly flatten each ball. Bake 6 at a time.
- Bake cookies: Bake for 10 minutes, then cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Use a cookie cutter immediately after baking for perfect shape.
- Assemble cookies: Fill a piping bag with chilled pastry cream, pipe on top of cooled cookies, sprinkle 1 tsp brûlée sugar over each cookie.
- Brûlée topping: Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar until golden brown and aromatic.
- Final cooling and serving: Let cookies cool for 10 minutes after torching. Serve immediately to avoid sogginess.
Notes
- For best results, add the pastry cream topping only right before serving to prevent cookies from getting soggy.
- You can use a stand mixer with paddle attachment for creaming butter and sugar.
- Use plastic wrap pressed directly on pastry cream surface to avoid formation of skin.
- Caramelizing the sugar with a kitchen torch gives the perfect brûlée crust; if unavailable, broil briefly but watch closely.
- Cookie cutter shaping immediately after baking helps maintain perfect round cookie shapes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 220 kcal
- Sugar: 20 g
- Sodium: 85 mg
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 27 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 65 mg
