Lemon Meringue Cookies

By Dorie Greenspan

Total Time: 2 hours
Rating: 4(920)
Notes: Read community notes

Like their inspiration, lemon meringue pie, these cookies have three elements. They’re built on simple, slice-and-bake French shortbread cookies, rich, buttery and flavored with vanilla. The shortbread base is almost classic, except that the cookies are baked in muffin tins, so they’re straight-sided and deeply golden brown. The “filling” is lemon curd, and the topping is crunchy bits of meringue. You get crumbly, velvety and crackly, sweet and tart in every bite. These cookies were created for an imaginary friend, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, the hero of 16 Louise Penny novels, and a man who considers lemon meringue divine.

Featured in: A Lemon Meringue Cookie Good Enough to Be Imaginary

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Ingredients

Yield:24 cookies

For the Meringue

¼cup/50 grams granulated sugar
2teaspoons confectioners’ sugar
1large egg white, at room temperature
¼teaspoon distilled vinegar (or lemon juice)
Pinch of fine sea salt

For the Shortbread

1cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into chunks and brought to room temperature, plus more for greasing the muffin tin
½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
¼cup/30 grams confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½teaspoon fine sea salt
2large egg yolks, at room temperature
2teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2cups plus 2 tablespoons/270 grams all-purpose flour
About ⅓ cup/80 grams store-bought or homemade lemon curd

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Make the meringue: Heat oven to 250 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir together both sugars.
Step 2
Working with an electric mixer, beat the egg white, vinegar and salt on medium-high speed until the mixture forms soft peaks, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition. Once the sugar is incorporated, beat 2 minutes more; you’ll have stiff, glossy, white peaks. Put the meringue on the baking sheet and spread it ¼-inch thick. (It will cover only a small part of the sheet.)
Step 3
Bake the meringue undisturbed for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat, prop open the oven door and let it dry for 1 hour. When you’re ready to use it, chop it into pieces about the size of chocolate chips. Precision doesn’t matter.
Step 4
Make the shortbread: Working with a mixer (use the paddle if it’s a stand mixer), beat the butter, both sugars and the salt on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until smooth but not fluffy. On low speed, beat in the yolks, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Add the flour in three additions, mixing on low until the dough comes together in large clumps. Turn out the dough and knead it into a ball. Cut the ball in half.
Step 5
Shape each half into a 6-inch log. Wrap it and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (You could also freeze it for up to 2 months; leave it on the counter for 1 hour before baking.)
Step 6
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 1 or 2 muffin tins with butter (or nonstick baking spray).
Step 7
Slice each log into 12 rounds (each ½-inch thick); drop one into each muffin cup. (If you don’t have enough tins, you can work in batches.)
Step 8
Bake for 21 to 23 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown around the rims. Transfer the tin(s) to a rack, cool for 5 minutes, then lift the cookies out and onto racks; cool to room temperature.
Step 9
Just before serving, top each cookie with lemon curd, then top with ample chunks of meringue, pressing them into the curd. The meringue will keep in a cool, dry place for a few days, and the cookies can be kept at room temperature for about 3 days. But once you top the cookies, they’re best eaten soon after.

Ratings

4 out of 5

920 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

KateNYC3 years ago

Who ever has leftover lemon curd? If you do, I suggest a teaspoon, used standing up, a bite at a time.

Matthew3 years ago

Strange to not just go ahead and tack on a lemon curd recipe. It's as easy to do as the shortbread and meringue. Too make a puckery one add a dash of cream of tartar.

IA3 years ago

FYI, there is a Dorie Greenspan lemon curd recipe on this site.

Cat M3 years ago

Bake crispy meringue on a dry day. Nothing makes it tough & gummy more than a rainy day.

Karen in Montreal3 years ago

Ya know you can make curd in the microwave, eh? Works PERFECTLY. Since I discovered this, we eat a lot more curd. Lemon, lime, even passion fruit and raspberry ....

Maxine Godfrey3 years ago

Just pipe little circles on the parchment and once they're baked and the lemon curd has been added to the cookies, top the curd with your meringue circles. This is what I'd prefer.

Michaela3 years ago

To those looking for Dorie’s lemon curd recipe: Click on the words “lemon curd” at the bottom of the ingredient list and you will be redirected to her recipe on this site.

Donna3 years ago

Wouldn't these be a lot prettier if you piped the meringue into little kisses, dried those, and put one on top each cookie, rather than the meringue crumbs?

Laurie3 years ago

Substitute 1:1 Gluten Free flour and this recipe works for the celiac or gluten avoidant among us! My husband and daughter loved them!

Nanci3 years ago

Even though the meringue sticks to the lemon curd, it looks awful. Why not pipe a dollop on?

Merry3 years ago

I am obsessed with Armand Gamache. I can not bring myself to finish the Devils. I know I will be obsessed with this cookie too, all my favorite components.

Liz3 years ago

If I shape the shortbread dough a bit in the muffin tins so that it forms a shallow cup, I can fill it with even more lemon curd! With a tart lemon curd, more is definitely more. :)

Ellen3 years ago

So, definitely would have been nice to know that each sliced round of dough could be flattened some to fill the bottom of the muffin tin. It says 6 inch long log, does not specify diameter. I added some shredded lemon zest on top as well. The lemon curd recipe on the site works well - I omitted the corn syrup and made it in a bowl sitting in/on a pot of simmering water.

LC3 years ago

These are phenomenal. No changes to recipe, make your own curd.

Lj3 years ago

Is it just me, or am I missing the lemon curd part of this recipe?

Amanda4 months ago

These quirky little shortbread cookies, with their curd and pebbles of meringue, were one of the BEST THINGS I've ever eaten. I'm not surprised... All of Dories recipes are great

mimi1 year ago

I think I’m the only one who didn’t love these. I found them really messy to eat and that was annoying. Also, the thickness of the cookies made the whole thing really heavy. I want to love these though, and I keep thinking about them, so I might try it again with the meringue piping suggestion.

Jane Eyrehead1 year ago

I made them (using another lemon curd recipe) and they were delicious. I like the crumbled meringue on top—no piping!—because the cookies look more homemade. This is a keeper.

molly2 years ago

My cookies didn’t spread as much as I’d hoped - they stayed about 1/2” thick and maybe an 1 1/2” wide - next time I will press them into the muffin tin more and perhaps shape them with a slight lip to hold the lemon curd. Flavors were wonderful!

Cb2 years ago

Meh. Too sweet, not special enough for the work needed

CMAGS2 years ago

This recipe makes 64 mini-muffin size cookies. The crumb was perfect after 18 minutes in the 350 oven.

Allison2 years ago

Would it be possible to bake these in muffin cup liners? My muffin pan is old and looks rough.

Tracey2 years ago

I’ve made these several times and they are delicious! I make them with King Arthur cup for cup flour and they come out beautifully. I make my own lemon curd and pile it on! These have gotten rave reviews!

Emma2 years ago

Oh my had a dinner party that included Louise Penny/Armand Gamache fans and made these cookies. Huge hit and looked just like the photo. Will make them again and again.

Lizzie3 years ago

Push dough up sides of the muffin tin to create a cup shape to fill with the lemon curd later Make merengue dollops to size of tin to cap the cookies sandwiched rather than smashing the merengue and using smaller pieces Can assemble ahead of time and keep in the fridge

Diane3 years ago

Delicious but a little hard to eat (you want to be ok using fingers). Use muffin tin liners for easier cleanup. The lemon curd recipe from the Lemon-Almond Butter Cake recipe is easy and sublime.

Ann Wilson3 years ago

These cookies are to die for. I piped the meringue into rounds and placed them on top of the lemon curd. Added some lemon zest right before serving. I also prefer my lemon curd recipe(I usually double it, it's that delish!)-- 6 egg yolks, 1/2 C sugar, 1/2 C fresh squeezed lemon juice, zest of 1 lemon, pinch of salt; 1/2 C unsalted butter. Cook in double boiler until thick, then add butter a bit at time. Refrig. after cooling. Keeps in frig 1 month or in freezer 3 months. Ecstacy!!

Frances Leftwich3 years ago

I made these including the oven baked meringue, which I thought was pretty unusual, but they were really good including the home made curd which was beautiful made with Meyer lemons. Talk about sweet, though. Wow! I think shortbread cookes with less sugar might be less of a sugar shock.

Lance3 years ago

Can the whole batch be made & then shipped?

Meredith3 years ago

While this was a fantastic recipe, double the meringue and pipe enough for 24 cookies.

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