These delightful crisp and buttery lemon and almond cookies have a tangy layer of lemon curd in the middle.
Makes 10
Ready in 40 minutes, plus chilling and cooling
115g unsalted butter, softened
115g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 tsp almond extract
1 large egg yolk
200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Milk, for sealing and glazing
2-3 tbsp good quality lemon curd
2 tbsp flaked almonds
1 Place the butter, sugar and almond extract in a mixing bowl and beat with a hand-held electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk then gradually beat in the flour to form a crumbly dough.
2 Gather the dough with your hands and knead lightly until smooth. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or until firm.
3 Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 2mm thick. Using a 7cm round fluted cookie cutter, stamp out 20 rounds, re-rolling the dough as necessary. Place on the baking sheets and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas mark 5.
4 Lightly brush around the edge of half the cookie dough rounds with a little milk. Drop ½ tsp of lemon curd in the centre of these rounds. Carefully top with the rest of the cookie dough rounds, gently pressing to seal the edges.
5 Glaze the tops lightly with milk and sprinkle with the extra caster sugar and flaked almonds. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until pale golden. Leave to cool completely on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
TIP
Replace the lemon curd with jam, marmalade or chocolate hazelnut spread for a change of flavour. Remember the filling will be very hot straight out of the oven, so be sure to leave to cool completely before tucking in!