Description
Delight in these Lemon Crème Brûlée Cookies featuring a zesty lemon sugar cookie base topped with smooth lemon pastry cream and a caramelized brûlée sugar crust, perfect for a refreshing dessert treat.
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 milk over medium-low heat just until it’s steaming, then reduce to low until ready to use.
- Mix Egg Yolks and Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, salt, vanilla bean paste, and cornstarch until pale yellow and smooth.
- Temper Egg Mixture: Gradually add a quarter 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 back to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 12 minutes, whisking continuously until the mixture thickens and soft peaks form.
- Finish Pastry Cream: Remove from heat, stir in cubed butter until melted and combined, then cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface and chill until cold.
- Prepare Lemon Sugar: Combine sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and set aside for rolling the cookies later.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Mix in the egg, vanilla bean paste, and lemon zest on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- Combine Dough: Gradually add dry ingredients on low speed and mix until dough comes together.
- Shape Cookies: Scoop dough into balls using a large cookie scoop, roll each ball in the lemon sugar mixture, and place onto the prepared baking sheets. Slightly flatten each ball.
- Bake Cookies: Bake for 10 minutes, then cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. For perfect shape, gently press the edges with a circular cookie cutter while warm. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Assemble Cookies: Transfer the chilled pastry cream to a piping bag with a small round tip, pipe cream onto cooled cookies.
- Brûlée Topping: Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar on each cookie, then use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar until golden brown and fragrant.
- Final Cooling: Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes after torching, then serve immediately to avoid sogginess.
Notes
- Ensure the pastry cream is fully chilled before piping to prevent melting the cookies.
- Rolling the cookie dough balls in lemon sugar adds extra zing and texture to the cookies.
- Use a kitchen torch carefully and evenly to caramelize sugar without burning.
- For a perfect circular shape, use a cookie cutter to shape warm cookies immediately after baking.
- The cookies are best enjoyed fresh after assembling to avoid sogginess from the pastry cream.
- You can substitute vanilla bean paste with pure vanilla extract, but the paste provides more depth of flavor.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 180 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 55 mg
