These soft buttery Lemon Brulee Cookies are topped with a thin slice of fresh lemon and then baked, with the final touch being to sprinkle the baked cookies with sugar and whip out your kitchen torch and brulee away.
While I’d love to take credit for this idea, I actually came across it on Pinterest, although despite coming across a pin with a photo of the cookies the source recipe took me some time to track down. As soon as I saw the cookies on Pinterest I just had to make them. Being a lemon fiend, and a lover of the crunchy sugary topping on creme brulee I couldn’t wait to give them a try.
If you want to make these cookies yourself here are a couple of notes to keep in mind. For the lemons, use firm lemons, as they will be less juicy and less likely to make your cookies soggy. Also, slice the lemons an hour or so before baking and leave them to dry between two sheets of paper towel. And if where you live is humid, like it is here in Brisbane, I’d only bake these cookies in batches you are going to consume straight away because the sugar topping will melt and not stay crisp. Which is sadly the issue I had. Despite this however, the cookies are still delicious, and something a little bit different to serve with your afternoon cup of tea or coffee.
So tell me, do you try recipes you’ve discovered on Pinterest? Oh, and if you’re on Pinterest why not follow me here.
Lemon Brulee Cookies
Ingredients
- 150 g of butter 5.25 ounces
- 100 g of icing sugar 3.5 ounces, powdered
- 1 egg
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 200 g of almond meal 7 ounces
- 200 g of plain flour 7 ounces, all purpose
- TOPPING
- 3 in lemons sliced paper thin slices and dried on paper towel
- sugar
Instructions
- Beat the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth and creamy. Add the lemon zest and beat until combined and fragrant. Add the egg and mix to combine before adding the almond meal, flour and lemon juice. Mix until just combined.
- Remove the mixture from the bowl and divide into two and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 180 celsius (360 Fahrenheit) and line a baking tray with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and slice into 4mm thick cookies. Press lemon slices into the tops of the cookies and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top of the lemon with sugar and using a cooking torch brûlée the sugar until golden. Set aside to cool
Recipe Notes
Use firm lemons that aren't overly juicy to prevent your cookies from going soggy. Slice the lemons as thinly as possible for this recipe. Using a mandolin is perfect for this. Also I suggest drying the lemon slices between 2 sheets of paper towel before baking. If where you live is humid the brûlée topping with melt in the humidity so I suggest only baking as many cookies as you plan to eat in a day.
The recipe says to add egg, but its not in the ingredient list. Is it just one whole egg?
Hi Tracy, it’s 1 whole egg. Sorry for missing that in the ingredient list. I’ve updated the recipe now. 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
Ooh yay! Another reason to whip out the blow torch hehe. and I am a Pinterest fiend! Could spend forever pinning thing hehehe.
Those are beautiful! Pinterest is such a great place for inspiration, I’m always in awe of sheer creativity displayed there.
That looks really good but do you find that the lemon is a bit too chewy?
Oh these are soooo pretty! I, too, LOVE lemons and these seem so tasty!
Thanks for sharing!
So unusual and really gorgeous visually, clever cookies 🙂
I adore lemons… simply adore them. Your recipe sounds great!
Unusual and beautiful, and so lemony!
What a great recipe 🙂 these look lovely!! I’ve never thought of brulee-ing cookies!
Gorgeous photos! Just found you through FoodGawker. I have a bag of lemons that would be perfect to use for these, but I don’t have my kitchen torch with me. Do you think broiling these in the oven would work? (or is there any way to make these without a torch?)
Hi Erika, thanks so much for your kind words 😀 You could try broiling them, but you obviously have less control and the tops of the cookies not covered by the lemon slices might burn. I’d love to hear how it goes 🙂
Ah, that’s a good point. Thanks so much for your quick reply! You have a fantastic blog!
I love anything with lemons too! These are beautiful and look so yummy!
These cookies are so beautiful! I love the idea of that crunchy sugar topping with the soft lemon cookie underneath. These are like a ray of sunshine on this gloomy monday morning!
These look absolutely gorgeous Jennifer. I can imagine they just melt on your mouth.
Lovely cooking! A great idea. I am a sucker for anything lemony…
Cheers,
Rosa
I find a lot of inspiration on Pinterest. Such a great way to find ideas.
What a great idea to brulee the lemon on top. I don’t think I’d have trouble with them going soft though, they’d be gobbled up too fast!
Beautiful cookies, I love the brûléed lemons!
My goodness, these look too amazing! I love (love love love) lemons, and these cookies look fantastic. I have yet to try any recipe from Pinterest, but so many are on my to-do list…
I’m going to make these just so I can play with the torch. I suppose that makes me a madwoman but I bet I’m not alone. They look really good!