Lemon Alfajores with Lemon Curd (Soft, Buttery Cookies)

To Make the Lemon Curd:

To a medium saucepan, add the sugar and lemon zest. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers to release the oils. Then add the eggs, egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk until combined. Then whisk in the lemon juice.

Place the pot over medium low heat and continue whisking until the mixture thickens about 5 minutes. Then remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the butter. Strain the lemon curd into a small bowl, cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until completely chilled.

To Make the Lemon Shortbread Cookie:

To the medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, sifted corn starch, powdered sugar and salt. Set aside.

To the bowl of a stand-up mixer (you can also use a medium bowl and an electric hand-mixer), add the butter, lemon zest, lemon extract, and vanilla paste or extract. Beat until smooth. Next, add the egg yolk and mix just until incorporated.

Add all of the flour mixture and slowly mix it together (being sure not to go too quickly or else the flour will fly out of the bowl), until combined, about 1 minute.

Scoop the dough out of the bowl and sandwich it between two large pieces of parchment paper. Roll out the dough until it’s about ¼-inch thick then transfer to the fridge to chill for about 1 hour until dough is firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. When the dough is done resting in the fridge, using a 2-inch cookie cutter, stamp out cookies as close to each other as possible. Transfer the cookies (I found it easiest to use an offset spatula to pick up the cookies) to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1-inch apart. Transfer to the fridge to chill for about 10 minutes, we want them to be firm when they go into the oven. Repeat until you work your way through all of the dough. I rerolled the dough about 2 more times.

Score the tops of the cookies with the tines of a fork. Transfer to the oven to bake for about 11 to 13 minutes, until the cookies are a bit firm to the touch but have zero color on the edges. These cookies are baked just until set. Allow to cool on the baking sheets until room temperature.

To Assemble the Lemon Alfajores:

When the cookies have cooled, flip half of the cookies on their opposite side. Transfer the lemon curd to a piping bag with a piping tip attached (this part is optional). Pipe a round of lemon curd on all of the cookies facing their opposite sides.

Alternatively, you could also spoon the lemon curd onto each of the cookies and smooth it out (gently because the cookies are delicate) using a butter knife.

Top each of the cookies with another cookie and lightly press it down. Dust the tops of the cookies generously with powdered sugar and enjoy!