These soft and chewy lemon curd thumbprint are grain-free, gluten-free and are almost guaranteed to turn that frown upside down. Seriously.
Up until a few days ago, I hadn’t realized that the Super Bowl was this weekend. People have been posting Super Bowl food for weeks so I just kind of forgot. It’s really easy to do if you don’t care about football and don’t live in the US! So. Sorry for the lack of party food. If you’re going to a party tomorrow, you can be different and bring bright and cheery lemon cookies! :D I posted these gluten-free lemon thumbprint cookies on My Baking Addiction earlier in the week and figured I couldn’t wait any longer to share them with you over here.
These cookies are totally worthy of making for a special occasion. Let’s take my mother-in-law as an example. She raves about most things that she tries of mine and even has to call over here just to say how much she liked my latest treat. But she has never once asked for a recipe. Never! But it’s because she never ever bakes. But these cookies were enough to inspire her to change that! Not only is she planning on making these lemon thumbprint cookies, but she’s going to make the lemon curd to go with it. It’s shocking.
The cookies in the middle picture were made with my homemade lemon curd. The other ones were made with store bought curd that looked strangely translucent. I wanted to see if homemade curd and store bought curd bake up the same and they did. I’m also guessing that jam would work well in these if they’re just too lemony for your taste.
I’ve also tried them a few times with coconut oil in hopes of making a dairy-free version but they came out too oily. I’ll keep playing around with the recipe but if you try it out, let us know in the comments how much coconut oil you used!
What’s kind of funny / sad is that this recipe was an attempt at grain-free shortbread. I was so off but who needs that when you could have soft and chewy?
I hope you’ll enjoy these lemon thumbprint cookies!
Grain-free Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 32 cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (200 grams) blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup (33 grams) coconut flour
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar or raw sugar (if using raw, use one that's not so dark colored)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder1
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1/3 cup (80 milliliters) lemon curd2
- powdered sugar, optional
Directions
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, coconut flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In another medium mixing bowl, stir together the melted butter, egg, lemon zest, and lemon extract.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet and stir just until combined. The dough will feel quite wet. Let it sit for 10 minutes to allow the coconut flour to absorb the liquid while the oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Roll the dough into 1" balls and place 2" apart on the prepared cookie sheet. The dough will feel quite greasy.
- Bake the cookies for 6 minutes and remove from the oven.
- Using the rounded part of a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, make an indentation about 3/4 of the way down into each cookie.
- Fill each indentation with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon curd. Be sure not to overfill them.
- Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes or until the cookies feel like they have a firm outer layer. The cookies shouldn't brown around the edges - just on the bottom.
- Let the cookies, which will be very soft at this point, cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. The parchment paper may be a little greasy, but the cookies will not be.
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Dust with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.
Notes
- If you need these to be grain-free and not just gluten-free, use 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/4 tsp of baking soda instead of 1 teaspoon baking powder.
- I've never seen lemon curd containing gluten but if you eat gluten-free, please check the ingredients label on your jar to ensure that your lemon curd doesn't have gluten.
Source: My recipe on My Baking Addiction gluten-free lemon thumbprint cookies
Join over 12,400 readers and sweeten up
your inbox with new posts for free!
This subscription is free of charge and can be canceled at any time.
60 comments on “Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies (grain-free, gluten-free)” — Add one!
I mixed these up today, but my batter seems a bit dry, even crumbly. I did use a GF flour, 2 1/4 cups total, instead of the flour combination in the recipe. I did not bake them yet. S
Do you think I should add another egg? My daughter-in-law has celiac & I wanted to give them to her with her Christmas gift.
Thank you
You could try using another egg but I honestly have no idea how to fix that. GF flour isn’t at all interchangeable with the almond flour and coconut flour called for in this recipe. It’s much more absorbent than almond flour, and that’s why your dough is crumbly. :( I would recommend finding a recipe that calls for your specific type of flour. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Can you substitute real lemon juice for the lemon extract? If so, what amount of juice should be used?
You can use the same amount (1 teaspoon) but the lemon taste won’t be nearly as strong. It’s unfortunately not possible to add more lemon juice for more lemon flavor, as it’d throw off all the proportions.
Made these today since I had a friend coming over who is gluten free and also had some of my homemade lemon curd in the freezer. I make my lemon curd with a mix of fresh mandarin orange and lemon juices. So excellent! I will be keeping this recipe for sure. I used the back of my small melon baller to make the dents and probably close to a tsp of the lemon curd in each cookie. These are wonderful.
Thank you for including the weights for the ingredients.
You’re welcome for the weights! It definitely makes things easier and more accurate. :) The melon baller is a great tip! I’ll have to try that. Your lemon curd sounds delicious. What a yummy mix of flavors. Thanks for the tip and for your feedback!
These are seriously the best cookies I have ever made. I substituted my homemade apricot ginger jam, and 1/2 tsp each almond and vanilla extract in place the lemon. The grated lemon in this recipe totally makes it.
Oh, wow. Glad to hear that! And wow. Apricot ginger jam + almond extract sounds like the most heavenly combination. Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
Hi Erin,
Thank you very much for this recipe! When you say that you can keep them in an airtight container up to 4 days in the refrigerator, is that for optimum flavor, or is it a health concern to feed them to people after 4 days?
It’s not a health concern. Hope you’ll enjoy them. :)
Ladies and gentlemen, she’s done it again!! Another no fail GF recipe! I replaced the almond flour with hazelnut meal cuz that’s what I had on hand, and also used almond extract. Lovely Christmastime recipe for a break from just too much chocolate(is there such a thing?!lol) Anyhow Merry Christmas y’all!
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! A bunch of comments landed up in spam over the holidays for some reason. I’m so glad that the cookies worked out well. And what a surprise to me that they came out well with hazelnut meal! I never would have thought hazelnuts + lemon would be tasty. Thanks for the tip and your feedback! :)
Just came across these looking to use up a jar of lime curd leftover from Mother’s Day. I’m insulin resistant so I gravitate towards gluten free recipes (when they’re almond based they have fewer carbohydrates and tend to be overall lower in sugar and higher in protein/fibre). These are the perfect treat for my low-glycemic dietary needs, and they’re tasty too! Next time I’ll try 1/4 tsp of curd in each cookie just to see if I can get away with less refined sugar. I’m sure they’ll be just as delicious.
Mmm! Lime curd sounds amazing. Even better than lemon! I’m happy that you enjoyed the cookies and I hope that 1/4 tsp of curd will be just as delicious. :) Thanks for your feedback!
Sadly I thought we had lemon curd, but we did not. We used apricot jam instead.
So, we had a small bit of dough left over and decided to make a tiny bite cookie with out jam. OMG!!! It was STELLAR all by itself! She is only 9yo, and SOOOO excited to have a relatively easy to make herself cookie. And there are no weird ingredients. These cookies were so great, with and with out filling! I’m excited to try them with curd next time. Rarely do we find a great tasting GF recipe, much less one that I (who am not GF) thing is great also!!! This recipe is being printed off and added to the gluten free yum binder!
I’m so very happy that you and your daughter enjoyed the cookies! And I love that your daughter has a recipe she can make herself now. :) If you haven’t tried my paleo chocolate chip cookies or paleo double chocolate cookies, I can highly recommend them! Even gluten-eaters (like me!) love them. :) Thanks a bunch for your comment!
Have you tried making these sugar free? If so what would the exchange be? They look so good, but I don’t eat sugar.
I’m sorry but I don’t have much experience with sugar-free sweeteners. Sorry about that! I’ve tried a few of my cookie recipes with erythritol and stevia and they always came out terribly so I don’t have much hope that they would come out well, either.
I made the lemon curd for the first time and its absolutely sublime. I’m about to make the cookies now. Blanched almonds are very expensive here in Canada and I did’t buy enough. Can I substitute 1/3 cup for freshly ground almond flour with the skins on? I have a vitamix and can make flour in it.
Isn’t homemade lemon curd great? :) I haven’t tried it but I think using your own almond meal would work fine in these cookies (if you don’t mind the bits of skin in there). 1 cup almonds = 110 grams and 1 cup almond flour = 100 grams so it’s very close. 1/3 cup of almonds will yield slightly over 1/3 cup of almond meal. I hope you’ll enjoy the cookies!
Have you ever tried to freeze these for later use? I’m trying to help stock my mom’s freezer for a bunch of college kids, and she needs to be able to grab things in the future for when they show up at her doorstep :) Just curious if you’ve ever tried to freeze them, and if so, did they still taste good?
That’s nice of you to help your mom like that! Unfortunately, I haven’t ever tried freezing these. The base would freeze well but I’m not positive about the lemon curd part. I’ve frozen lemon curd before without issue but I haven’t tried freezing these cookies, so I can’t guarantee it. Sorry about that! Good luck if you decide to try it out. :)
Nom! I love lemon thumbprint cookies and pinned these already last week, but just now getting over here to tell you how fabulous they are! Perfect sunny treat when craving something citrus and sweet. Thanks for sharing, Erin!
Thanks again for pinning. :) And for all your comments!
These look absolutely lovely. I love the use of Almond flour in the recipe.
Thanks, Kellie!
I’m a lemon fanatic so these are right up my alley. I can never get enough lemon desserts in my life.
I hate football so I sort of laid low during the tailgate posting season. Which is odd considering I also have a grill site. But I just don’t know what to say on every post. Hey there people, I hate football but here’s some wings. Ha ha ha
Hahaha. Sounds good to me. “Football is silly but here’s some chicken wings, anyway.” :D
I love thumbprint cookies! I need to try this lemon version!
I hope you will! :)
I love all things lemon! These thumbprint cookies with curd look like they’d be right up my alley!
Same here! Love lemony goodies. :)
These are exactly the kind of cookie I would look for in a bakery. I was all about the Superbowl this year because The Patriots are my hometeam!
I hope they won! (I didn’t even remember to check to see who won. ;))
I’ve always been a fan of thumbprint cookies and I first fell in love with lemon curd when I was in preschool and my teacher served us lemon meringue pie. What I’m trying to say is that I know I would love these cookies!
I was too scared to try lemon curd until a few years ago. The name weirded me out, as dumb as that is.
I know that MIL’s can be hard to please sometimes. How cool that she called asking for the recipe!!! Yay, Erin! I think your curd looks quite perfect and I am craving a couple of your cookies with a hot cup of tea. :)
Thanks so much! And haha. And what are Italian MILs like? ;)
That is some high praise! I think I would feel the exact same way. I LOOOOOOOOVE lemon curd, especially homemade (but storebought is good, too) – I love these sunny yellow centers.
Homemade is so much better, though, isn’t it? :)
It’s so cold and snowy where I live…these little lemony cookies are the perfect way to warm things up! They look delicious – no matter what you fill them with!
Yes! You need lots of lemony treats to get you through that awful sounding winter. :)
I just love little thumbprint cookies with their burst of flavorful jam (or curd) in the center. And you’re so right – these are quite bright and cheery! Perfect for any occasion.
Thanks so much, Lana!
Citrus desserts are my weakness, especially beautiful cookies like these. How delicious!
Same here! They’re hard to resist.
I adore lemon and these cookies delicious!
Thanks, Lauren!
I am obsessed with these! My mom introduced me to lemon curd a few years ago, but she uses it a lot in savory cooking. It’s amazing. And these cookies, they are also amazing!
Savory?! Do you have any recipes? Sounds interesting!
Do you know how I could substitute the almond flour? I’m allergic to nuts but I really want to try these!
Unfortunately, nuts flours aren’t interchangeable with non-nut flours. I’ve heard of people using sunflower seed flour but I think that would be terrible here. Sorry about that! I recommend finding another thumbprint recipe that uses flour you can eat and just try it out with curd. :)
Baking bites.com has an amazing recipe for Cranberry Lime Thumbprints made with conventional flour. I’m attempting to hack this recipe with that one to make a gluten free version now that I can’t have gluten. I’m hoping it works!
Good luck! I hope it’ll work out well. :)
These look very tasty. I love lemon.
Thanks, Charlotte! :)
Those look terrific! I love the use of almond flour, that’s one of my favorites and the flavor goes so well with lemon :)
Thanks, June! And I agree. Lemon and almond flour are so good together. :)
These cookies look fantastic! I am all about lemon desserts right now! Pinned!
Thanks, Anna! :)