Tangy, sweet and loaded with bold lemon flavor, you’ll love these Sourdough Lemon Cookie Pies. Two soft, chewy cookies with a fresh lemon filling sandwiched in the middle, you’ll love these bright zesty treats.
Lemon desserts are a favorite in my household, so I jump at any opportunity to develop these recipes since I know they’ll get gobbled up!
That’s why I got so excited when I saw the recipe for these Lemon Pie Cookies in my friend Mimi Council’s new cookbook Effortless Eggless Baking. Mimi founded the very first organic bakery in the United States and she first specialized in cookies, so I knew these would be absolutely delicious. An added bonus is that they are eggless, and since so many of you have asked me for eggless recipes, I wanted to share this recipe with you.
Love this recipe? Check out our other recipes, Sourdough Molasses Cookies, Red Velvet Sourdough Cake Balls and Moist Sourdough Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.
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Baking with sourdough discard
Sourdough discard adds a great flavor to these cookies. Since you are not using it to make bread, your sourdough starter does not need to be activated or fed for it to work in this cookie recipe. So, you can use your discard directly from the fridge. Older discard will have a tangier, acidic flavor than freshly-fed sourdough starter. Both will work for these Sourdough Lemon Cookie Pies. You’ll get a slightly different result but your cookies will still be delicious!
Ingredients
Powdered sugar and cane sugar: The combination of these two sugars creates the perfect chewy texture.
Sourdough discard: Add 56 grams of milk and 56 grams of flour to your dough if you want to skip the discard.
Lemon extract: Use 2 teaspoons lemon flavor instead of 1 teaspoon lemon extract if you have it.
All-purpose flour: Do not substitute another type of flour for this recipe, it will negatively affect the taste and texture of your cookies.
Lemon: This recipe calls for 1 lemon, you’ll be using the zest for the cookie dough and juice for the filling.
Love lemon and sourdough? Check out my recipes for Rustic Rosemary Lemon Sourdough Bread Recipe, Lemon Thyme Sourdough Biscotti and Lemon Lavender Sourdough Bundt Cake.
Step-by-step Instructions
STEP 1. Cream butter, sugars and lemon extract together until light and fluffy
STEP 2. Add in the milk and sourdough discard (your mixture may appear curdled and separated; this is totally normal!)
STEP 3. Fold in the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest
STEP 4. Chill the dough for 15 to 20 minutes until the dough is a little less sticky
STEP 5. Portion out the dough and bake for 11 to 14 minutes at 375 F
STEP 6. Make the filling
STEP 7. Match up the cookies that are the most similar in size
STEP 8. Pipe the filling on half of the cookies and sandwich them together
Baker's Tips
- Both sourdough discard and active sourdough starter will work in this recipe!
- Don't forget to chill your cookie dough or your cookies may spread and become puddles while they bake.
- Sift your powdered sugar or your filling may become grainy.
Make ahead instructions
You can make this cookie dough up to 3 days in advance. Portion out your cookie dough and refrigerate them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap.
Storage instructions
These cookies will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator when stored in an airtight container.
Recipe FAQs
The potency of the flavor of discard depends on your unique starter. Older discard will have a tangier, acidic flavor than freshly-fed sourdough starter. These cookies do have a sour flavor but the prominent flavor is lemon and not from sourdough.
Absolutely! Simply use the same proportion of freshly fed sourdough starter in the recipe. Your starter won’t add a strong tangy flavor to your cookies, but will still work.
If you don’t have a starter, but still want to try out this recipe, simply add 56 grams of all-purpose flour and 56 grams of water to your cookie dough.
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Sourdough Lemon Cookie Pies
Equipment
- 2 baking sheets
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Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 113 grams unsalted butter softened
- 142 grams powdered sugar
- 113 grams cane sugar
- 4 grams lemon extract
- 56 grams milk
- 113 grams sourdough discard
- 210 grams all-purpose flour
- 6 grams baking powder
- 4 grams salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
Filling
- 425 grams powdered sugar sifted
- 170 grams unsalted butter softened
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 28 grams lemon juice
Click US Customary to view volume measurements
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugars: Combine the butter, powdered sugar, cane sugar and lemon extract in a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer). Using a flat beater (or paddle attachment) to cream the mixture until no chunks of butter remain and the mixture looks smooth.
- Make the cookie dough: Add in the milk and sourdough starter until well combined. The acidity in the starter may cause your mixture to appear separated and curdled, this is totally normal. Fold the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Mix on low until no bits of dry flour remain.
- Chill the dough: Refrigerate the dough for 15 to 20 minutes or until the dough is not too sticky.
- Prep: Preheat your oven to 375 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Portion out the dough: Using a cookie scoop, divide the dough into 24 portions and place them on the prepared baking sheet, about 1-inch apart to allow them to spread.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 11 to 14 minutes or until the tops of the cookies look cracked and dry, and the edges look set.
- Make the filling: Add powdered sugar, butter and lemon juice to a large mixing bowl. Mix on low until combined and then speed up the mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with an Ateco tip #864. (If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use an offset spatula.)
- Allow cookies to cool completely: Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and pair them up according to size. Let the cookies cool before filling them or your buttercream will melt.
- Assemble sandwich cookies: Pipe the filling on half of the cookies and sandwich them together.
- Store: Store the cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Tips
These recipes were developed and tested using grams for precise measurements. To increase your chances of success, I recommend investing in a kitchen scale. I've included rough volume estimates (in tablespoons and cups), but they might not be totally accurate.
Remember all ovens are unique, these recipes were tested in my oven which runs cooler than others. You might need to lower the temperature if your bake appears to be browning too quickly. Monitor your bake closely and make adjustments if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist or dietitian, any nutrition information provided is an estimate.
Mary says
This was my first try at Hannah’s sourdough cookie recipes. If you love natural lemon flavors, be prepared for your eyeballs to roll back in your head! I used the juice from Meyer lemons for the filling. Yum, are these good! P.S. Because these are a “cookie pie,” they slide right into a ziplock sandwich bag and stack neatly into a pretty basket. They won’t last long, but very nice for individual servings.
Hannah Dela Cruz says
So glad you loved this recipe, Mary! It's such a good one.
Fawn T. says
These are absolutely delicious!! One thing though, how sticky are they supposed to be? Mine stayed very sticky even after I put them in the fridge overnight. It made them difficult to work with, but in the end, they spread out perfectly and were so good!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
The dough should feel a little sticky so that's totally normal.
Anél-Mari says
These are absolutely delicious!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
So glad you enjoyed them!
Erin Wrenn says
Do you have to store them in the fridge? I thought buttercream was safe at room temperature?
I’ve made these and they are amazing. Tangy and sweet. The perfect combo.
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I'm seeing a lot of mixed information online. I usually try to store anything with butter in the fridge since it does have chance of going rancid. But with the sugar it may be ok for a few days at room temp.
Kris Anderson says
This dough should’ve been rolled out like sugar cookie dough. The scoops did not spread out at all. They turned out nothing like the pics! Although tasty, disappointing directions.
Hannah @ Make It Dough says
Oh no! I've never experienced this cookie dough not spreading as they should in the oven. I'm sorry you had that experience.