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ingredients
1 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
zest from one lemon
2 ½ cups flour
about 1/2 cup of lemon curd (see recipe below)

yields about 40 cookies

1 Beat the softened butter and the sugar in a mixing bowl until creamy and well-blended. Stir in the egg yolk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir in the flour and mix well, switching to your hands if necessary to form a nice ball of dough. Place in a plastic bag or wrap well with plastic, and flatten into a disk. Chill for at least an hour.
2 Divide the dough in thirds, and roll out one section to about 3/16" thickness (keep the remainder chilled). Use star-shaped cookie cutters to cut out shapes, and transfer to a cookie sheet. Make an indentation in the center of each cookie with your fingertips, and fill the well with lemon curd.
3 Bake at 350F until the cookies are firmed up, about 9 or 10 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the sheet for another minute, then gently transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. (The cookies can be somewhat fragile when hot; I find it's easiest to carefully twist the cookie on the sheet to loosen it, then lift it off with a spatula.) Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar once the cookies have cooled, and enjoy.

lemon curd
This yields much more lemon curd than you'll need for the cookies, but the extra will last for at least a week or so in the fridge, and makes a yummy, tangy-sweet spread for scones, English muffins and toast. If you'd like to halve the recipe, though, you can use 1 egg and 1 egg yolk.

ingredients 
½ cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
½ cup sugar
3 eggs
6 Tbsp. salted butter, cut into bits

yields 1 heaping cup

1 Whisk the lemon juice, sugar and eggs together in a saucepan. Turn the heat to medium (medium-low if your stove tends to run hot), add the butter, and cook gently for about 8-10 minutes. You'll want to stir constantly with a wooden spoon and make certain that the mixture doesn't come to a boil, as this will cause it to curdle, and you'll be left with an inedible mess.
2 When the mixture has turned a lovely, pale opaque yellow and is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, pour through a fine-mesh strainer to get rid of any chunky bits. If the curd seems stuck in the strainer, use a spoon to help push it through. Stir in the lemon zest, and let the mixture cool to room temperature. Cover and chill in the fridge before using.

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more cookie goodness:
gingerbread cookies | holiday sugar cookies | date pinwheel cookies | oatmeal raisin cookies | chocolate chip cookies

or check out the complete recipe index!

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