Lemon Cookies with Strawberry Buttercream

The most delicious lemon cookie sandwiches!

Don’t let me fool you, the lemon cookies actually taste quite good on their own- they are chewy and delightfully lemon flavored (not overly sour or overly sweet). But you know, they were just so boring. So of course I had to consult with my mom, my go-to dessert expert.  She had the genius idea of adding strawberry buttercream.  So smart because not only do these cookies now scream summer, but they also have the prettiest pink filling!

Lemon Cookies with White Chocolate Chips & Strawberry Buttercream

Yield: 20 cookie sandwiches

Ingredients:

- White Chocolate Chip Lemon Cookies:

- 10 1/8 ounces (~2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour

- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon table salt

- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

- 11 1/4 ounces (~1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar

- 2 x-large eggs at room temperature

- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (~1 large lemon)

- 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

- Strawberry Buttercream:

- 4 ounces (1/2 cup / 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

- 1/2 cup strawberry jelly

- 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees; line baking sheets with parchment paper or slipats and set aside

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; set aside

3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar for several minutes until light and fluffy

4. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add eggs and lemon zest, mix on medium speed just until combined

5. Reduce speed to low and slowly add flour mixture just until combined; scrape sides of bowl again and then stir in white chocolate chips

6. Use a medium cookie dough scoop (~2 tablespoons) and scoop cookie dough 1-2 inches apart on prepared pans

7. Bake 8-10 minutes or until center of cookie appears set and edges are a very light golden brown

8. Set aside cookies to cool and prepare buttercream

9. Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment on high speed for several minutes until butter is light and creamy

10. Add jelly and beat on high speed for one minute; scrape the side of the bowl

11. Add sugar and mix on low speed until combined; then increase the speed to high and beat for several minutes until frosting is light and fluffy

12. Set cookies into pairs closest in size to one another

13. Pipe or spread 1-2 tablespoons of buttercream on the bottom half of one cookie in each pair; lightly press other cookie on top of buttercream

14. Store cookies in an airtight container up to three days; may be frozen up to one month

Notes: These were pretty large cookie sandwiches, you can definitely use a smaller cookie dough scoop and just reduce the cooking time by a couple of minutes.

If you aren't a fan of white chocolate chips, feel free to leave them out, but they do compliment the other flavors really well.