On the Tenth Day of Cookies...

Lemon Thumbprints! They're such cheerful little cookies, like little rays of sunshine and just right for lemon lovers!

Mmmm... lemon.

These are raspberry thumbprints. I used store bought raspberry jam; they're a great contrast to the lemon.

Here they are ready to go in the oven. I used the end of a wooden spoon to make the little "wells" for the filling.

Enjoy these sweet little cookies!

Lemon Poppy Seed Thumbprints (I decided to leave out the poppy seeds)-

For the Curd-

Heat:

6 T. fresh lemon juice, strained

2 T. unsalted butter

Minced zest of 1 lemon

Whisk Together; Add:

2/3 cup sugar

2 T. cornstarch

Pinch of Salt

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Cookies

Cream-

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Add:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 T. poppy seeds (I left these out)

Dust:

with powdered sugar

(Raspberry Jam if you like)

Heat lemon juice, butter, and zest for the curd in a saucepan over medium until butter melts. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a blowl. Add eggs and yolks; whisk until smooth. Gradually add warm juice mixture, whisking constantly; pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

Cook over medium heat 5-8 minutes, or until curd is thick, bubbly, and begins to turn bright yellow and opaque. Stir often with a rubber spatula to prevent scorching, mixture will be thick. (To cook the starchiness out of the cornstarch and ensure the curd will be thick enough to pipe, be sure to cook the curd until stiff.) Off heat, stir in the vanilla.

Transfer the curd to a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming; refrigerate until cold. (Curd may be made and chilled up to 2 days ahead.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla for the cookies in a bowl with a mixer until light.

Add flour and poppy seeds, and blend just until incorporated.

Pack a tablespoon measure with dough and shape into a 1" ball, pressing and smoothing it to eliminate cracks. Arrange balls on prepared baking sheets 2 "apart and make a 1/2" deep indentation in each one using a rounded handle of a wooden spoon. Bake 14-16 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 mintues, then transfer to a rack.

Fill a piping bag fitted with a small star tip with the cooled curd. Pipe a small amount of curd into each indentation in the cookies. You can also just spoon a dollop of the curd on the cookie.

Dust cookies with powdered sugar before serving.