Lemon Poppy Seed Linzer Butterflies
Servings
18
Servings
18
Ingredients
Shortbread
Lemon Curd
Instructions
Shortbread
  1. In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon juice & lemon zest with an electric mixer until light & fluffy. Reduce speed to low & add the flour & salt. Continue to mix until well incorporated. Slowly add poppyseeds & mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
  2. Remove dough from bowl, form into a disk & wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour or overnight.
Lemon Curd
  1. Fill a medium saucepan, about halfway full with water & bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Fill a large bowl with ice water & set aside.
  2. In a glass or metal bowl, whisk together egg, egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest & salt. Set over the saucepan of simmering water, ensuring that the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Whisk the mixture constantly until it reaches 170 F. Immediately remove the bowl from the heat, add butter & whisk until smooth. Place over the bowl of ice water. Cover with plastic wrap making sure it is touching the lemon curd surface so a ‘skin’ will not form. Let mixture stand at room temperature until cooled & thickened.
Baking
  1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
  2. Roll out shortbread dough on a large sheet of parchment paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a butterfly cookie cutter, cut out 36 cookies. Leave 18 of them as is & cut some designs in the wings of the remaining 18 cookies. At this point you may need to place the cookies in the freezer for about 10 minutes so you can remove them easily to the baking sheet without destroying their shapes.
  3. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper & transfer cookies to baking sheet. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until just baked. Place cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.
Assembly
  1. Spread desired amount of lemon curd on the bottom cookies. If desired, dust the tops with powdered sugar. Lightly press on a top cookie to sandwich the curd. Repeat with remaining tops. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes

• Don’t hesitate to speed up the process by purchasing a jar of lemon curd. There are a lot of real good ones available.