If there’s one thing that can make a crumbly shortbread biscuit better it’s lathering it with homemade lemon curd. These biscuits have the perfect crumbly, buttery base that pairs perfectly with zesty lemon curd – plus, the recipe is completely vegan-friendly.

Ever since I first created my recipe for the perfect vegan lemon curd a couple of years ago, I’ve loved finding new and exciting ways to cook with it – beyond simply eating it off the spoon, that is!

These biscuits are a small bite of heaven. Made with entirely plant-based ingredients, you’ve got a crumbly, sweet shortbread biscuit with the perfect thumbprint of zesty, creamy lemon curd in the centre. For extra aesthetics and lemony goodness, we drizzle the biscuits with a simple drizzle made from lemon juice and icing sugar.

If you are in need of more lemon-related recipes, you’ll love this classic vegan lemon drizzle cake or these dreamy lemon bars. Here’s everything you need to know to make this recipe.

What you’ll need

In terms of tools, you’ll need:

• A mixing bowl
• A wooden spoon or an electric beater
• A cookie cutter
• A rolling pin (I use a wine bottle because I still don’t have a rolling pin!)

Here are a few notes on the ingredients you’ll need and why:

• Plain flour: You could try a gluten-free blend to make these biscuits gluten-free, but it’s not a variation I’ve tested. All-purpose plain flour works best.
  
• Vegan butter: I used the Flora plant-based unsalted block for this recipe. If you’re not vegan, you can use whatever butter you prefer.
  
• Caster sugar: Adds some much-needed sweetness to the recipe!
  
• Lemon curd: This vegan lemon curd uses just a couple of simple ingredients and is ready in five minutes – so I highly recommend making your own! You won’t go back to store-bought versions.
  
• Lemon: You’ll need the zest of your lemon to grate into the biscuit dough and the juice of the lemon for the lemon drizzle.
  
• Icing sugar: You’ll need a little icing sugar (powdered sugar) at the end when making the lemon drizzle.

How to make these lemon curd biscuits

So, the base of the biscuit itself is a classic shortbread recipe, using the 3:2:1 ratio. What does this mean?

We use 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, and 3 parts flour, by weight. This is the old-fashioned way to make traditional shortbread and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

To start, cream together the sugar and the butter until it’s light and fluffy. This should take about 2 – 3 minutes.

Then, start adding the flour bit by bit – if you’re using an electric mixer, take care not to overmix the dough. The dough should appear crumbly, but not dry. Towards the end, use your hands to start forming a dough.

Once you’ve formed the dough, pop it in clingfilm or a food storage bag and chill for a minimum of 1 -2 hours. This makes it easier to shape the dough and reduces the likelihood of your biscuits spreading when baking!

Roll out your dough about 1 inch thick and use your cookie cutter to cut the biscuits out and pop them on your lined baking tray.

Adding the lemon curd

Traditionally, thumbprint cookies are made by pressing your thumb into the middle of your cookie dough shape to create an indentation for the jam or curd. So, you could use your thumb – but I prefer to use the back of a teaspoon!

Press a small dent into each cookie, and then add a spoonful of lemon curd. Bake the cookies for about 8 – 10 minutes (they don’t need long!), and allow to cool fully.

Lemon drizzle icing

Once your biscuits have cooled to room temperature, you can make the lemon drizzle. Add your icing sugar to a bowl and add your lemon juice a teaspoon at a time to make a thick white icing – you need less liquid than you think so don’t add it all at once!

Use the spoon to drizzle the icing over the biscuits in zig zags.

Storing

Due to the lemon curd, these biscuits should be stored in the fridge. They should keep for up to 5 days.

Variations

You don’t just need to stick with lemons for this recipe! Try swapping out the lemon curd for this gorgeous passion fruit curd for an equally delicious biscuit recipe.

Make sure you check out this Vegan Lemon, Blueberry & Poppy Seed Loaf Cake for another recipe perfect for spring, too!