Vegan lemon sandwich cookies – these delicate lemon shortbread biscuits with lemon buttercream are light, crisp and delicious.
They would make a lovely treat for Easter or as part of an afternoon tea.
These vegan lemon sandwich cookies have a delicate, buttery, zesty lemon flavour and a light, crisp, melt-in-the-mouth texture, and they are easy to make too!
They consist of two thin lemon shortbread biscuits sandwiched with creamy vegan lemon buttercream.
The cookies don’t spread much as they bake so you can use your choice of cutters to make biscuits suitable for any occasion.
What Do I Need To Make Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies?:
Lemons: Most of the lemon flavour in these cookies comes from the zest, so make sure that you buy unwaxed lemons and give them a good wash before zesting them. (Waxed lemons are also not usually vegan anyway).
Lemon extract: I boost the lemon flavour of the buttercream a bit by adding some lemon extract. It is difficult to get lots of lemon flavour into things like cookies and buttercream as you can’t add much liquid (ie lemon juice), so a bit of extract helps.
Vegan block butter: Please, for the love of holy baking, use a block butter/margarine to make these cookies, not the spreadable kind in a tub.
Spreadable will likely make the dough too soft, and the biscuits may be more tough as it contains more water.
You also need to use a block butter for the buttercream otherwise you risk it splitting. I recommend Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant Butter.
Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour is best here. I haven’t tried making these gluten-free.
Cornflour (cornstarch): This helps to give the shortbread a lovely melt-in-the mouth texture. You can swap it for the same weight of plain flour if you don’t have any.
Sugar: I use caster sugar in the dough, though granulated will also work. You will also need icing (powdered) sugar for the buttercream.
Vanilla extract: Use a good quality vanilla extract for the best flavour. If you have it then vanilla bean paste would be amazing instead.
How To Make Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.
Whisk in the cornflour (cornstarch).
Add the plain flour and stir in until all the flour is moistened and no lumps of butter remain.
Use your hands to bring the dough together. Divide it in half and shape each half in a disc.
Wrap each disc and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so until the dough is firm enough to roll out.
Roll one of the discs of dough out on a floured surface to 4mm thick. Use approximately 6 cm/ 2 ⅓rd in cookie cutters in your choice of shapes to cut out as many cookies as you can.
Gently transfer the cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet, slightly spaced apart.
Repeat with the other disc of dough. Bring together the scraps of dough, roll out again and cut out more cookies.
Place the trays of cookies in the freezer for 15 minutes, or the fridge for 30 while you preheat the oven.
Bake the chilled cookies for approximately 15 minutes until light golden around the edges.
To make the buttercream, whisk together the butter, icing sugar, lemon zest, juice and extract with an electric mixer for a good few minutes until it is light and fluffy.
Spread a little buttercream over the base of one of the cookies and top with another cookie. Repeat with the rest of the cookies.
Top Tips:
All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
Do not overwork the dough as that will develop the gluten in the flour resulting in chewy biscuits. Just mix it until it is fully combined then use your hands to bring it together.
The dough will keep in the fridge (well wrapped) for up to three days. If it becomes too firm to roll out, let it sit out at room temperature for half an hour or so until it softens slightly.
The dough can also be frozen (well wrapped) for up to three months. Allow to defrost in the fridge before rolling it out.
Chilling the cookies before baking them helps to ensure that they don’t spread, so don’t skip this step.
These cookies have a delicate lemon flavour. For punchier cookies, fill them with vegan lemon curd instead of or as well as the buttercream.
A drizzle of melted vegan white chocolate makes the cookies look less plain. You could also use a lemon glaze (powdered sugar + lemon juice) or royal icing.
The cookies will keep for around 4-5 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Once filled with buttercream they will become slightly softer over time.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes:
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Vegan Lemon Sandwich Cookies
Vegan lemon sandwich cookies – these delicate lemon shortbread biscuits with lemon buttercream are light, crisp and delicious. They would make a lovely treat for Easter or as part of an afternoon tea.
IngredientsBiscuits:
- 200 g (½ + ⅓ cup) vegan block butter (NOT the spreadable kind. I use Naturli Vegan Block) slightly softened
- 100 g (½ cup) caster (superfine) or granulated sugar
- finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 50 g (5 packed Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 250 g (2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
Buttercream:
- 75 g (scant ⅓ cup) vegan block butter (NOT the spreadable kind. I use Naturli Vegan Block) slightly softened
- 200 g (1 + ⅔ cup) icing (powdered) sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
Instructions
In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt until well combined.
Whisk in the cornflour (cornstarch) then add the plain flour and stir in until all the flour is moistened and no lumps of butter remain.
Use your hands to bring the dough together. Divide it in half and shape each half in a disc.
Wrap each disc and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so until the dough is firm enough to roll out. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment.
Roll one of the discs of dough out on a floured surface to 4mm thick. Use approximately 6 cm/ 2 ⅓rd in cookie cutters in your choice of shapes to cut out as many cookies as you can.
Gently transfer the cookies to the baking sheet, slightly spaced apart.
Repeat with the other disc of dough. Bring together the scraps of dough, roll out again and cut out more cookies. Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes first if it has become too soft to roll.
Place the trays of cookies in the freezer for 15 minutes, or the fridge for 30 while you preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4.
Bake the chilled cookies for approximately 15 minutes until light golden around the edges. Cool on the tray for 5 mins then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the buttercream, whisk together the butter, icing sugar, lemon zest, juice and extract with an electric mixer for a good few minutes until it is light and fluffy.
Spread a little buttercream over the base of one of the cookies and top with another cookie. Repeat with the rest of the cookies. Drizzle the tops of the assembled cookies with a little melted vegan white chocolate if you like.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- These cookies have a delicate lemon flavour. For punchier cookies, fill them with vegan lemon curd instead of or as well as the buttercream.
- The cookies will keep for around 4-5 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Once filled with buttercream they will become slightly softer over time.
