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Blood Orange Curd Thumbprint Cookies – buttery base, filled with smooth homemade blood orange curd filling.
Happy Monday Everyone!!! How was your weekend? Mine was short, but nice! Is it a little too late for a blood orange recipe? I know spring is almost here, but I totally forgot to post this Blood Orange Curd Thumbprint Cookies recipe. I made them a few weeks ago.
Shortbread cookies are my favorite and paired with fresh blood orange curd tasted fantastic!
Baking thumbprint cookies could be a little tricky at times and even if you follow my instructions, your cookies might spread a little. Typical shortbread cookies are made with one part sugar, two parts butter and three parts of flour. Of course I’ve changed the recipe a little to make it work for these Blood Orange Curd Thumbprint Cookies.
I know that some butter cookie recipes have eggs and baking soda (or baking powder), but I prefer not to use any, because of the spreading. Letting the dough rest, before you roll the cookies out and then chilling them for 1-2 hours before baking is mandatory (to avoid spreading). So if you are planning to bake these cookies, make sure you have enough time, because rushing might not help you with these…
I decided to fill them with homemade blood orange curd, after baking, but if you are not a fan of the idea, you can fill yours with your favorite jam. (If filling them with jam, you can do it prior to baking).
I researched a ton of recipes for blood orange curd, but they were all so different, so I decided to just try and adapt my Meyer lemon curd recipe. It turned out pretty good! This recipe makes about 1 cup if curd, but you ca easily double or triple it.
A very important confession – when having some kind of cookies in my house, I feel like I have to eat as many as I can. Does it ever happen to you?
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Blood Orange Curd Thumbprint Cookies
Video
Ingredients
FOR THE BLOOD ORANGE CURD:
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup blood orange juice, (from 1 large orange)
- 1 tbsp blood orange zest, (from 1 large blood orange)
- 6 tbsp butter
FOR THE SHORTBREAD COOKIES:
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups +2 tbsp all purpose flour
- pinch of salt
Instructions
FOR THE BLOOD ORANGE CURD:
- In a medium metal bowl whisk together eggs, sugar, lemon juice, blood orange zest and juice. Set metal bowl over a simmering pan of hot water (make a double boiler) and cook mixture, whisking constantly for 8-10 minutes, until thickened. Add butter and whisk to combine. Be careful, not to overcook the eggs. Remove from heat and strain through a very fine mesh sieve. Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool to room temperature (it will thicken been more), before you fill cookies with it. Keep in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
FOR THE COOKIES:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat butter on high until creamy (2 minutes). Add sugar and vanilla extracts. Beat on medium until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.
- Add flour and beat on low, until it is slowly incorporated and dough is formed. Wrap dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Take out of the fridge and let dough soften just a little for 5-10 minutes. Scrape about 1 tbsp of cookie dough and roll into balls. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (silpat ) and place balls on it, leaving about 2 inches in between. Using your thumb (or a 1/2 tsp measuring spoon) make and indentation. Chill cookies for at least 30 more minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C). Bake cookies for 14-15 minutes, until very lightly browned. If for some reason the thumbprint indentations have puffed up, very carefully press with the back of a measuring spoon (or a similar object) to re shape it. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.
- Fill each cookie with about 1 tsp blood orange curd.
- Keep in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
stainless steel mixing bowl
Make sure you chill the dough before baking, otherwise cookies will spread.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Cookie Recipes :
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Orange Cookies With Coconut Oil
I made these and they were a huge hit!  And though it’s time consuming due to the several chill steps, these were incredibly easy to make. I even had a request to bake them for a friend’s baby shower.  One thing I noticed is that your directions for the shortbread don’t include when to add the salt.  I’m getting ready to make them right now and can’t wait!
Hi Thank you, glad you liked these!The salt is added to the flour, I’ll correct this asap! Have a great day!