Vegan Lemon Swirl Cookies

• servings: 8 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

80g of lemon juice (from fresh lemons)

125g of coconut milk (cream only)

125g of caster sugar

3 tablespoons of cornflour / cornstarch

Pinch of turmeric (or yellow food gel)

115g of dairy-free butter (cubed / softened)

140g of caster sugar

Zest of 2 medium unwaxed lemons

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

30ml of dairy-free milk

210g of plain flour

3/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

50g of dairy-free butter

20g of dairy-free cream cheese

250g of icing sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean pod (seeds only)

Dairy-free milk (if needed)

Directions

Method (lemon curd)

Drain the clear liquid from a can of coconut milk, as you only want to use the thick white cream. Add all of the lemon curd ingredients into a medium sized saucepan. Stir to combine.

Heat over a medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens (this will take around 5 minutes). Stirring with a heat proof spatula or whisk will prevent any sticking and burning, and will remove any clumps.

Once the mixture is thick and glossy, remove from the heat. Once cool, give it a rigorous stir and transfer into a piping bag. If the curd thickens too much, add a squeeze more lemon juice and whisk vigorously until creamy.

Method (cookies)

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan and line 2 baking trays with grease proof paper.

Add the butter, sugar and lemon zest into a mixing bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whip with a hand mixer or the stand mixer until light and creamy.

Add the lemon juice and milk. Whip again until combined.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda. Mix until just combined.

Scoop the cookie dough into 6- 8 balls using spoons or an ice-cream scoop.

Optional step – Sprinkle some caster or granulated sugar over the cookies before baking.

Place the cookies on the lined tray (leave the dough in balls, don’t press them down!), leaving room in between as they will spread when baking.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly golden.

Once baked, remove the trays from the oven, use a round cookie cutter to help shape the cookies. Use the cookie cutter to scoot the cookies into a circle.

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking tray. While they’re cooling, make the buttercream.

Method (cream swirl)

Add the butter and cream cheese into a bowl and whip until smooth and creamy, either in a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment or using a hand held electric whisk.

Add in the icing sugar and vanilla, whip until creamy. If it’s too thin or if it ever splits, add in some more chunks of butter until it’s thick and creamy in consistency.

Transfer the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip nozzle.

Once the cookies are fully cool, pipe a swirl of the cream cheese frosting on top of each cookie.

Transfer the lemon curd into a piping bag, snip off the tip. Pipe a lemon curd swirl in-between the buttercream.

Decorate the tops of the cookies with a slice of fresh lemon and a dusting of icing sugar.

Serve and enjoy!