If Santa's elves grew citrus trees, these sparkling lemony bites would surely be among the branches.
For Cookies:
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 Tbs grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
White or colored sanding sugars
For Filling:
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 Tbs grated lemon zest
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs light corn syrup
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in the middle position. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk together flour, cornstarch and salt.
Beat together butter and confectioners sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in zest and vanilla. At low speed, mix in flour mixture just until a soft dough forms.
Put sanding sugars in different bowls. Roll a scant tsp of dough into a ball and drop into sugar, turning to coat. Reshape if necessary and transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat, spacing balls 3/4 inch apart, until baking sheet is filled.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or freeze for 5 - 10 minutes to retain the ball shape during baking.
Bake until tops are slightly cracked but still pale (bottoms will be pale golden), 12 to 15 minutes.
Transfer cookies on parchment to a rack to cool completely. Form and bake more cookies on the second backing sheet while the first sheet is cooking.
Prepare filling by beating together all filling ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer until combined well. Transfer to a zip top sealable bag and snip off one corner (small opening).
Turn over half of the cooled cookies and pipe about 1/2 tsp filling on the flat side of each. Sandwich with the remaining halves, pressing gently.
Note: Cookies keep in a metal cookie tin at room temperature for 4 days. Makes about 50 sandwich cookies.
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