Lemon Biscuits

"Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked biscuits....." yeah, yeah but what if your attempt to fill the house up with the fairy tale aroma of goodness results in something which looks like this:

And before you ask, this was one biscuit.

Sometimes, no matter how competent you may become  in a field, there is always one aspect which is playing hard to get. One "thing" your brain doesn't seem to be able to quite get. Personally, I live in terror of double consonants and baking biscuits. 

 

I dread thinking how many t's, s's, n's there are in such and such words. When it comes to baking biscuits, in spite of various gadgety help, it never got any better. But I am still determine to crack that particular nut.
 

One thing was learnt from various experiences: it pays to research gadgets and don't be too ambitious. Sometimes sticking to a simple apparatus (word with 2 p's) is better (this one has 2 t's, even I know that), A simple cookie cutter might not rock the planet but will make you look competent. Or will it?

I had high hopes for this biscuits kit by Lakeland (£14.99) but the biscuits cutter is far too large for the stamps which themselves are not strong enough to leave a clear mark once cooked. However the kit comes with a recipe booklet which is an eye opener.

 

Because it's not all about shapes. According to Sarah from Maison Cupcake, who knows her biscuits, it's also about cooking time. Biscuits need very little time in the oven and have to be timed perfectly in order to get the correct texture. Best to keep a close eye on a batch from the 8 minutes mark, 15  being the maximum cooking time.

 

Beside the fact that it does smell nice in the kitchen when baking biscuits they are also jolly handy as a small personal gift. My next stop will be ginger biscuits. Here is one recipe, I made earlier

Lemon biscuits

Ingredients

 

325g plain flour

150g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

125g golden caster sugar

1 egg yolk

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Method

 

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/fan 160ºC/Gas 4. Biscuits will be cooked for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown in a lined baking tray (use greaseproof paper).

 

In a large bowl mix flour and butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

Using a fork mix in the sugar, lemon zest, half the lemon juice and the egg yolk and next use your hands to bring the lot into a ball. If it doesn't "gel" add a little water.

Flour a surface and roll the dough to 5mm thick.

 

Tip: sprinkle very little four on the work surface, you might want to cut the ball in two or three parts to make rolling easier.

 

Using biscuit cutters, a mug or a cup, cut the dough into desired shapes

Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the biscuits are golden.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

These biscuits can be decorated with lemon icing.
 

This recipe was first spotted in the Co-op magazine.