Lemon Butter Biscuits

Like the sun I wanted a cookie that was bursting... bursting with lemon flavour. To achieve that I had to tweak this recipe a bit. And the end result was a fabulous one. I know lemons do not grow on evergreens however that was the only tree cookie cutter I had.  

Lemon Butter Biscuits

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1/2 cup butter, soften

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon of lemon zest 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration

1. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with and electric mixer until creamy. Beat in the egg until light and fluffy. Mix in the flour, lemon juice and lemon zest, baking soda and salt. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm. 

Notes: I mixed all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl first. After creaming the butter, sugar and egg I added the lemon juice, lemon zest of 2 lemons and about 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon of pure lemon extract and gently stirred. Then I mixed in the dry ingredients. Increasing the lemon zest and adding pure lemon extract completely intensified this rather subtle biscuit and made it burst with flavour. 

2. Preheat oven to 350º F ( 175ºC) 

3. Roll out the dough, a small amount at a time, to 1/4-inch thickness on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Keep remaining dough in the refrigerator. Cut with a 3-inch round cookie cutter. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar.

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly brown on the edges. Cool for 1 minute on the baking sheets. Remove and place on wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. 

Notes: I found that baking the biscuits for 8 minutes was enough. However ovens vary. This recipe is easy and fool proof. The lemon can be switched out with lime or orange. With just this basic recipe the flavour possibilities are virtually endless. 

Hope everyone has a good weekend! - JW