by Chris Mosler
Homemade buttery lemon shortbread is a billion times better than the dry offerings in tartan tins at Christmas. This version with its citrus zing is perfect for afternoon tea on this beautiful spring day or for a summerypicnicon a blanket under the apple tree.
I think I need a gingham table cloth, a little table and chairs, maybe a big straw hat and a floaty dress – oh and possibly a handsome gentleman to serve me my tea and shortbread this afternoon, don’t you?
How To Make Lemon Shortbread
Shortbread is one of the easiest biscuits to bake. Its origins lie with Medieval biscuit bread which was similar to a sweetened rusk.
Appetising as that sounds, I am quite glad that shortbread evolved a little bit through the centuries!
Mary Queen of Scots is said to have favoured a thin, buttery shortbread flavoured with caraway seeds which she nibbled on happily in the 16th century.
The most basic shortbread recipe uses only flour, butter and sugar but, for this lemony version, I have replaced a little of the plain flour with cornflour. Cornflour makes this lemon shortbread a little bit crisper, perfect for dunking in a cup of tea!
I’ve also used icing sugar in this recipe instead of the caster sugar I use in my basic recipe. Both give an excellent result with icing sugar being marginally easier to mix in with the butter.
It’s really important here that you allow time for your biscuit dough to rest and recover in the fridge before slicing, this helps prevent any spreading during baking.
Decorating Lemon Shortbread
I decorated my lemon shortbread with a sprinkle of gloriously delicious sugar scented with yellow mirabelle plums – my daughter brought it back for me from a school trip to France, she knows me very well!
I haven’t managed to track it down here in the UK buta scattering ofgolden caster sugar on top of your lemon shortbread biscuits is a good substitute.
You could also make some glacé icing by mixing a little lemon juice with some icing sugar to form a paste and drizzling it over cooled shortbread biscuits.
Shortbread Flavours
Ring the changes by:
- Replacing the lemon zest with orange or lime.
- Adding a teaspoonful of rosewater to the mixture and topping the finished biscuits with rose petals. Perfect for you Valentine!
- Mixing in a teaspoonful of chopped lavender for easy lavender shortbread
Oh the afternoon tea possibilities!
More Easy Biscuit Recipes
If you’re feeling very biscuity after all that have a look at my:
- Vegan Gingerbread Men
- Easy Vegan Shortbread (my Granny’s super simple three ingredient recipe)
- Simple Fork Biscuits
- Cornish Fairings – delicious ginger biscuits.
- Lavender Biscuits
If you make my recipe I’d love to hear how it turns out for you. Please leave a comment and a star rating below and share your pictures with me on social media. Tag me @thinlyspread and include the hashtag #thinlyspread so I can see them!
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Lemon Shortbread for Afternoon Tea
Print Pin Rate
Course: Baked Goods, Biscuits and Cookies, Treats
Cuisine: Scottish
Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour
Servings: 10
Calories: 73kcal
Author: Chris Mosler | Thinly Spread
Equipment
Lightly greased baking tray
Baking parchment
Ingredients
- 125 g vegan butter or margarine chopped
- 1 lemon Just the finely grated zest
- 25 g sifted icing sugar
- 100 g plain flour
- 50 g cornflour
- Golden caster sugar or yellow sugar crystals to decorate
UK Measurements - US Measurements
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180°C/360°F
Beat chopped butter and icing sugar together until golden and well combined
Add the finely grated lemon zest and mix to combine
Sift the flours together and stir into the butter mixture until you have a soft dough
Roll into a log shape, wrap in baking parchment and refrigerate for half an hour
Slice 1cm thick biscuit shapes off the log, lay on a lightly greased baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes until lightly browned
Cool on the tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (or scoff while warm)
Decorate with a sprinkle of sugar and serve with your favourite tea
Notes
Nutritional information is only an approximate guideline. Calculations will vary according to the ingredients you use and your cooking methods.
Nutrition
Calories: 73kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 14mg | Potassium: 28mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 21IU | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg
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Chiswick Mum on February 24, 2016 at 2:24 pm
Wow that looks amazing… I’m going to attempt to try that! I’d like to try tonight but not sure I can find cornflour that quickly after work. You obviously have a well stocked cupboard!
Reply
Chris Mosler on February 24, 2016 at 2:59 pm
I have a ridiculously well stocked cupboard – cornflour is a must for after school gloop!
Reply
Andrew West on February 25, 2016 at 12:15 pm
Made these the other day. Gorgeous! “Unfortunately” I didn’t realise how much they would spread in the oven, made them too thin, several broke, so had to eat all the damaged ones immediately! 🙂
Reply
Chris Mosler on February 26, 2016 at 9:55 am
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! As for the spreading – it may be that your oven is a bot hotter than mine, try reducing them temp a bit and increasing the cook time for a couple of minutes to see if that makes a difference. This article about spreading biscuits may help! (I like that they did an experiemnt to see what difference a lower temperature made, I’m thinking I might do the same just for research purposes of course, nothing to do with having to eat all those cookies! 😉
Reply
Choclette on February 27, 2016 at 7:08 pm
Oh yes to floaty dresses and gingham table cloths AND sunshine! Your lemon shortbread looks superb and I’m now rather despartelty wanting to tuck into one – lemon biscuits are one of the best.
BTW have stumbled and yummed, but you don’t have a yum button to make it easy for those that don’t have their own.
Reply
Chris Mosler on February 29, 2016 at 10:01 am
It’s gorgeously sunny here today but I still need my thermals and thick sweaters yet! Thanks for the tip re Yummly, will investigate!
Reply
helloitsgemma on April 25, 2016 at 7:34 pm
ah, this all sounds lovely. I might not have time for the gingham table cloth, I’d haven’t eaten these biscuits before the table cloth was smooth.
That sugar sounds so divine!
Reply
Chris Mosler on April 26, 2016 at 9:50 am
Sugar was amazing, such a good gift. She’s off to Iceland in June, I have high hopes. I think the Afternoon Tea ritual calls for gingham every time, I love the ceremony of it, the slow pace, the anticipation of deliciousness to come (but, yes, I ate a biscuit or two before they got to the gingham)
Reply
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