Lemon and chocolate chip biscuits recipe
I’m always keen to get N interested in and learning cooking skills. One of his favourite things to do is bake. And specifically to bake cookies.
Of course cookies are easy, so are great for children to make alone. N can do all the mixing by hand, the rolling out of the cookie dough, and deal with the oven. He’s still a little wary of getting them out of the oven, but he’s getting there.
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Usually he just bakes chocolate chip cookies, but last time he searched through his recipe book for the basic cookies he spotted the raisin ones. We rarely have raisins or sultanas in the house because no-one eats them, apart from the odd occasion where I might need them for a recipe. And that’s really rare.
He decided he would use chocolate chips instead. I suggested maybe he make lemon cookies which he agreed with but still wanted the chocolate chips in. So lemon and chocolate chip biscuits it was, with a total random combination that turned out ok in the end.
If you’d rather lemon and raisin just switch the chocolate for the equivalent raisins. If you want a stronger lemon flavour, you can add more zest, but you don’t want too much otherwise you won’t taste the chocolate and it might taste a bit washing up liquid-y (not that I’ve ever tasted it but what I can imagine it tastes like).
It’s an easy recipe for children to make and it’s fast, so good for impatient bakers. The great thing about a basic biscuit dough is that you can add whatever ingredients or toppings you want.
The end biscuit is a British style biscuit rather than a larger gooey US style cookie. They should have a reasonable snap when you break them. You can of course not cook them as long as they’ll be a bit softer in the middle.
As with most cookie or biscuit recipes, it starts with creaming the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Then add the flour plus any flavourings or extra additions.
We rolled out the dough on a floured surface, then used a cutter to make the biscuits.
If you want freehand biscuits, you could make small balls from the dough, flatten slightly. Then you need to bake them for 10-12 minutes. You can find the full recipe below.
We use:
- an old Jamie Oliver non stick baking sheet, try this alternative baking sheet or try silicon baking mats
- wire cooling racks
- traditional rolling pin
Lemon and chocolate chip butter cookies recipe
Prep 10 mins
Cook 12 mins
Makes 20 biscuits
Ingredients
- 225g unsalted butter, softened
- Caster sugar – I prefer golden
- Plain flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 75g chocolate chips
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 190C / GM 5 / Fan 170C. Grease 2 baking sheets or trays with butter
2. Cream together the softened butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy
3. Mix in the flour, then add the vanilla extract and chocolate chips. If it’s quite hard to mix use your hands
4. Take pieces of the biscuit dough and roll into a ball, then place on the baking sheets with a gap inbetween each cookie. We use about a small dessertspoon amount.
5. Press down slightly on each to flatten.
6. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until just turning golden brown. Remove and cool for a bit on the trays until you can move them to cooling racks.
7. Eat, or store in a lidded airtight container once cold. They should stay fresh for 5 days, but if you’ve any left after that, just serve alongside ice cream, or cheesecake mix as a bit of crunch with the dip.
These lemon and chocolate chip biscuits are great to have as a morning or afternoon break, or use as an accompaniment to a cold mousse dessert like my lemon and raspberry fool.
What’s the favourite homemade biscuit or cookie in your house?
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These look and sounds so good.
I am rubbish at making biscuits and cookies no matter how hard I try but my youngest is great at making them. I might get her to try this recipe. x