LEMON AND BARLEY SHORTBREAD BISCUITS

By Ellie Cook

A classic British summertime drink, reimagined as a crisp, buttery biscuit? Don’t mind if I do! Citrus cuts through the earthy notes of barley so well, and with only five ingredients this recipe is an easy win. You can press some edible flowers to the tops of your biscuits before baking, but they’re just as lovely with no adornment.

Ingredients:

225g softened butter

110g caster sugar

Zest of one lemon

225g barley flour

110g cornflour

Method:

Put the softened butter and sugar into a mixing bowl, and cream until fluffy and pale. Grate in the lemon zest and beat into the sugar mixture.

Sift in the barley flour and cornflour, and mix. This may take a little effort, but you’ll know you’re done when your floury mixture turns into a smooth ball of dough.

Squeeze the mixture into a ball, then clingfilm tightly and leave to rest in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 170°C and retrieve the dough from the fridge.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface, beneath a layer of clingfilm or baking paper to stop it crumbling everywhere. Roll out to about 5mm thick and stamp out rounds with a biscuit cutter.

Place biscuit rounds onto a lined baking tray and bake for fifteen minutes. Keep an eye on them, as this dough is a shade darker than standard shortbread dough!

Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray for five minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and enjoy.