Lemon biscuits

These lemon biscuits are a really easy tasty treat. And with only 5 ingredients, they’re super simple biscuit recipe for toddlers and young children to try.

Lemon biscuits or lemon shortbread cookies, are a delicious twist on our favourite easy biscuit recipe for kids: fork biscuits.

With only a few ingredients they’re really easy for toddlers and young children to make. In fact, they’re one of the first things we ever baked together.

With so few ingredients and steps in this recipe, they’re also really quick to make, which is perfect for young kids with short attention spans. We managed to have them in the oven within 15 minutes!

Adding the lemon gives them a nice zing. We added zest to the biscuit but I felt that wasn’t quite enough so added a tasty lemon icing at the end.

You could miss out the icing, but as well as adding a nice bit of flavour, they make the lemon shortbread cookies look a little more special, so I think it’s a nice touch.

How can kids help make lemon biscuits?

Based on our easy fork biscuits, these lemon biscuits are really easy for kids to make. They can help measure and mix all the ingredients, before forming the biscuits themselves.

Forming the biscuit balls by hand, and making the fork impression, are both fun jobs for kids. Mine always like anything which involves getting their hands a little messy and this does just that.

How long do the lemon biscuits keep?

Lemon biscuits can be kept in an air-tight container for up to a week. If you want to keep them for longer you can freeze them before you’ve iced them for a few months. Simply individually wrap them in cling film them pop them in a freezer bag. Leave them out to defrost overnight, then ice them before serving them.

Can I use bottled lemon juice instead of fresh lemon juice?

Fresh lemon juice will give you the best flavour, but you could substitute it for bottled lemon juice. Make sure you use pure lemon juice without additional preservatives or sweeteners.

What can I use instead of self raising flour?

If you don’t have any self raising flour, (which can be found in UK supermarkets), simply swap it for an equal amount of plain or all-purpose flour and add a teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt.

Can I prepare the biscuit dough in advance and bake them later?

Yes, you can prepare the biscuit dough in advance and store it, wrapped in cling film or glad wrap, in the fridge for up to 24 hours. When you’re ready to bake them, remove them from the fridge half an hour or so before you want to make them and proceed with the recipe.

What else can I make with lemons?

We’ve got lots of other recipes that use up lemons, why not try some:
Lemon and blueberry loaf
Lemon cupcakes
Lemon bundt cake
Lemon drizzle cake
Iced lemon traybake
Lemon cheesecake
Lemon drizzle cupcakes
Creamy lemon chicken pasta
Lemon Victoria sponge
Individual lemon tartlets
Lemon blueberry muffins
Lemon meringue pie

What other biscuits can I make with my kids?

If you’ve enjoyed making these biscuits with your kids you might also like these easy biscuit recipes:

Fork biscuits
Chocolate biscuits
Melting moments
Shrewsbury biscuits
Scottish shortbread
Custard creams
Bourbon biscuits
Raisin biscuits

Or if you like these lemon biscuits why not try our orange biscuits. They’re another easy recipe with a zingy orange flavour.

Useful equipment

You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make these lemon biscuits:

Digital scales
Lemon juicer
Lemon zester
Wooden spoons
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Wire rack
Piping bags

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Ingredients

100g ( ½ cup) butter, softened
50g (¼ cup) caster sugar
150g (1 ¼ cup) self raising flour
zest of a lemon

To decorate

Juice of 1 lemon
icing sugar

How to make lemon biscuits

Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C Fan / 350F and line 2 baking trays with baking / parchment paper.

Prepare the lemon

Zest the lemon using a zester or the fine side of your grater. If your kids are old enough, they can try this job themselves, otherwise, to keep small fingers safe, this is best done by a grown up.

Pop the lemon in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. This will let you get more juice out of the lemon.

Cut the lemon in half and get your kids to help juice it. Use a juicer if you have one. If you don’t squeeze what you can out of it with your hands, then use a tea spoon to get the rest of the juice out.

Set both the zest and lemon juice aside for later.

Mix the butter and sugar together

Get your kids to measure the butter and sugar and add them into a large mixing bowl.

If the butter isn’t soft enough, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds (not long enough to melt it), just to make it easier to mix.

Beat the sugar and butter together with wooden spoons until they are well combined.

Add the flour and lemon zest

Get your kids to measure the flour into a small bowl, then add it to your mixing bowl along with the lemon zest.

Mix it in to the butter/sugar mixture until it is well mixed in. At this stage it will look a bit like breadcrumbs.

Bring it together with your hands so you have a nice ball of dough.

Form the lemon biscuits

Give your kids small pieces of biscuit dough and get them to roll them into balls. You want them to be about the size of a walnut/a small bouncy ball.

Pop the balls on your prepared baking trays.

With a fork, gently press down on each ball, just to flatten them slightly and give them a nice pattern.

Bake the lemon biscuits

Bake your biscuits in the oven for 12-15 minutes. They’re ready when they’re turning golden brown.

Remove them from the oven and leave on their baking trays to cool before popping them on a wire rack to cool completely. 

Decorate the lemon shortbread cookies

Add a few spoons of icing sugar to the lemon juice until you have a semi-runny icing. We didn’t measure the amount of icing sugar we put in – we just kept adding it until it was runny enough fo pipe but thick enough to hold it’s shape on the biscuit.

Put the icing in a small freezer bag and cut a tiny hole in one corner.

Get your kids to pipe lines in a zig zag across each biscuit and leave them to set.

Serve and enjoy.

Lemon biscuits

cookingwithmykids

These lemon biscuits are a really easy tasty treat. And with only 5 ingredients, they're super simple biscuit recipe for toddlers and young children to try.

4.67 from 9 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

decorating time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Afternoon tea

Cuisine British

Servings 12

Calories 132 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 100 g (½ cup) butter, softened
• 50 g (¼ cup) caster sugar
• 150 g (1 ¼ cup) self raising flour
• zest of a lemon

To decorate

• Juice of 1 lemon
• icing sugar

Instructions

 

Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C Fan / 350F and line 2 baking trays with baking / parchment paper.

Prepare the lemon

• Zest the lemon using a zester or the fine side of your grater.
• Juice the lemon, then set both the zest and lemon juice aside for later.

Mix the butter and sugar together

• Measure the butter or sugar and add them into a large mixing bowl.
• If the butter isn't soft enough, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds (not long enough to melt it), just to make it easier to mix.
• Beat the sugar and butter together with wooden spoons until they are well combined.

Add the flour and lemon zest

• Measure the flour and lemon zest then add it to your mixing bowl.
• Mix it in to the butter/sugar mixture until it is well mixed in. Bring it together with your hands so you have a nice ball of dough.

Form the lemon biscuits

• Take small pieces of biscuit dough and get them to roll them into balls. You want them to be about the size of a walnut/a small bouncy ball.
• Pop the balls on your prepared baking trays.
• With a fork, gently press down on each ball, just to flatten them slightly and give them a nice pattern.

Bake the lemon biscuits

• Bake your biscuits in the oven for 12-15 minutes. They're ready when they're turning golden brown.
• Remove them from the oven and leave them to cool on a wire rack.

Decorate the lemon biscuits

• Add a few spoons of icing sugar to your lemon juice until you have a semi-runny icing. We didn't measure the amount of icing sugar we put in – we just kept adding it until it was runny enough fo pipe but thick enough to hold it's shape on the biscuit.
• Put the icing in a small freezer bag and cut a tiny hole in one corner.
• Pipe lines in a zig zag across each biscuit and leave them to set.
• Serve and enjoy.

Video

Notes

Pop the lemon in the microwave for 10 seconds or so before you juice it. This will let you get more juice out of the lemon.

Keyword baking, baking, biscuits, cookies, christmas, biscuits, lemon

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If you liked these lemon biscuits, you’ll love our lemon curd muffins and our iced lemon traybake.

I’ve linked this recipe up to #BakingCrumbs, hosted by Apply to Face Blog #CookBlogShare hosted by the peachicks bakery:

This recipe was first published in January 2020 and updated with new pictures in August 2023.