Tender and buttery these flower biscuits are not only charming to look at, but delicious to eat. They're also surprisingly easy to make. Even if you can't get hold of any suitable flowers, the lemon shortbread is well worth making.
Cream the butter, sugar and salt together until light and fluffy.
2 oz golden caster sugar, 4 oz unsalted butter, pinch sea salt
Grate in the lemon zest and cream a bit more.
1 organic lemon
Sieve in the flour, then work it in until the mixture starts to clump together. Bring it together with your hands to form a dough and knead lightly until smooth.
6 oz wholemeal spelt flour
Roll out the dough to a thickness of about ½ cm (¼ inch). You shouldn't need to dust your surface with flour, but if you do go lightly. If the dough is too soft and sticky, cover it with plastic and pop it in the fridge to firm up for twenty minutes or so.
Use a 6 cm (2 ½ inch) cookie cutter to stamp out rounds. Gather the offcuts together and repeat the process until you have no dough left.
Gently press the flowers into the dough circles with your fingers so that they stick. You may want to try running the rolling pin lightly over the top.
1 handful fresh edible flowers
Transfer the shortbread rounds onto baking trays lined with baking parchment. Place in the fridge for twenty minutes or so to firm up.
Turn the oven on to 170℃ (150℃ fan, 338℉, Gas 3).
Place the cold cookies as close to the centre of the oven as you can and bake for 10-12 minutes. The should be lightly golden, but not brown. Don't worry if they seem a bit soft, they will firm up on cooling.
Sprinkle the flower cookies lightly with fine caster sugar, then transfer onto a rack to cool.
Notes
This amount makes 19 biscuits. Just up the quantities in the 1:2:3 ratio if you'd like to make more.They will keep well in an air tight container for about a week.You can use an electric mixer for this recipe, but as long as your butter is soft, it's easy with a wooden spoon and bowl.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.