Lemon Star Biscuits Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extract. Stir in sour cream and zest. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Divide dough into 3 balls; cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until easy to handle., Remove 1 portion of dough from the refrigerator at a time. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-in. star cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. , Bake at 375° for 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool., For frosting, in a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, extract, food coloring if desired and enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Frost cookies; sprinkle with colored sugar if desired.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in milk and lemon juice just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 8-10 times. , Roll out to 1/2-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 450° until golden brown, 8-10 minutes., Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine lemon butter ingredients until blended. Serve with warm biscuits.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Put butter in a 9x13-inch baking dish and place dish in the preheating oven until butter is melted.
• Mix baking mix, lemon-lime soda, and sour cream together in a bowl until dough holds together and is sticky. Turn dough onto a floured work surface and roll into 1-inch thick circle. Cut circles out of dough using a cookie cutter or the rim of a wine glass and place in the melted butter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until biscuits are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove dish from oven and let stand until biscuits have absorbed all the butter.

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add egg and lemon zest.
• Beat well.
• Sift flour.
• Stir into creamed mixture, mixing to a soft dough.
• Shape dough into a ball.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Roll dough out on a floured surface to a thickness of 5mm.
• Using a star shaped cutter, stamp out shapes.
• Place on greased oven trays.
• Bake at 180C degrees for 12 minutes until lightly golden.
• Cool on wire racks.
• -------------Icing------------.
• Sift icing sugar in a bowl.
• Mix in butter and lemon juice.
• Add just enough water to achieve a spreadable consistency.
• When biscuits are cold, spread with lemon icing and decorate with the cachous.

Steps:

• Stir together the almonds, cinnamon, and lemon zest until combined.
• Beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Slowly sift in the confectioner's sugar, continuing to beat until the mixture is stiff. Set aside 1/3 cup of the egg white mixture for the glaze. Fold in the almond mixture.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C). Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a surface that has been sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. Using a 2 1/2-inch star cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and place them on the cookie sheets.
• To make the glaze, add the lemon juice to the reserved egg white mixture, stirring until smooth. Brush the tops of the cookies lightly with the glaze. (If the glaze starts to thicken, add a few more drops of lemon juice.)
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. When done, they will be light brown and soft in the center. Remove and cool on wire racks.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a food processor. Cut butter into pats and add to flour, then pulse 5 or 6 times until the mixture resembles rough crumbs. (Alternatively, cut butter into flour in the mixing bowl using a fork or a pastry cutter.) Return dough to bowl, add milk and stir with a fork until it forms a rough ball.
• Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and pat it down into a rough rectangle, about an inch thick. Fold it over and gently pat it down again. Repeat. Cover the dough loosely with a kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
• Gently pat out the dough some more, so that the rectangle is roughly 10 inches by 6 inches. Cut dough into biscuits using a floured glass or biscuit cutter. Do not twist cutter when cutting; this crimps the edges of the biscuit and impedes its rise.
• Place biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Put all the curd ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 5 mins. To check if it's ready, dip a wooden spoon in and blow on it gently. If a wave-like pattern forms, remove from the heat and sieve into a bowl. It will thicken more as it cools. Tip into a sterilised jar and leave to cool completely.
• Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Mix in the egg yolks and the vanilla extract, then add the flour, almonds and a pinch of salt. Work everything into a smooth dough with your hands, then wrap and put in the fridge for 1 hr.
• Heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/ gas 3. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of 4mm. Press out stars using the larger cutter, then make a hole in the middle of half of the biscuits with the smaller star cutter. Re-roll the excess, making sure you don't overwork the pastry, and stamp out more biscuits. Put the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, and bake for 10 mins until golden. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.
• Spread the lemon curd on the biscuits without a hole, and put a biscuit with a hole on top of each one. Dust the biscuits with icing sugar. Will keep in an airtight container for up to three days. Recipe adapted from Let it Snow by Agnes Prus (£7.99, Hardie Grant). Photographs © Frauke Antholz.