Melt-in-Your-Mouth Lemon and White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies, buttery, soft, and so easy to make. These shortbreads have a delicate zesty touch, and the white chocolate adds richness and sweetness. Serve them with your favourite hot drink, these are the best cookies no matter the season.
Shortbreads are my favourite biscuits/cookies when I have a nice cup of tea. And I have one often. For me, enjoying a cup of hot drink without a little treat to munch on should be against the law, really. I can't possibly go through the day without a little snack of some sort, and the best time for it is when I have my favourite drink, the English tea.
Shortbread cookies, or shortbread biscuits in the UK, are absolutely delicious. Buttery, rich, melting in your mouth, the kind of treat you know will make your day. Now, if even plain are amazing, how about we add some more flavour to them? Lemon is one of my favourite flavour no matter the season.
But with Easter coming, lemon becomes the nation favourite too. And wouldn't it be a shame not to use it? Now, how about we take these lemon shortbread cookies to the next level by dipping them in some luscious white chocolate? It's the ultimate treat, I am telling you! And dead easy to make!
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Ingredients used
- butter - at room temperature
- granulated sugar -plus extra 2 tablespoons for topping the cookies
- plain flour
- juice and zest from one lemon
- lemon extract
- white chocolate - for dipping the cookies
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- start by mixing the butter and sugar together until you get a smooth paste: this can only be achieved if the butter is at room temperature
- add the lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract, and flour, and mix well to bring the ingredients together into a dough
- cover the bowl with clingfilm, and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes
- roll the dough, and use a round cookie cutter (or a glass) to cut out rounds- depending on the size of your cookie cutter, you should get about 10-15 cookies
- sprinkle some granulated sugar on top of each cookie
- transfer the cookies on a large baking tray lined with non-stick paper, and bake in the preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 12-15 minutes, making sure the tray is on the middle rack in the oven
The cookies are ready when they are firm to touch, but still have a pale yellow colour - DO NOT LET THEM BROWN! (a little tinge around the edges is no big deal).
How to decorate the cookies
I decided to do dip the shortbreads in melted white chocolate and top them with some grated lemon zest - I thought they looked quite pretty. But there are lots of other ways to decorate them.
If you do go for the while chocolate, make sure you melt it in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water- this is by far the best way of melting any kind of chocolate. It melts gradually, and the chocolate stays just warm, rather than hot to touch. And it does not burn either.
You can also microwave it I suppose, but you have to be really careful, any extra second can result in badly burnt chocolate, so go for a few seconds at a time, rather than a longer time.
You can also just drizzle the melted chocolate over the shortbread cookies, rather than dip them in it, or cover them completely, it is up to you. Just leave the chocolate to set again, and you are good to go.
Other shortbread recipes
I have made shortbread cookies many times before, and experimented quite a bit with lots of flavours. The favourite cookies for Christmas are my Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies, such a perfect combo of flavours.
And then we have the Coconut Shortbread Cookie and, Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies which can be enjoyed any time of the year.
For these lemon shortbreads I have changed the technique a little, but the result is the same: some delicious cookies to lick your fingers clean.
If you’ve liked my LEMON SHORTBREAD COOKIES DIPPED IN WHITE CHOCOLATE or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Lemon and White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- 125 g butter, at room temperature
- 65 g granulated sugar (plus extra 2 tablespoons for topping the cookies)
- 185 g plain flour
- juice and zest from one lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 100 g white chocolate
Instructions
- In a bowl, add the butter and sugar, and mix well with a hand mixer until you get a smooth paste.
- Add the lemon extract, lemon zest and lemon juice, then the flour, and use your hands now to bring the ingredients together into a dough.
- Cover the bowl with clingfilm, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to the work surface, and use a rolling pin to roll it to about half a cm or ¼ inch thickness.
- Use a round cookie cutter or a glass to cut out rounds, depending on the size of your cutter you should get about 10-15 cookies.
- Transfer the cookies to a large baking tray lined with non-stick paper, and bake in the preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for about 12-15 minutes, making sure the tray goes onto the middle rack of the oven.
- The cookies are ready when they are firm to touch, but still a pale yellow , do not let them brown ( a little tinge on the edges is fine).
- Remove from the oven and leave them to cool down completely.
- To melt the chocolate, cut it into small pieces, and add to a bowl set over a pot of simmering water.
- When the cookies have cooled down, dip them into the melted chocolate - either all the way through or just half like I did, and leave to cool until the chocolate is set.
Notes
- If you'd like to see the ingredients listed in cups and ounces, please check the US Customary Link.
- Also, the amount of ingredients changes depending on the servings, so click on the number listed to change it to the number you prefer.
Elizabeth Branch Howell
Delicious. Everyone loved them.
Daniela Apostol
I am glad you liked them!