Lemon and pistachio shortbread biscuits
- Published: 30 Mar 23
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
Crumbly, buttery shortbread is lightened with lemon and given a nutty richness thanks to plenty of pistachios. The perfect teatime treat.
Looking for more sweet treats to dunk into your tea? Look this way…
- Makes about 34
- Hands-on time 40 min, plus 2 hours 30 min chilling, oven time 20 min
Ingredients
- 80g shelled pistachios
- 240g icing sugar
- ½ tsp fine salt
- 250g plain flour
- 50g cornflour
- Finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon
- 225g unsalted butter, chilled and chopped into cubes
- 1 medium free-range egg yolk
Specialist kit
- 5cm round cutter
Method
- Put the pistachios in a dry frying pan over a medium heat and toast for 5 minutes until fragrant, then transfer to a food processor and whizz into a crumb. Pour out half and set aside for later, then add 90g of the icing sugar, the salt, both flours and lemon zest to the processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse again to create a breadcrumb-like consistency.
- Add the egg yolk and pulse again to bring everything together into a dough. You may need to add a small splash of cold water to help things along. Tip the dough onto a work surface and bring together, trying your best not to overwork the mixture. Wrap well and chill for at least 2 hours.
- Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper. Unwrap the dough and roll it between 2 sheets of baking paper until it’s 5-7mm thick (work in batches if you need to). Use a cutter to cut out around 34 discs, transferring them to the lined trays as you work. Chill the trays in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 160°C fan/gas 4. Bake the biscuits for 18-20 minutes until light golden, then leave to cool on the trays.
- Meanwhile, put the remaining icing sugar in a bowl and add the lemon juice, 1 tsp at a time, until you reach a pouring consistency. Dip half of each biscuit in the icing, then sprinkle with the reserved pistachios. Return to the trays for another 20 minutes to set.
- Recipe from March 2023 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 126kcals
- Fat
- 7g (3.7g saturated)
- Protein
- 1.4g
- Carbohydrates
- 14g (7.2g sugars)
- Fibre
- 0.5g
- Salt
- 0.1g
delicious. tips
Play around with other nut and citrus fruit combos – orange and hazelnut and almond and lime both work well.
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