Lemon Biscuits (Cookies)

Lemon Biscuits (Cookies)

Lemon Biscuits (cookies) both rounded and flattened

Today's recipe for a light little cookie comes to us from Mrs. Beeton 's Book of Household Management of 1861 (London).

The Original  Recipe

LEMON BISCUITS

1743.    INGREDIENTS – 1–1/4 lb. of flour, 3/4 lb. of loaf sugar, 6 oz. of fresh butter, 4 eggs, 1 oz. of lemon-peel, 2 dessertspoonfuls of lemon-juice.

Mode.—Rub the flour into the butter; stir in the pounded sugar and very finely-minced lemon-peel, and when these ingredients are thoroughly mixed, add the eggs, which should be previously well whisked, and the lemon-juice. Beat the mixture well for a minute or two, then drop it from a spoon on to a buttered tin, about 2 inches apart, as the cakes will spread when they get warm; place the tin in the oven, and bake the cakes of a pale brown from 15 to 20 minutes.

Time—15 to 20 minutes.  Average cost, 1s. 6d.

Seasonable at any time.

The Method

This is a rather straightforward recipe, although there are some period and cultural issues to overcome.    First, of course, is the title - "biscuits" are the British term for cookie, "Cookie" comes from the Dutch and is part of our American heritage as a mixed Colonial country.  So, put aside all thoughts of a lemon breakfast biscuit!

As fans of The Great British Baking Show know, the judges expect a biscuit to snap and be evenly crisp.  What is unclear to the modern cook is how old that concept is; what exactly are the expectations of a baker in 1860?  I baked this cookie two different ways and neither came out crisp and snappy.

I have a kitchen scale, so measuring the ingredients was simple for me.  I have added my equivalents to the modern version.

The technique of this biscuit/cookie is very different from anything I make in modern days.  A modern cookie usually starts with the fats, sugars, and eggs, to which are added the liquids and dry ingredients.  This starts out more like a modern coffee cake, rubbing the flour into the butter.

Rubbing butter into flour is fairly unusual in modern American baking, although the technique has continued in British baking.  I watched several videos to learn what to do - I was not what I was expecting.   In brief, the flour is put into a large bowl.  The butter, which should be very cold, is cut into little bits then added to the flour.  Using clean hands, you lift the flour and butter in little bits and rub them between your fingers until all the butter is finely incorporated.  Rubbing produces a finer fat dispersal than cutting, and lifting the flour and butter adds air.  

Cold butter cut into bits, ready to be rubbed into the flour

It was unclear if Mrs. Beeton expected minced peel - perhaps candied? - so I chose to grate my lemon.  One ounce of peel was one lemon's worth. although that will not be true for every lemon.  

I mixed the sugar and lemon zest together to ensure that the zest was evenly dispersed throughout the sugar. I then stirred the lemon sugar into the butter/flour.

Sugar and lemon zest mixed together

There is no chemical leavening in this recipe, so any lightness comes from the eggs.  I beat the 4 eggs until they were rather foamy.

Well whisked eggs

  I added the eggs and the lemon juice to the dry ingredients.   Mrs. Beeton specifies two dessertspoonsful of lemon juice; I simply juiced my one lemon and added all the resultant juice (it was more that 2 t).   Stir well to incorporate all the dry ingredients.

Dry ingredients incorporated into the eggs and lemon zest

Mrs. Beeton says that the dough should be beaten well for a minute or two.  I thought I would be smart and use my modern hand mixer, but found that the dough was far too heavy.  I turned to my wooden porridge spurtle and valiantly mixed away.  (It was tiring!).  I felt this step should not be overlooked, since incorporated air is the sole leavening agent.

Dough after being beaten a minute or so

Shaping the biscuit/cookie.  Mrs. Beeton says the dough should be dropped by spoonfuls on to a well-greased sheet.   I tried shaping the dough in two different ways - in each case, my quantity was a rounded teaspoonful.     First, I rolled the spoonful into a ball and let that bake.  In the second, option, I gently flattened the rounded balls with the bottom of a glass (no sugar).  

I set my oven to 350 degrees F, since that is fairly standard for many cookies (you note that Mrs. Beeton gives no indication of oven temperature at all).     The time varied based on each shaping method.  The rolled balls took approximately 15 minutes, while the flattened ones baked in roughly 8 minutes.  In neither case did the dough spread while baking.

Yield:  Roughly 4 1/2 dozen

Lemon Cookies (modern version)

1 1/4  lb flour (a bit more than 3 c)

3/4  lb white sugar (approximately 1 1/2 c)

6 oz unsalted butter (3/4 c)

4 eggs

1 oz grated lemon zest

juice of one lemon

Put the flour into a large bowl and rub the cold butter into it, being sure to aerate it, until the butter is finely dispersed. 

Stir the lemon zest into the sugar, then mix the sugar mixture into the flour and butter.

Whisk the eggs well in a separate bowl.

Add the whisked eggs and the lemon juice to the dry ingredients.  Stir to mix, then beat hard with a wooden spoon or rod.  Or, use a stand mixer for a minute.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Well grease your cookie sheets.

Take dough by rounded teaspoonsful and roll gently into balls.  You may chose to flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass, or you may leave them as is.  

Bake until done, just barely browned.   For the balls, approximately 15 minutes, for flattened cookies, approximately 8 minutes.

Remove to a wire rack to cool.

My Evaluation

Lovely light cookies, but the lemon flavor is subtle.  It's there, but not as pronounced as modern taste might want.  I would consider increasing the amount of lemon zest next time.