Basic biscuit dough

Basic biscuit dough

This simple recipe for cookie dough can be adapted to suit your tastes- experiment with different shapes and flavours

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes about 30 cookies

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 5 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian

Method

  1. Mix 250g softened butter and 140g caster sugar in a large bowl with a wooden spoon, then add 1 egg yolk and 2 tsp vanilla extract and briefly beat to combine. Sift over 300g plain flour and stir until the mixture is well combined - you might need to get your hands in at the end to give everything a really good mix and press the dough together.
Try

Little lemony fingers

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Make the Basic biscuit dough, adding zest 2 lemons to the sugar and butter mixture. After chilling, roll out the dough to a rough rectangle, then use a pizza cutter or knife to divide the dough into long strips, about 10 x 2cm. Bake as above. For the icing, mix 140g sifted icing sugar with 4-5 tbsp lemon juice and the zest 1 lemon. When biscuits are cool, half dip them into the icing, then dry on a rack.

Triple chocolate treats - American-style biscuits

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Make a batch of Basic biscuit dough, substituting 50g cocoa powder for 50g plain flour. Add 85g white chocolate chunks and 85g milk chocolate chunks, then mix well. Scoop the mixture into 12 large balls onto a non-stick baking sheet. Space well apart, as they will spread. Flatten slightly, bake for 12-15 mins, then transfer the soft, warm cookies to a cooling rack to firm up.

Crushed almond rounds

Prepare the Basic biscuit dough, substituting 2 tsp almond extract for the vanilla. Shape the dough into a large oval log, about 8-10cm in diameter, then roll in 100g finely chopped whole blanched almonds, pressing the nuts onto all sides. Carefully wrap in cling film, then chill or freeze. To cook, heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4, then slice off 1cm thick ovals with a sharp knife. Bake on a non-stick baking tray for 12 mins until pale gold, then transfer to a cooling rack to firm up.

Per serving

118 kcalories, protein 1g, carbohydrate 13g, fat 7 g, saturated fat 4g, fibre 0g, sugar 5g, salt 0.13 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2007.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 61-80

  • Binder photo hutchy42

    07 November 2010

    hutchy42 commented on this recipe

    lovely reciepe, nice and quick to make and also yummy..next time will try some slight variations.Enjoy!!

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  • Binder photo Clarecoxy

    03 December 2010

    Clarecoxy rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very easy and quick to make and very tasty :)

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  • Binder photo Sarahchef

    05 December 2010

    Sarahchef commented on this recipe

    I am a complete novice at baking and this was great!! I added coco powder and presto they were even better!!! Just 25g - 25g of flour. I didn't roll them flat so myn were quite thick therefor took 30 mins gsm 4. They were also a teeny bit crumbly. But I'm sure it was my doing not a fault in the guide. Not bad at all for a first attempt. Add a dusting of icing sugar to add to taste.

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  • Binder photo Pallypudding

    22 January 2011

    Pallypudding rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    It was a really effective recipe, it produced some really nice home made buttery biscuits.

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  • Binder photo kesizzle

    23 January 2011

    kesizzle rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I've just pulled these out of the oven (I did the basic recipe) and my kitchen smells divine! A little nibble of one and they taste great! I'll definitely try some variations next time. Maybe some ginger? Or dip one half in chocolate. Who knows?!

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  • Binder photo ElianeSweety

    24 January 2011

    ElianeSweety rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I just made it with my little girl. They taste very nice for a basic recipe. I use just 200g of Flora and it was really enough. The almonds one was very tasty! I am definitely making it again and again. I love the possibility of variations. I want to try with dry plums and raisins, coconut, chocolate, big chunks of almonds... Again and again and again... :-)

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  • Binder photo Little Peahead

    14 February 2011

    Little Peahead rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I baked some heart shaped biscuits with my 3 year old for Valentines day and they were really quick and easy. The basic biscuit dough is lovely and buttery, just how I like it. Will definitely make variations of my own in the future. This time my son just had fun decorating them with icing and sugar stars etc.

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  • Binder photo JoJohns

    21 February 2011

    JoJohns commented on this recipe

    These biscuits are very easy to make, roll out, cut and cook! Simple recipe and delicious. Would definitely recommend.

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  • Binder photo JoJohns

    21 February 2011

    JoJohns rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Georgiaspirit3

    28 February 2011

    Georgiaspirit3 commented on this recipe

    This is a brilliant recipe. whats so good about it is that its so basic you can adapt it in so many ways. BTW if you add a whole egg instead of just the yolk you have to add way for flour and that makes the finished dough floury and dry.

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  • Binder photo denys

    16 March 2011

    denys rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    wonderfully versatile recipe. I usually make the lemon kind (without icing) but made empire biscuits last week using the basic dough. Great success at work

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  • Binder photo The Fox and Snail

    22 March 2011

    The Fox and Snail rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Lovely! I added some Coconut Shavings and made pretty much Home-made Nice Biscuits. YUM!

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  • Binder photo pasta princess ;)

    26 April 2011

    pasta princess ;) commented on this recipe

    Love these biscuits!! Amazing. Plus, the recipe is so simple and easy to follow, you can do flavour variations and such : ) I'm thinking of doing a raspberry and white chocolate version of the heart shaped biscuit in the photo above (with the lines of chocolate over it).

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  • Binder photo simone

    19 May 2011

    simone rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Made the basic recipe and they are delicious. Found the dough quite sticky and had to put down alot of flour to roll it out.

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  • Binder photo Babs1980

    10 June 2011

    Babs1980 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I love this recipe - it's so simple and quick! I make lemony versions by just adding lemon curd to the mixture.

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  • Binder photo kwhitmore

    13 July 2011

    kwhitmore rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo thegirlnextdoor

    17 July 2011

    thegirlnextdoor rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    I found this recipe relatively simple but it was VERY vague and I would not reccomend this to anyone or use it again. My biscuits turned out flavourless and bland and a RUBBISH texture, the instructions were very hard to understand. I think this recipe was awful and I was better off without it.

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  • Binder photo COOKIE CRUMBLE

    21 July 2011

    COOKIE CRUMBLE commented on this recipe

    I only used 200g of butter, ( I can't belive it's not butter light). I did roll it out but had to keep applying lots of flour so it didn;t stick to rolling pin. They seemed to take a while in the oven so i turned it up to number 7. They were cooking fine and took some out and put some more in but the second lot were a bit burnt as I didn;t keep my eye on them. I grated some white chocolate on some of them and spinkled some canderel sweetner sugar on the others. tasted great. Although it's just cheaper to go buy a packet and there's no washing up either lol. daughter loved them and kitchen smells nice too :) Anyone who says these are horrible or hard to do isn;t following the recipe correctly as a fool could make these biscuits. So easy!

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  • Binder photo Bifa

    28 July 2011

    Bifa rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    really easy to do, i just added extra bits into the mixture like chocolate and flaked almonds...it works really well

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  • Binder photo sassnech

    26 August 2011

    sassnech commented on this recipe

    PLEASE HELP ME. This is the third time I have tried to make this. I am following the recipe to a T but my mixture turns out a sticky gooey mess and not what I thought would be a dough. Where am I going wrong

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes about 30 cookies

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 5 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 250g butter , softened
  • 140g caster sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 300g plain flour
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Per serving

118 kcalories, protein 1g, carbohydrate 13g, fat 7 g, saturated fat 4g, fibre 0g, sugar 5g, salt 0.13 g

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