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 81-100

  • Binder photo pokerface79

    26 August 2011

    pokerface79 commented on this recipe

    made these today with my boys we made the plain an the chocolate ones really pleased with the out come as we have never made cookies before fab kitchen smells amazing yum yum :) xx

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  • Binder photo liloleme

    01 September 2011

    liloleme commented on this recipe

    Excellent basic recipe! For the people who want to roll the dough out and use cutters, you need to chill it for at least an hour. By creamin the butter you are making it very soft. Putting the dough in the fridge will firm the butter up. I always roll the dough between two sheets of cling film so I don't have to use any flour to roll it out, because when more flour is added with each roll out the texture of the biscuits changes.

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  • Binder photo liloleme

    01 September 2011

    liloleme rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo JordanMac

    02 September 2011

    JordanMac commented on this recipe

    does it really make 30 biscuits???LIERSSSSSSSSSS!!!I MADE 115!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOLOLOLOLOL

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  • Binder photo odette

    05 September 2011

    odette rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    I had to practically double the flour content as with the amounts stated it just made a sticky mess and didn't go to dough at all. Nice tasting biscuits at the end though.

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  • Binder photo chanelle

    10 September 2011

    chanelle rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    oh myyy...just did this recipe...the basic dough, but added some chocolate chips.....amazing...so simple..yest so yummy...

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  • Binder photo voteforpedro

    20 September 2011

    voteforpedro rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious!! I made these to bring into work but can't stop eating them, oops!!

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  • Binder photo Cobhamden

    25 September 2011

    Cobhamden rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Deliciously short biscuits!

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  • Binder photo mlb

    25 September 2011

    mlb rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    OMG these biscuits are lovely. We made the chocolate ones and can honestly say we will be making them again. :)

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  • Binder photo bobby

    28 September 2011

    bobby rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Split batch into added fudge pieces to one half and cherries and almond to the other half, Adults and teenagers loved them

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  • Binder photo Reshma

    08 October 2011

    Reshma rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    loved it!!!

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  • Binder photo Sarah-Lou <3

    08 October 2011

    Sarah-Lou <3 commented on this recipe

    This recipe is fab! I added banana and subbed some of the flour for cocoa! My cookies taste awesome, second batch is in the oven now! I will defo be using this recipe again, in fact, its in my binder =)

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  • Binder photo crunchy

    27 October 2011

    crunchy commented on this recipe

    At our day centre for the disabled, we slightly altered this recipe to make biscuits which we sold to raise money for cancer research. It was a spectacular success!! You can see the results on our website here; http://www.douglasbadercentre.co.uk/novelty-biscuits.html Thanks for the great recipe!!

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  • Binder photo Lisa R

    31 October 2011

    Lisa R rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo Lisa R

    31 October 2011

    Lisa R commented on this recipe

    I usually make a Christmas cake about every two or three years, that�s my limit of baking! This year I was determined not to waste the rest of the flour and dried fruits etc. so looked around for some biscuit recipes to use up what was left. This seemed pretty simple so thought I�d give it a go. I made the mixture as it says then split it into roughly two halves. One half I put in the fridge and the other half I split again. One quarter, I left plain but stuck some currants and glace cherries on the top, the second quarter I mixed (more like kneaded) in about a tablespoon of peanut butter and then sprinkled chopped almonds on top. I baked them for about 20 minutes, they spread quite a bit and were still really soft when I took them out but hardened up after I left them to cool for a while.

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  • Binder photo Lisa R

    31 October 2011

    Lisa R commented on this recipe

    ...Continued from above... I then got the rest of the mixture out of the fridge and mixed in currants, raisins, glace cherries and a tablespoon of mixed spice. I tried to make them a bit smaller and thicker so that they wouldn�t spread so much. That worked a bit better but again took about 20 minutes and were still really soft when I took them out. By the time they�d cooled down they were a nice cookie texture. I took them in to work for the guinea pigs, ops sorry guys ;-) and they seemed to like them. Personally I think the nutty ones could�ve done with a little bit more peanut butter and the mixed spice ones a little bit less spice. Not bad for a first attempt though.

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  • Binder photo Lisa R

    31 October 2011

    Lisa R commented on this recipe

    Grr, silly copy and paste has put in odd symbols, hope the notes make sense still.

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  • Binder photo DaisyCupcakery

    01 November 2011

    DaisyCupcakery commented on this recipe

    This is the best base biscuit recipe there is. We used to bake these at school aged 9 and the second I bite into these I'm instantly transported back to those sweet ole days. Easy enough for children to bake with very little assistance. Try them plain at first (best in my opinion) then you can add whatever you like. We add cranberry and White chocolate at Christmas, Rose essence is yummy in summer etc. The possibilities are endless. =)

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  • Binder photo DaisyCupcakery

    01 November 2011

    DaisyCupcakery rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo rae

    27 November 2011

    rae rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Perfect and easy to make! I made them with roasted hazelnuts and milk chocolate! Did the roll in clingfilm method and slice 1cm thick!! They didnt hang around long, a total hit!!

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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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