Everyday dinners
Four-ingredient gluten-free biscuits
Buttery lemon biscuits made with gluten-free flour, butter, sugar and a lemon, shaped by hand without rolling.
These four-ingredient biscuits get their lemon flavour from both zest and juice. Shape the dough straight onto the tray, so there is no extra flour for rolling and no icing to make.
Makes 16 biscuits, or eight servings of two. This recipe is in development and has not been kitchen-tested.
The recipe
Four-ingredient gluten-free biscuits
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 18 min
- Total*
- 38 min
- Makes
- 8 servings
*Estimated development timings. Allow an additional 30 minutes for chilling and approximately 30 minutes for cooling, including 10 minutes standing on the tray. Elapsed time is approximately 98 minutes when allowing 18 minutes for baking.
Ingredients
Tick things off as you go.
For the biscuits
Equipment
- Use digital kitchen scales and a measuring spoon.
- Use a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon.
- Use a fine grater and a lemon juicer.
- Use a large baking tray lined with baking parchment.
- Use a fork, a fish slice and a wire cooling rack.
Let’s make it.
- 01
Get ready
Wash your hands and clean the worktop and utensils, removing any crumbs or flour from other baking. Line the tray with baking parchment. Finely grate the yellow lemon zest, avoiding the white pith, then squeeze and measure 15 ml juice. Check that the butter dents easily when pressed but has no melted patches.
- 02
Mix the butter
Beat the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest with a wooden spoon until evenly combined and creamy. Stop when there are no separate lumps of butter; there is no need to beat the mixture until fluffy.
- 03
Bring the dough together
Stir in the gluten-free flour and measured lemon juice, then gently squeeze the mixture together by hand. It should form a soft dough that holds together when pressed, with no loose flour at the bottom of the bowl. If crumbly, keep pressing briefly to distribute the butter rather than adding more flour. Do not taste raw dough, as gluten-free flour also needs thorough cooking.
- 04
Shape and chill
Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, approximately 29 g each. Roll gently into balls and flatten on the lined tray into discs about 6 cm wide and 8 mm thick, leaving at least 2 cm between them. Press any cracked edges together and prick each biscuit with a fork. Chill for 30 minutes, until firm to a light touch. Wash your hands and clean utensils and surfaces after handling the raw dough.
- 05
Bake the biscuits
Towards the end of chilling, heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas 4. Bake on the middle shelf for approximately 12–18 minutes, checking first at 12 minutes and then every 2 minutes. Remove when the tops look dry and the edges are just turning pale golden, with no wet-looking dough in the centres; do not wait for the whole biscuit to turn golden. If these signs are not present at 18 minutes, continue in 2-minute intervals, checking each time. The biscuits will still be soft and fragile while hot, so do not keep baking just to make them firm.
- 06
Let them firm up
Leave the biscuits on the tray for 10 minutes, until firm enough to lift without bending. Transfer carefully to a wire rack and cool for approximately 20 minutes more. They are ready to serve or pack away when the centres and undersides feel completely cool.
Ingredient checks
Use a labelled gluten-free plain flour blend and check butter, sugar and any substitutes for gluten-free suitability and allergen warnings. For someone with coeliac disease, use clean equipment, fresh baking parchment and butter uncontaminated by bread crumbs. Keep wheat flour and its dust away from the preparation area.
Allergens: Contains milk from butter.; No other UK declarable allergens are intentionally included when using a rice-and-starch flour blend, but check every ingredient label for allergens and cross-contact warnings.; Some gluten-free flour blends contain gluten-free wheat starch, which must still be declared as wheat and is unsuitable for someone with a wheat allergy..
Make it work for you
For an orange version, replace the lemon zest and 15 ml lemon juice with finely grated orange zest and 15 ml orange juice.
For a dairy-free version, try the same weight of a firm dairy-free baking block suitable for gluten-free baking; avoid spreadable or reduced-fat products, and check for soya or other allergens. This variation has not been kitchen-tested.
Do not replace the flour blend weight for weight with coconut flour, almond flour or a single rice flour, as they absorb moisture and bind differently.
For another day
Once completely cool, keep the biscuits in an airtight container in a cool, dry place and eat within three days for best texture; this storage period has not been tested for this recipe.
Freeze cooled biscuits in a sealed container with baking parchment between layers for up to one month for best quality. Thaw only the quantity needed, keeping them covered until defrosted. Freezing quality has not been tested.
Follow any stricter storage instructions on ingredient packaging and discard biscuits showing mould or an unusual smell.
Exploding food
What goes in.
The ingredients, seen a little differently. This image is an illustration of the main ingredients; use the written recipe for the full list and quantities.
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