Lemon animal biscuits

Never work with children or animals? Pah! We had a great time making these Easter biscuits. In fact I’d say I might have had more fun than Audrey, Sienna, Joe and Benjamin. For me the most important thing to remember for baking with kids is to be well prepared (as in don’t leave finding the baking trays until you already have the snakes and dinosaurs made) as kids don’t have huge amounts of patience.

Also to choose recipes that are quick to make, quick to bake and are ready to eat before the end of the baking playdate. There’s nothing worse than a 4 year old being told their baking booty isn’t ready to eat until the next day. This biscuit dough is very forgiving so hot little hands who want to squish and re-roll can happily do so. Oh and the lemon flavour isn’t too overwhelming either so perfect for if your little one is fussy. Makes a fair few… depends whether you’re a snake person or a dinosaur person.

Oh and there’s a video too featuring lots of cute kids and cute biscuits. You can watch it here or just click on the film below.

All comments gratefully received. I love reading them.

One year ago: Octonauts cupcakes  and Walnut, fudge and Fleur de Sel cookies

Two years ago: Mutter paneer and Hot cross biscotti

Lemon animal biscuits

Ingredients:

• 100g salted butter, room temperature
• 150g soft brown sugar
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 225g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• zest of 1 lemon
• a few dried cranberries, sliced thinly, for tongues
• white silver pearls, for eyes
• chocolate drops, raisins or sprinkles to decorate (optional)

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and smooth. Stir in the egg with a tablespoon of the flour. Stir in the remaining flour, baking powder and lemon zest and mix until fully combined. Roll small pieces of dough into shapes with your hands to make animals from snakes to butterflies to snails to dinosaurs and decorate with the cranberry slivers and pearls. Pop on baking trays and leave to harden up in the fridge for 30 minutes – this stops the biscuits from spreading too much. In the meantime preheat the oven to 180ºC, fan 160ºC, gas 4 and then bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly golden. Leave to cool completely before moving from the baking trays.

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