PERFECT CITRUSY POLENTA BICCIES

These have to be the best biscuits I've ever made. Yup, I'm going to open with that line. It's true though, these polenta based biscuits which are flavored with fresh lemon and clementine juice and zest are to die for. They look amazing with their little cracked tops and they have the most incredible texture of any biscuit I've ever made thanks to the addition of the polenta into the dough mix. I was in love on first bite and quite frankly I don't see a reason why I would ever have to buy a shop bought biscuit ever again!

Clementines might seem a bit random in the recipe but that is because I had some lying around left over from Christmas time and you can probably pick some up really cheap now as well if you're quick. Clementines are quite small so if you do want to use something else instead make sure its two citrus fruits of a similar size or just one big one. You could use oranges, lime or even grapefruit if you're a weirdo. Whatever you decide to use just remember that you don't necessarily need to use all the juice in the recipe below, just enough to bind the dough together.

Recipe below will make roughly 50 biscuits. Unless you have a massive oven you will probably need two baking trays too. Non-stick baking mats are great for this recipe too so you can use them instead of baking trays if you have a couple at home (if not, do buy some as they are really good for biscuit baking!).

Citrus Polenta Biscuits

200g Butter

100g Polenta

 200g Golden Caster Sugar

300g Self Raising Flour

Zest And Juice Of 2 Lemons

Zest And Juice Of 2 Clementines

1. Ovens on! Heat your oven up to 180 degrees (160 fan) and grease and line two large baking trays (as big as you can fit in your oven!) with baking paper.
2. Add the butter, polenta, sugar, flour and the zest of 1 lemon and 1 clementine into a food processor and blitz until well combined to form a breadcrumb like mixture.
3. Continue to blitz whilst slowly adding in the juice of the lemons and clementines, alternating between the two as you do until the mixture comes together to form a dough ball (you may not need all the juice for this!). Tip the mixture out until a very lightly floured work surface and knead slightly to bring all the mixture together.
4. Take roughly 20g of the dough, roll into a little ball in your hands and place onto the baking tray. Repeat with all the dough, spacing the dough balls roughly 5cm apart on the baking tray until all the dough has been used. If you run out of space don't worry, keep the dough and reuse the baking trays after you've baked your first batches.
5. Press the dough balls down gently with your thumb to create a small crater in each one and then sprinkle over the remaining lemon and clementine zest. If you have any sugar left as well then sprinkle some of that over too.
6. To ensure an even bake, pop one of the trays into the centre of your oven to bake for 10 minutes until the biscuits have spread slightly and gone slightly golden on top. Remove the tray from the oven and then repeat with the second tray. Leave the biscuits to cool on the trays before you remove them to allow them to firm up.

With that, you now have a beautiful big plate of biscuits to get your chops around and your kitchen will have the most beautiful freshly baked biscuit aroma wafting around it. These biscuits are so buttery and soft that they just melt in your mouth leaving that luscious citrus flavor to dance around your mouth. They are great for dunking in a cup of tea and you might think that nearly 50 biscuits is loads however after two days these bad boys have already all been gobbled up us and our friends at work; they are that moreish (bang goes the new year's resolution as well!). They are just perfect!