Meyer Lemon Polenta Biscuits

Lemon Polenta Biscuits get an addictive, toothsome crunch from the polenta in the dough. Their yellow color is sure to bring a ray of sunshine, too.

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I just returned from a trip to visit my in-laws in shoreline Connecticut. The nutmeg state may not be known as a foodie Mecca, but it offers plenty to love, culinarily speaking.

The region is famous for its buttery hot lobster rolls. And don’t forget the clam fritters. They’re essentially savory donuts—batter balls studded with plump pieces of clam, deep-fried, and dunked in tartar sauce.

And grinders, East Coast-style submarine sandwiches piled with meatballs, sauce, and cheese. Or with fried chicken cutlets, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, and creamy mayo.

And the pizza, oh the pizza. Like Pepe’s White Clam Pizza. Real, coal-fired brick oven-baked, thin-crust, Neapolitan-style pizza, exactly the way pizza should be.

But the produce, especially in March before the farmers’ markets open for the season, leaves much to be desired. Trips to Stop & Shop in search of salad ingredients filled me with the painful ache of homesickness.

So I was relieved to return home to sunny California to find the Meyer lemon trees in my neighborhood heavy with the sweet fruit. Hungry for some fresh-picked vitamin C, I nabbed several off a tree down the block (heh, I just took ’em without asking. There were so many, I’m sure no one noticed).

With my stolen lemons, I scurried home to make a batch of these crunchy Lemon Polenta Biscuits adapted from a recipe by Jamie Oliver.

The polenta gives these Lemon Polenta Biscuits a toothsome crunch and their bright yellow color is like sunshine on a plate. Ahhh, it’s good to be home.

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Meyer Lemon Polenta Biscuits

Robin Donovan

Adapted from a recipe for Orange and Polenta Biscuits by Jamie Oliver, which appeared in Food & Wine. I substituted Meyer lemon zest for the orange zest and I love how the bright lemon flavor plays off of the sunshine yellow color of these crunchy cookies.

Makes about 36 cookies.

5 from 5 votes

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Ingredients

  

• ▢ ¾ cups 1 ½ sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• ▢ 2/3 cup sugar
• ▢ 1 ½ cups raw polenta
• ▢ 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ Grated zest of 4 Meyer lemons
• ▢ Pinch of salt
• ▢ 2 large eggs

Instructions

 

• In a food processor, combine the polenta, butter, sugar, flour, and salt and process until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
• Add the zest and eggs and process very briefly, just until the dough bunches up together.
• Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for an hour (or longer).
• Preheat oven to 375º F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Form the dough into small balls, about 1-inch in diameter, and place on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes until the edges are golden brown.
• Slide the parchment, cookies and all, onto a rack to cool.

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