Cookies always go down well at our summer BBQ/party. For one thing, you don’t need a plate to eat them, so you can keep drinking without any awkward juggling of crockery. Always a good thing with alcohol-diminished dexterity! Secondly, and most importantly, no one will notice if you go back for seconds–or thirds–but if you have a huge slab of cake or cheesecake, then people will notice.

These white chocolate and lemon cookies disappeared in double-quick time once the locusts our friends descended, leaving Dave distraught at his lack of cookies. So, I kindly whipped up a second batch for him the next day!

Normally I make the classic combination of white chocolate and macadamia–Dave’s favourite–but I fancied something a bit different… Lemon and white chocolate are happy bedfellows, so I figured that they’d make good cookies. And so they did.

Interestingly, not all of the white chocolate chunks firmed up after baking, so here and there in the cookies were little melty pockets that tasted just like lemon curd. Mmmm… yummy!

White Chocolate and Lemon Cookies

Makes about 25.

You can use white chocolate chips if you prefer, but I find that the varying sizes of chocolate chunks make the cookies seem more luxurious. Also, if you have lemon oil then you can use that instead of the lemon extract and zest. But do go carefully! Start off with 1/4 teaspoon and taste before adding more.

110g unsalted butter, softened
100g caster sugar
55g soft brown sugar
pinch of salt
zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 large egg, beaten
170g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
200g white chocolate, chopped into chunks

Preheat oven to 190C (fan-forced 170C). Line a baking sheet with a teflon sheet, silpat or greased baking parchment.

Cream butter, caster sugar, soft brown sugar and salt together until fluffy. Beat in the lemon zest and lemon extract. Taste and add more extract if it’s not lemony enough for you. Beat in the egg until well combined.

Stir the flour and bicarbonate of soda together then sift over the creamed mixture. Mix together until just combined, add the chocolate chunks and continue mixing until well combined.

Drop well-spaced heaped teaspoonfuls of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes until the cookies are pale gold and just beginning to brown round the edges. They should be a little puffy, too. Cool on the sheet for one minute then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.