My gorgeous lemon biscuits are a fluffy baking powder biscuit recipe with lemon zest and lemon juice. These delicious, slightly sweet, homemade lemon biscuits are made with butter, ricotta, and milk, and have a sugar crust on top.
With a touch of bright citrus, these easy homemade biscuits are a slightly sweet variation on my savory Dill Ricotta Biscuits. This sugar-topped recipe is perfect for spreading with butter, lemon curd, jam, or using as the delicious base for strawberry short cake!
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Why these are great lemon biscuits
Tender, buttery biscuits are hard to resist. Here's why you'll keep this recipe in your back pocket, and bake it all the time!
- Classic baking powder biscuit texture, with flaky layers.
- Makes a great base for Strawberry Short Cake!
- Easy to make, so the kids can even help.
- The perfect lemon flavor from both juice and zest.
- A fresh take on a classic homemade biscuit.
Expert Tips
As a professional cook and recipe developer I know a thing or two about quick breads and biscuits. Here are some helpful tips.
- Keep It Chilled: Before you even think about mixing your ingredients, make sure your butter, milk, and ricotta are chilled. Cold ingredients promote flakiness, and more tender biscuits.
- Zest with Zest: When adding lemon zest, don't hold back! Zest is where a lot of the vibrant lemon flavor comes from. Use a fine grater and zest directly into the mixing bowl if you want. Aim for at least the tablespoon called for, for that bright, lemony flavor.
- Mind Your Mixing: When incorporating the milk and ricotta into the biscuit dough, do it gently and swiftly. Over-mixing can lead to tough biscuits. Use a light hand and mix until just combined.
- Handle with Care: Once you've made the dough, handle it as little as possible. The warmth from your hands can melt the butter, leading to less fluffy biscuits. Use a gentle touch when pressing out and cutting, and go easy on the kneading when bringing the scraps together for more biscuits.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: No need to sift the flour, but fluff it with a spoon before carefully measuring so you don't get a densely-packed cup of flour.
- Baking powder: Acts as a leavening agent, helping the biscuits to rise.
- Baking soda: Another leavening agent that reacts with acid to create carbon dioxide bubbles. Very technical, but with all the luscious butter, we need some help!
- Granulated sugar: Adds sweetness to the biscuits. Can be substituted with brown sugar for a different flavor if you want.
- Salt: Enhances the flavor of the biscuits. Use a fine salt, no kosher, so the measurement is accurate.
- Unsalted butter: Make sure your butter is cold, and cut it into pieces before blending with the dry ingredients. Can be substituted with salted butter, but adjust salt in the recipe by using about ¼ teaspoon less.
- Milk: Provides moisture to the dough. Can be substituted with a non-dairy alternative like almond milk for lactose-free options.
- Part-skim ricotta: Adds moisture, richness, and a creamy texture to the biscuits. Can be substituted with full-fat ricotta or slightly blended cottage cheese for similar results. I haven't tried non-dairy alternatives here.
- Lemon zest: Infuses the biscuits with a bright, citrusy flavor and aroma. Can be substituted with orange zest for a different citrus flavor.
- Fresh lemon juice: Provides acidity to activate the baking soda and enhance the lemon flavor.
Pro Tip
To ensure light and fluffy baking powder biscuits, handle the dough as little as possible and use cold ingredients, such as chilled butter and milk, to create steam pockets during baking, resulting in a tender crumb.
How to make these biscuits
Follow these step-by-step photos. You'll find all the ingredient amounts and timing in the recipe card below.
- At least 30 minutes before baking, heat the oven to 375ºF to ensure it's at the right temperature for the biscuits.
- In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients to break it up. Do this until the mixture has some butter pieces the size of small peas.
- In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Zest the lemon using a rasp grater, then juice it for the lemon juice called for.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix. Be careful not to over-mix, just stir until almost all the dry bits are captured. Then use your hands to pull the dough together.
- On a lightly floured surface with floured hands, pat out dough in 1-inch thickness.
- Use a 3-inch round biscuit cutter to cut biscuits close together so there aren't many edges. Then gather the scraps together.
- Gently work the scraps back together. Cut a few more biscuits from the scraps.
- Place biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet then brush with extra milk.
- Sprinkle with extra sugar and lemon zest if desired, then bake until golden brown and cooked through. Serve hot or cooled.
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Storage and make-ahead instructions
Biscuits are a quick-bread and are most delicious made fresh. My suggestion is always to make lemon biscuits just before serving, but if you have leftovers, or want to make anything ahead, here are some options.
Storage:
- Once cooled to room temperature, store the biscuits in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- For longer storage, you can refrigerate the biscuits for up to 1 week.
- Reheating: Simply place them on a baking sheet and warm them in a preheated 350°F (175°C) oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until heated through.
Freezing:
- Allow biscuits to cool completely to room temperature. Once cooled, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze until solid, about 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer bag and freeze up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Allow them to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating as directed above.
Make-ahead instructions:
- After preparing the dough, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator until ready to use, for up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes, then proceed with cutting and baking as directed in the recipe.
What to serve with this lemon biscuits recipe
Serve these buttery biscuits as you would any baking powder biscuit, noting that they are slightly sweeter than classic biscuits.
Even though they are a bit sweeter, they would be delightful served with dinner, topped with sliced ham and mustard, or alongside a summer grilled dinner.
Here are a few recipes to serve with these biscuits:
FAQs
Biscuits made with butter tend to rise higher and be more flaky. Shortening in biscuits makes the crumb a bit more even, but makes for a drier texture. In these lemon biscuits butter is preferred for the texture as well as the taste.
I don't recommend using lemon extract in these biscuits. The fresh lemon juice activates the baking soda as well as adds a bright flavor. Lemon zest adds the aromatic lemon flavor that will concentrate the taste.
You can swap the ricotta with whole milk, blended cottage cheese, or even heavy cream. These swaps will result in a slightly different texture, but will taste just great.
Adding packed or heavy cups of flour to the recipe, and/or overworking the dough will cause tough and dense biscuits. Sift your flour then measure it if you have trouble with over measuring. Work the dough as little as possible before baking to ensure tender, flaky biscuits.
More delicious recipes with lemon
📖 Recipe
Lemon Biscuits
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for work surface)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup part-skim ricotta
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375ºF. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients to break it up. Do this until the mixture has some butter pieces the size of small peas, and the rest is mixed in.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, ricotta, zest, and lemon juice; stir into flour mixture. Be careful not to over-mix, just stir until almost all the dry bits are captured. Then use your hands to pull the dough together.
- On a lightly floured surface with floured hands, pat dough to a 1-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits. Push together dough scraps kneading once, and cut into more biscuits. Place biscuits, 1-inch apart, on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with extra sugar and lemon zest if desired.
- Bake until puffed and golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack and let cool slightly. Serve warm or cooled.
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Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in food publishing for over 25 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television, food brands, & advertising. With two cookbooks under my belt and thousands of my recipes at your fingertips, I hope you'll be inspired to spend more time in the kitchen!
Julie says
I made these when they first came out on Tara's blog. This is a great reminder to make these again. I love the lemony taste, not too overdone, but very bright. We had them with soup but these would be good with a nice Spring salad as well.