Lemon & Thyme Biscuits
Makes 8 biscuits
Those who know me and my recipes well know that some version of this recipe has appeared in every cookbook I’ve published. They have been made hundreds of times in my home and I promise you, I will never tire of them. To make cream biscuits and scones in England just felt so very right. I fell in love with their double cream; so thick it’s unpourable, instead you need a spoon to retrieve its contents from the container. So do yourself a favor and use the richest cream you can find. The addition of lemon and fresh thyme tips these biscuits toward the savory making them a lovely friend to the White Bean and Mushroom Soup.
2 cups / 240 g all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 stick (½ cup / 115 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 cup / 240 g heavy cream, plus more for brushing
Preheat your oven to 400°F.
For the biscuit topping, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the thyme leaves and lemon zest, stirring to distribute them evenly. Add the cold butter and cut it into the flour mixture with your fingers or a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces of butter remaining. Pour in the heavy cream and stir gently with a fork until the dough just comes together—do not overmix. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press it into a rough rectangle. Fold it over itself once or twice to create flaky layers, then pat it out to about 1 inch thick. Cut into rounds or squares using a biscuit cutter or knife. Arrange the biscuits on a parchment lined sheet pan. Brush the tops with a bit of cream before baking.
Bake for 15 minutes before turning the oven down to 350°F and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until deeply golden around the edges and on the cap and completely baked through. Cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet. As you can imagine, these are best served warm, so enjoy straight away.