Easy Lemon Blueberry Drop Biscuits

Name: Easy Lemon Blueberry Drop Biscuits
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour; 1 tablespoon of baking powder; pinch of salt; 1/3 cup of sugar; 4 Tablespoons of cold unsalted butter (, grated); 3/4 cup of buttermilk; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon of vanilla; zest of 1 lemon; 1 1/4 cup of blueberries (, fresh or frozen (if frozen, do not thaw).); Extra tablespoon of sugar for sprinkling ((optional)); 1 cup confectioners sugar; 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

July 17, 2020 by Mahy, Updated November 12, 2020 37 Comments

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These Drop Biscuits are for all the muffin top lovers! Delicately crisp on the outside with a tender and cake-y inside. Bursting with blueberries and lemon zest—it’s the perfect treat! Not too sweet or heavy, just melt in your mouth biscuits-almost too good to be true!

This is one Drop Biscuit Recipe you can whip up in minutes and keeps you happy for a while! Full recipe video below so you can check out how easy they are to make, plus tip and tricks 🙂

I am super excited about these biscuits—not just because all my family loves them, but because these were among the very first recipes I was trying to perfect back in my early baking madness days!

Drop biscuits were one of my favorite treats to pair with coffee and so I probably ordered them with every coffee cup back in the days. I eventually moved on to making them at home and never buying them again 🙂

DROP BISCUITS

There seems to be much of a confusion in general between American biscuits and British scones, and even more, there’s a confusion between rolled biscuits and drop biscuits. So let’s get to the bottom of this, that way you know what to expect form this recipe.

Recipe Video

What is a Drop Biscuit?

The closest way to describe a drop biscuit is to think of a muffin top. Think of a nice delicate sugary crust – just like the one on your muffin tops. Now the inside is soft and chewy like a muffin too, but because the biscuits are not so thick, you taste the sugary crust more than you would with a muffin.

Drop biscuits are usually not too sweet, yet still good enough to be eaten on their own. Glaze is completely optional here, but I recommend it because it adds a tangy lemon feel. British scones are usually sweeter and contain more fat (butter and heavy cream) compared to biscuits.

What is the Difference Between Rolled Biscuits and Drop Biscuits?

The name says it all. Drop biscuits and rolled biscuits have very similar ingredients, except that drop biscuits have slightly more liquid. And hence they can be dropped into a baking sheet, rather than rolled.

Rolled biscuits however are much flakier in texture. They have a melt in your mouth feeling and are thicker. My Ultimate guide and video to making flakey biscuits is in this post -> How To Make Biscuits.

Drop biscuits have a muffin like batter consistency and basically get dropped or scooped on a baking sheet (similar to cookies) and baked off. Drop Biscuits are equally delicious made sweet or savory, so don’t limit yourself to sweet by all means!

If you’re a first time biscuit baker, by all means start with drop biscuits!

DROP BISCUIT RECIPE

Now let’s chat about today’s Drop Biscuit recipe. Lemon. Blueberries. Drop. Biscuits.

I chose the lemon blueberry combo today not only because the girls love it, but because it’s similar in flavor to the all time favorite blueberry muffin! So it’s definitely a good place to start.

But that being said, feel free to substitute any type of berry, dried fruits, add in nuts, chocolate chips and make those easy drop biscuits recipe feel like a new treat each time.

Ingredients to make Drop Biscuits from Scratch

Flour
Sugar
Baking Powder
Salt
Frozen Grated Butter (more on that below)
Sour Cream (or yogurt or buttermilk)
Egg
Lemon Zest
Blueberries (fresh or frozen not thawed)

Quick note about the frozen butter: Using frozen grated butter with biscuits and pie doughs creates an extra light and flakey product. I use this tip for the my fool proof Easy Flakey Pie Dough.

The way to do this is by freezing a stick of unsalted butter and then grating it using the box grater (larger holes). Tip here–> Keep the paper wrap over the part of the butter you’re not grating and use it to hole the butter with as you grate it. this will prevent the butter from slipping as you grate it.

Add Ons for Drop Biscuits

Berries of any sort (make sure if you’re using strawberries to be cut up)
Chocolate Chips
Nuts
Zests, flavored oils
Cheeses (grated or cumbled)
Herbs (any type-fresh or dried)
Sauteed onions, mushrooms etc
olives, sun dried tomatoes
Your favorite combos!

HOW TO MAKE EASY DROP BISCUITS

You’ll need a large bowl to add in the flour, sugar and pinch of salt.
Now goes in the frozen grated butter and mix well, and then the sour cream and egg go in. Use a spatula to bring the dough together.
Finally the blueberries are added in. A large spoon or ice cream scoop is what I use to take out scoops of batter and “drop” them on a baking sheet—the size and shape of the biscuits will look very rustic at that point—I like them this way!
If you want nice neat perfectly shaped identical looking biscuits use the same spoon, your set of fingers (wet your fingers with water if you feel the batter sticks too much to them) and round off the sides or flatten up the biscuits.
Now bake them starting off at a high temperature and then gradually continue baking at a lower temperature until they’re done.
The Glaze is optional but honestly so good! It’s a two ingredients glaze: Confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice. You can adjust the consistency with extra confectioner’s sugar or lemon juice.

DROP BISCUITS TIPS

Frozen butter is essential here, if you don’t have it already in your freezer, make sure you freeze it ahead of time for the recipe.
The recipe is made originally using buttermilk, however I’ve found that sour cream makes it taste richer.
It’s best to use a spatula or fork to blend the batter together, that way you don’t over work it.
To get the same sized biscuits, use an ice cream scoop. This way they cook evenly.
The glaze is optional but adds an extra zest and sweetness. Adjust the glaze consistency to your taste by adding more/less of the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice.
Once cooled, store the freshly baked biscuits over the counter covered with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.
Otherwise, freeze the cooled baked biscuits and defrost when needed for a fresher taste.
Flakey Rolled Biscuit Recipe here: How To Make Biscuits.
Fool Proof Flakey Pie Dough Recipe here: Easy Flakey Pie Dough.

BLUBERRY RECIPES

Ultimate Blueberry Raisin Bran Muffins

Blueberry Muffins With Lemon Sugar Crunch

Pear Blueberry Vanilla Clafoutis

Berry Citrus Poppy Seed Bars

A hand holding a glazed drop biscuits with blueberries and lemon over a plate of drop biscuits

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