Small-Batch Blueberry Biscuits With Lemon Zest

Slightly tart blueberries pair perfectly with fresh lemon zest inside these quick, sweet breakfast biscuits. The recipe is sized for easy small-batch baking — enough for two adults to tackle in a morning, leaving just a few biscuits for later.

Biscuits are fun to make because they transform so swiftly from gloppy dough into golden fluffiness. With these drop biscuits, there's no need to wait for the dough to rise, as there would be in making bread. There's no kneading, no rolling and no shaping required. Just beat, plop, bake and eat.

This recipe can be made year-round, with either fresh or frozen blueberries.

• This recipe makes 12 biscuits. Each biscuit will be approximately 2.5 inches in diameter.
• Each biscuit will contain exactly 100 calories.
• Mixing and baking time combined will be about 20 minutes.

This recipe was created, sized, tested, tasted and photographed by E. A. Wright.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt
  
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries
• Zest of one lemon
  
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup of whole milk
  

Note: One fresh, medium-sized, store-bought lemon produces one heaping tablespoon of lemon zest. Older lemons that have been allowed to shrivel and dry out won't have as much zest.

Also note that certain varieties of lemons, such as Meyer lemons, may produce less zest per lemon, even when fresh.

Kitchen Equipment

• Medium mixing bowl (try a bowl that's about 8 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep)
  
• Either a sturdy fork, two knives or a pastry cutter (for mixing in the butter)
  
• Lemon zester
  
• Measuring cups and measuring spoons
• Cookie sheet or other baking tray (even a small cake pan will work to bake a few biscuits at a time)
  
• Spatula for removing the biscuits from the baking sheet

What To Do

1. Zest the peel off the lemon and dump it into the mixing bowl. (Save the rest of the lemon — try using it for homemade lemonade.)
   
2. Measure the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add it to the lemon zest and lightly stir the mixture.
   
3. Add the butter, cutting it into the dry ingredients. This can be frustrating to do with only a whisk or a mixing spoon. Switch to two knives — one in each hand — or use a pastry cutter. A sturdy dinner fork will also work. Keep cutting the butter until only small pebbles remain. Picture the texture of very coarse sand.
   
4. Add the egg and the milk; stir these in.
5. Drop in the blueberries and the lemon zest. Do not mix the biscuit dough too thoroughly at this point. Chunky is okay. When using frozen blueberries — which break apart easily — rough stirring will quickly turn the batter purple.
   
6. Drop the biscuits onto a baking sheet. The goal should be irregular but rounded shapes that are at least the size of a golf ball.
   
7. Bake the biscuits for about 12 minutes at 400 F. The tops should be just turning golden.
   
8. Eat the biscuits straight out of the oven. Enjoy.