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Lemon tea biscuits are made with cake flour, lemon zest and fresh lemon juice for a sweet teacake that can be served for an afternoon tea party or as part of a brunch menu.

Cake flour makes the biscuit dough soft and smooth. The lemon zest gives a nice tang to the recipe and a bit of sugar and butter in the middle almost makes it like a little sandwich.

You may want to consider a double batch of these little tea biscuits if you are hosting a tea party or a brunch as they will disappear quickly. They do take a bit longer to prepare, but if you are already going to the trouble of making one batch, the second won't take much longer. The end result is a wonderful treat that captures the essence of a tea party. They are a neat, dainty treat that is almost cookie-like in its appearance.

You might think after reading the recipe below that these lemon teacakes wouldn't be very sweet as there is no sugar in the dough, but the lemon zest and sugar in the filling provide just enough sweetness. If you do want these to be a bit sweeter, you can add a bit of frosting to each one as outlined below.

You can find more recipes for tea biscuits in this cookbook available from my website. You can also read more about this cookbook further down on the page after the recipe.

Prep Time:   45 minutes

Baking Time:  8-10 minutes

Kitchen Equipment:

large mixing bowl
small mixing bowl
1-1/2 inch round biscuit cutter
24 count greased mini-muffin pan
pastry cutter
pastry brush
rolling pin

Ingredients:

Biscuits

2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons butter or shortening
1-1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind (lemon zest)
2/3 cup milk
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1/8 cup melted butter

Filling

4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind (lemon zest)
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
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Step 1: Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder and salt, and sift again.

Step 2:  Cut in butter until well blended; add grated lemon rind and blend in to flour mixture.

Step 3:  Add milk all at once and stir carefully until all flour is dampened.

Step 4:  Then stir vigorously until mixture forms a soft dough and follows spoon around bowl. Turn out immediately on a slightly floured board (with cake flour) and knead 30 seconds. This will be a very soft dough. When kneading and rolling out the dough be sure to have enough extra cake flour to keep the dough from sticking. Roll out to 1/4 inch thick with a rolling pin and cut with 1-1/2 inch floured biscuit cutter. Cut 48 biscuits. You can re-roll the remaining dough 2-3 times without worry of it becoming tough.

Step 5:  In a separate small bowl for the filling combine sugar, lemon rind, and enough lemon juice to make a crumbly mixture- about 1/4 teaspoon or so.

Step 6: Place half of the biscuits in a greased 24 count mini-muffin pan, spread each biscuit half with melted butter and spoon about a teaspoon of the sugar mixture over the melted butter on each biscuit. Top with each of the remaining biscuits, pressing lightly together.

Step 7:  Bake in preheated 450 degree F. hot oven 8-10 minutes, or until done.

Makes about 24 tea biscuits.

Frosting (Optional)

These lemon tea biscuits turn out delicious on their own but you may want to dress them up a bit with some frosting. I tried ready-made cream cheese frosting and it was very good. I also tried taking a few spoons of the ready made cream cheese frosting in a small bowl and added a 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice and also 2 drops of yellow food coloring to frost these biscuits. That turned out equally good.

Old-Fashioned Tea Party Cookbook

If you are searching for more information on hosting a tea party, this cookbook has a lot of good information and recipes and is available from my website.

Quantity

This unique teacake recipes cookbook contains more than just recipes. There is a wonderful history of tea in America, how a formal tea party was hosted in early American times, photos and descriptions of early tea sets, instructions on how to set your table for a tea party, explanations of the different types of tea, instructions on how to brew a perfect pot of tea, and tea etiquette.

The recipes in this book are meant to complement a tea party and contain authentic early American recipes including Tea Sandwiches, Scones and Biscuits, Tarts and Pastries, and Cakes. This book also includes a handy baking and cooking chart on the back page for weights, measurements, and substitutions. See a list of recipes included and more information.

24 count Mini Muffin Pan

Here is the mini muffin pan I currently own and used to make these lemony biscuits. It is a nice sturdy pan at a good price point that will last you well for many years. Read more about this Wilton Mini Muffin Pan.

More Breakfast and Brunch Resources

Looking for more breakfast or brunch recipes? Search this site or view my sitemap.

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