Honey Lavender Biscuits

Why This Honey Lavender Biscuits Works

In the bowl, the dry ingredients coat the butter cubes so the butter stays in small pieces instead of melting right away. As the dough comes together, those little bits of cold butter stay scattered all through it. In the hot oven, the butter pieces start to melt and give off steam. That steam pushes the dough around them up and out, so the biscuits rise and get fluffy instead of dense.

While everything bakes, the baking powder expands and backs up what the butter is already doing, giving extra lift. Honey and sugar pull in some moisture from the milk and egg, so the inside stays soft even after the biscuits cool a bit. Lavender is mixed in with the flour from the start, so as the biscuits heat up, the tiny pieces spread their taste evenly through every bite instead of sitting in one spot. By the time they are golden, the outside has set and turned lightly crisp, while the middle stays tender and a little bit moist.

Mistakes To Avoid

Overbaking at 400°F quickly dries these biscuits out. The honey and sugar on the surface start to darken and harden before the inside has much moisture left, so the biscuits turn tough and crumbly instead of soft with a light crust.

Overmixing the dough after the wet ingredients go in makes the biscuits dense. The flour soaks up more liquid and the butter smears instead of staying in small pieces, so instead of puffing and flaking, the biscuits bake up flat and heavy.

Letting the butter get warm before it goes into the flour causes the dough to feel greasy and sticky. In the oven, the butter melts too evenly instead of in little pockets, so the biscuits don’t get those tender layers and can bake up a bit oily.

Using too much lavender, or using non-culinary lavender, easily throws off the balance. The dried buds become strong and slightly bitter as they heat, so the biscuits end up tasting so floral that the honey and vanilla get lost.