Honey biscuits (cookies) with lemon - an easy French recipe baked in only 10 minutes with a shiny glaze, intense in honey and crispy texture.
Biscuits, Cookies or Sablés?
I say biscuit with my Scottish accent and in French, but my American friends will call these cookies. So we are all speaking the same language, when I say biscuits, we're talking cookies and not American biscuits like in these cheese scones.
Just to add to the cookie vocab, the French also call biscuits like this sablés since the butter and flour are rubbed together with the fingertips, resembling sand or sable in French (what we refer to as 'resembling breadcrumbs' in the recipe).
The Secret to a Good Biscuit (Cookie)
Everyone has their own idea as to a good biscuit or cookie. Should their texture be soft, chewy or crispy? Perhaps a mixture of the two like these chocolate chip hazelnut cookies.
Flavour is important too. We want a biscuit that we can taste the ingredients of honey and lemon. As too much sugar kills flavour, let's best reduce it as much as we dare to enhance the taste. It's healthier too. Besides, honey tastes even sweeter than sugar so it's important to get the right dosage.
The best honey biscuits have an extra honey layer in the glaze. The secret is to mix together more honey with an egg yolk and a little salt. Brush it on before baking and the result is not just shiny and pretty to look at. It's more intense in flavour and crispy. For biscuit baking tips with honey, read on.
What are the Ingredients for Honey Biscuits (Cookies)?
These French honey biscuits or cookies are made of flour, butter, a little sugar, salt and egg yolks - much like a sablé biscuit or French butter biscuit (Palet Breton). The addition of honey and lemon zest are what make these pop with flavour. Here's what they're made of:
- 250 g (9oz/ 2 cups) plain flour (all-purpose)
- 50 g (2oz/ ¼ cup) sugar
- 150 g (5½oz/ ¾ cup) unsalted butter softened
- 2 egg yolks (+ 1 for the glaze)
- 3 tbsp honey (+1 for the glaze)
- 2 lemons (zest only)
- good pinch salt
What Does Honey Do in Baking Cookies?
French pastry chefs add a little honey to cookies to keep them moist, as it absorbs moisture in baking.
Likewise, by adding a little apple compote (or apricot), the pectin in the fruit absorbs the moisture like honey. I explain this in this coconut macaroons recipe.
What Can Go Wrong Baking with Honey?
However, baking cookies with honey comes with a warning: don't go wandering off and multi-task. Keep your eye on them, as honey can burn cookies if 2-3 minutes too long in the oven. More on that below, as it's actually a good thing if they're more baked. Just don't burn them.
What's the Best Honey to Use for Biscuits?
The best honey to use in this recipe is runny Acacia, as it's a good all-rounder and easy to find. I personally love stronger honeys for baking - especially for these biscuits.
French Miel de Garrigues, or honey from the Mediterranean coastal regions taste of typical wild aromatic fresh herbs as lavender, thyme, sage and rosemary.
Likewise, the darker mountain honeys are excellent - such as chestnut honey from the island of Corsica (my husband's island between France and Italy). Although more expensive, it is really worth a try if you can find it. The flavour is particularly intense in flavour and typical for pouring over brocciu cheese (like ricotta). To get an idea of flavour, dribble some mountain honey over a slice of Fiadone Corsican cheesecake.
Tip: how can you tell if your honey is real or fake? Plunge a little on a spoon into a glass of water. If it dissolves, it's fake; if it stays put, it's the real thing.
Honey Biscuits - Easy Recipe with Lemon
This easy recipe is based on Croquants, crisp honey cookies found in the Auvergne region in France. Normally made with much more butter, I cut the quantity and added lemon zest from the classic recipe.
Yield: makes about 40 sablé biscuits (depending on the size of your cookie cutters).
Measure the flour in a large bowl. Add the sugar, cold butter, lemon zest, honey and salt. Mix all together well with the tips of your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (or sand - sable in French) then add the egg yolks.
If mixing in a stand mixer, then use softened - not melted - butter.
Split the dough into 2, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to about 5mm (¼ inch) thickness. Cut the dough using your favourite cookie cutters. Roll up the dough into another ball with the scraps and roll out again until finished.
Place the biscuits on 1-2 baking trays covered with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Mix the glaze together and brush lightly over each biscuit and bake.
Crispy Honey Biscuits - Baking Times
Baking in the oven for another 2-3 minutes makes a crispier, darker biscuit that's even more intense in honey.
This batch was well fired after another 5 minutes. They look burnt but believe me, their honey flavour was even more intensified and their texture more crispy. Here are 3 baking time options, which sounds a bit like the 3 bears! Pick one that you feel is just right:
- 10 minutes are bright golden, slightly crispy, more shortbread like in texture with the lemon shining through.
- 11-12 minutes are crispy with more honey in flavour and lemon quite subtle.
- 13-14 minutes are just strong, crispy honey biscuits. The lemon hits in the aftertaste.
Personally, I'm Mummy bear on this one. Let me know what you prefer in the comments below.
How to Serve Honey Biscuits
I strongly recommend you add this honey glaze to the biscuits. Although they're just as delicious without, the glaze does make them extra special in the looks department and adds another honey layer in flavour.
Served best at teatime, enjoy with black tea (Darjeeling for something light in the afternoon), lemon tea or Earl Grey - the bergamot will go well with the lemon.
Alternatively without caffeine, enjoy with a pot of Rooibos redbush, particularly good with ginger if you have a cold.
Honey Biscuits with Lemon
Ingredients
- 250 g (9oz/ 2 cups) plain flour (all-purpose)
- 50 g (2oz/ ¼ cup) sugar
- 150 g (5½oz/ ¾ cup) unsalted butter cold if by hand; softened if in mixer
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 tablespoon Acacia honey (runny) or dark mountain honey (strong flavoured)
- 2 lemons, zest only unwaxed/organic
- 1 good pinch salt fleur de sel (Maldon or Celtic salt)
Honey Glaze
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon honey
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Measure the flour in a large bowl. Add the sugar, cold butter, lemon zest, honey and salt. Mix all together well with the tips of your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (or sand - sable in French) then add the egg yolks.Alternatively, if you have a stand mixer, mix all the ingredients together (using softened butter) for a couple of minutes maximum until well blended together.
- Split the dough into 2, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to about 5mm (¼ inch) thickness. Cut the dough using your favourite cookie cutters. Roll up the dough into another ball with the scraps and roll out again until finished. Place the biscuits on 1-2 baking trays covered with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F/Gas 5. Mix the glaze together and brush lightly over each biscuit. Bake for 10-12 minutes (careful NO MORE than 14-15 mins, as the honey will burn)
- Leave the cookies to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes then carefully transfer them with a pie slice (they'll still be soft and fragile) to a wire tray to cool and crisp up.
Notes
- For a more intense honey flavour, use a dark, full-flavoured honey, such as a mountain honey.
- To see if you're using genuine honey, spoon it into a small glass of water. If it doesn't dissolve, it's the real thing.
This recipe was first published 9 February 2015 but is now completely updated
Kate
Just made this recipe - it’s great! I love how the cookies really taste of honey. Tried with and without the glaze but have to say they’re best with.
Jill Colonna
Thanks Kate - so thrilled you tried both versions and thanks so much for confirming about the glaze. Agreed! We love them with the glaze too.
Lady Devilish
Word of warning: ever since I met Jill I have become indeed mad about macarons and Paris! The symptoms are:
1) inevitably drooling over macarons, bought and homemade
2) an irrational need to visit Paris (and everything around it!)
3) obsessing over every new blogpost
Thanks Jill!
Jill Colonna
How did I miss this? Thank you for such lovely words - the good news is I've finally updated this post!
Christina @ Christina's Cucina
Jill, now that I've seen your site and recipes, I am over the moon with the comments you left on my site! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are very kind and I love your blog, too! In fact, I would love to make these biscuits with some Meyer lemons which were just given to me by a friend! Will let you know if I do as I have a LOT going on and leaving for a trip in less than 2 weeks; you know how that goes! Ugh! Thanks so much for finding me, so now I've found you! 🙂
Jill
Thank you for coming to le blog, Christina! Meyer lemons ... yes, I keep hearing about them via the blogging world and it's frustrating that we don't get them here. You're so lucky. Good luck on the travels. Looks like we're off next week to Italy and so best get planning .... restaurants! 🙂
Thomasina
How ill must you be to keep you out of the kitchen Jill? You just can't stop creating treats and sharing them so thank you for the dedication.
Jill
I think Julie was wary of me making things, as she didn't want to catch anything. But it was the only place I could do something! Thank you x
Francis
Mmmm it looks so yummy !!!
I don't know, Jill, if you already use, but you can find "cédrat" in Corsica. By the way, I don't know how to say cédrat in english 😉
They use it to make an alcohol over there, called Cédratine. I didn't get the opportunity to try yet.
Jill
Hi Francis - so glad to see you've popped in. Thank you! Yes, my husband is from Corsica so we know cedrat (yes, it's the same in English) well, not to mention Cédratine, the deep yellow liqueur (we finished it recently making Fiadone and wanted to post about this too). I've never been able to find cédrats in Paris - pity, as it's so much powerful to normal lemons (Citrus medica with rough skin). Let's keep our eyes peeled, shall we? 🙂
Patty
Oh how I love sablés, especially those with honey and lemon- just the thing to restore health 🙂
Jill
Thanks, Patty and Ann. Any excuse to eat biscuits really ....
Ann
So sorry to hear about your gripes (ugh this winter has been the WORST) but glad you are all on the mend. These cookies sound like a solid part of the healing process!
Claudine
Funny how looking at that Monoprix basket photo brought it all back to me, the smell of Monoprix, the sounds, the food counters, clothes, make up (bought some of my first ever make up there) etc It’s the strangest things that make you homesick for somewhere, don’t you think?
These biccies look delicious, I hope to try them sometime although I can’t quite figure out this rental oven!
Hope you’re all feeling beaucoup mieux!!
Jill
You know, Claudine, I wasn't even going to put in that basket so I'm glad this meant something! I forget to take shots when I'm at the supermarket and don't look around me enough. Feeling much better today, if still very "woozy" (thank goodness it was only just a passing thing!) - thanks for saying hello and good luck in the rental flat!
Liz
Such a lovely use for the dredges of the honey pot 🙂 It's a good sign that you're up to baking!
Jill
Thanks, Liz. Let's just say these were easiest to bake (I couldn't do much else - even my eyes were streaming looking at any screen or book). I don't know if I could have even attempted your amazing looking chocolate valentine's creations!
June S
Sorry to hear you were all under the weather. Nothing to beat honey and lemon as a cure and the biscuits look terrific.
Jill
As you can see, they were simplest to tackle when feeling under the weather - it wasn't like making a 3-tiered cake! Merci xo
Jean-Pierre D
Glad you're on the mend Jill. These look so easy and delicious. Made sablés but not with honey or lemon so must try. Ah, Corsican lemons!
Jill
Yes, Corsican lemons are great and easier to find here. We don't get the Meyer lemons I hear so much about in the US and even in Paris, Menton lemons are hard to find.
Parisbreakfast
I bought those same lemons to paint...not knowing they were from corsica!
Pomagranate seeds dIly and no more colds or flu ever. But nobody listens.
Jill
Pomegranate, pomegranate, hang on - did you not tell me that once? I'm taking note here now, I promise. Did you hear that everyone? Pomegranate seeds, every day! Thanks, Carol.