Lemon Poppyseed Butter Swim Biscuits

Name: Lemon Poppyseed Butter Swim Biscuits
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled; 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; 1/3 cup granulated sugar; zest from 1 lemon ((about 1 Tablespoon)); 1 Tablespoon poppy seeds; 2 cups buttermilk ((or heavy cream, see notes below)); ½ cup (1 stick) + 2 Tablespoons salted butter, melted (divided use); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 cup powdered sugar; 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice; ¼ teaspoon almond extract ((can use vanilla extract)); pinch of salt; 2 teaspoons poppy seeds

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These Lemon Poppyseed Butter Swim Biscuits are soft, sweet biscuits baked in melted butter and topped with a homemade sweet lemon glaze. No rolling or biscuit cutter needed!

Spring Butter Dip Biscuit Recipe

These Lemon Poppyseed Butter Swim Biscuits are perfect for spring! They’re full of bright lemon flavor and they’re insanely easy to make. These buttery biscuits are another variation of my famous Butter Dip Biscuits (a.k.a. Butter Swim Biscuits). I’ve made sooo many versions over the last 15 years (seriously, I have 18 different variations of these!) and I was so happy to perfect this one. My favorite thing about these biscuits is that you don’t need a biscuit cutter or rolling pin!

A serving utensil getting a large Lemon Poppyseed Butter Swim Biscuit from the dish.

All of your Butter Swim Biscuit recipes are amazing! These were no exception! They were absolutely perfect, easy to make and had amazing flavor! I made it exactly to your recipe and didn’t change a thing.
– Polly

Frequently Asked Questions:

What are Butter Swim Biscuits?

If you haven’t seen any of my other variations, I love making these things. Butter swim biscuits are an easy biscuit recipe where the batter is baked directly in melted butter instead of cutting butter into the dough. As the biscuits bake, the butter creates crispy golden edges while keeping the inside soft and tender.

What’s the best way to melt the butter?

When melting the butter for the bottom of the pan, make sure to use the “melt” setting on the microwave if you have it. If not, melt the butter directly in the pan in the preheated oven. If you try to microwave the butter using the regular setting, it will likely explode and create a huge mess.

Can I use a metal baking dish?

I don’t suggest doing so. I know we generally think of metal baking pans as the best for baking, but in this case I prefer Pyrex or ceramic. Metal baking dishes can heat up the butter and cause it to burn too quickly, as the biscuits are still baking and would ruin them. I like to stick to glass or ceramic baking dishes when possible for these biscuits. You can certainly use metal, just be careful and make sure you are baking them on a middle rack, not a top rack and keep an eye on them.

Can I make thinner biscuits?

If you’re looking for thinner biscuits, you can cut the recipe in half or use a larger packing dish (you may have to adjust baking time). These biscuits are normally big, thick, and fluffy.

What’s the best way to store leftover biscuits?

These biscuits are best stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days on in the refrigerator for 5.

Can you freeze Lemon Poppyseed Butter Swim Biscuits?

These can also be frozen in a sealed container for 2-3 months. To reheat, bake at 350F for 5-10 minutes or until warmed through.

A full baking dish of Lemon Poppyseed Butter Swim Biscuits.

Ingredients Needed: (See Recipe Card Below For The Full Recipe)

all-purpose flour– spooned and leveled. I like to measure my flour by scooping from the bag or container with a spoon, not using the measuring cup directly in the bag (this will pack too much flour in the cup). Then use the back of a knife and level the excess flour off of the cup. You could use self rising flour instead- just do not add the baking powder and salt to the recipe as it is already included in self-rising flour. You could certainly use a scale but I don’t own one as I am sure many of you don’t either so this is the best method I have found to get an accurate measuring of flour.
baking powder– I like to use the aluminum free baking powder as I am one of those people who can taste the aluminum in the regular baking powder. If you don’t typically taste it, you can use regular baking powder.
salt
granulated sugar – I think you could use a sugar substitute here. I believe Stevia or Truvia make a 1:1 sugar substitute.
poppy seeds
lemon zest – its really important you get a fresh lemon for this. There just isn’t a good substitute for fresh lemon juice and it is the star of the show here.
buttermilk– I find that room temperature is best as it blends everything together easier. Heavy cream can be used instead of buttermilk (especiallyy if you want a sweeter taste) in this recipe and will still produce soft, rich biscuits. You could use milk but I would make sure it is a fuller fat milk, like whole milk. I haven’t tested this recipe using non-dairy milk.
salted butter– melted. Sure, I suppose you can use unsalted butter if needed.
vanilla extract
powdered sugar
fresh lemon juice– I am a huge advocate of always using fresh lemon juice instead of the bottled stuff. I think the bottled stuff just tastes a lot like straight up acid and not like
almond extract– I made this a couple of different ways, with vanilla and almond extract. All my taste testers (they are picky women y’all ha) preferred the almond extract but if you don’t have it or it’s not your thing, just use vanilla.

All-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar, fresh lemon zest, poppy seeds, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract for the biscuits, plus powdered sugar, fresh lemon juice, almond extract or vanilla, and salt.

How To Make Lemon Poppyseed Butter Swim Biscuits

Preheat the oven to 450F degrees. Add the sugar and lemon zest to a medium bowl. Use a spoon mix the two together until slightly moist and fragrant. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds to the lemony-sugar and whisk until combined.

In a separate, medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, 2 Tablespoons of melted butter and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. The batter will be wet and sticky. Do not overmix.

A bowl of melted butter and a bowl of biscuit batter.

Place the stick of salted butter into the bottom of an 8×8 or 9×9-inch baking pan. Microwave the butter until it melts. (I use the melt setting on my microwave so that the butter doesn’t explode. If you don’t have this setting, I recommend using your oven to melt the butter in the pan instead.) Pour the batter into the pan with the melted butter. Gently spread the batter to the edges of the pan.

A baking dish with melted butter and a dish of butter and batter.

Use a knife to loosely score the biscuits into 9 squares. This will make it much easier to cut the biscuits after they’re done baking. Bake on the middle oven rack for 25-30 minutes, or until the top and sides are golden brown. If you find your biscuits are browning too quickly, place a sheet of foil over the top for the remaining baking time. Add the powdered sugar, lemon juice, almond extract, salt and poppy seeds to a bowl and stir until smooth.