1Preheat oven to 450°F. Place the stick of salted butter in an 8×8-inch baking dish and melt in the oven. Remove and set aside.
2In a large bowl, add the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until fragrant and slightly damp. This releases the lemon oils and deepens the citrus flavor.
3Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and poppyseeds into the lemon sugar mixture until evenly combined.
4In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Add to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. The dough will be loose and thick — do not over-mix!
5Pour the dough directly into the baking dish over the melted butter. Gently spread to the edges. Lightly score into 9 squares with a knife.
6Bake for 25–30 minutes, until deeply golden on top with crisp, buttery edges. Tent if biscuits brown too quickly- with this batch I tented about 14 minutes in.
7Whisk all glaze ingredients until smooth and pourable.
8Drizzle over the biscuits while warm so the glaze melts slightly into the surface.
Ingredients
0.5 cup salted butter
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
0.5 teaspoon kosher salt
0.33 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
1 tablespoon poppyseeds
2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 tablespoons melted butter, slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
0.5 teaspoon lemon zest
0.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
0.25 teaspoon almond extract
1 pinch salt
2 teaspoons poppyseeds
Equipment
oven8x8-inch baking dishlarge bowlwhiskknife
Tips
Rub lemon zest into granulated sugar with fingers to release lemon oils and deepen citrus flavor.
Do not over-mix the dough; it will be loose and thick.
Tent the biscuits if they brown too quickly during baking (around 14 minutes into baking for this batch).
Drizzle glaze over warm biscuits so it melts slightly into the surface.