Shrewsbury Biscuits

Nov 6, 2026 · By VanillaGoods

Baking Cookies bars Easy

Crisp, buttery round biscuits flavored with lemon zest, often studded with currants and cut with a fluted edge. They sit between shortbread and a sugar cookie: crumbly and rich but thin enough to snap. Makes 24 biscuits in about 1 hr 49 min.

Prep 20 min

Cook 14 min

Cooling 1 hr 15 min

Total 1 hr 49 min

Yield 24 biscuits

Ingredients

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biscuits

½ cup (115 g)unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (100 g)superfine sugar, plus 15 g for sprinkling
1 (18 g)egg yolk
1 tbsp (6 g)lemon zest, finely grated, from 1 large lemon
1 ¾ cups (225 g)all-purpose flour
1 pinchfine salt
2 oz (50 g)currants
1 tbsp (15 ml)milk, plus up to 1 tbsp more if needed

Fresh ingredient guides

LemonsHow to pick, season & nutrition · 24 kcal per 84 g

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Instructions

Beat the softened unsalted butter and 100 g superfine sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Beat in the egg yolk and lemon zest.
Add the all-purpose flour, fine salt and currants and mix with a spatula until crumbly, then add the milk and bring together into a soft, smooth dough, adding a little more milk only if it will not hold. Flatten into a disk, wrap and chill 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment.
On a lightly floured counter, roll the dough about 1/4 inch (5 mm) thick. Cut 2.5-inch (6.5 cm) rounds with a fluted cutter, rerolling the scraps, and set them on the sheets 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. Prick each with a fork and sprinkle with the remaining 15 g superfine sugar.
Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes, until firm and just turning pale golden at the edges.
Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes; they crisp as they cool, about 20 minutes.

Tips

Grate only the yellow zest; the white pith is bitter.
Pull them while still pale: Shrewsbury biscuits should be light golden, not brown.
Leave out the currants for the plain lemon biscuit that some older recipes use.
Good with earl Grey tea.

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Recipe FAQ

How long does it take to make shrewsbury biscuits?

Plan on 20 minutes of prep and 14 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour 15 minutes to chill and rest. The recipe makes 24 biscuits.

How should I store shrewsbury biscuits?

Keep in an airtight tin at room temperature up to 1 week.

Can I make shrewsbury biscuits ahead?

It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.

Shrewsbury biscuits, or Shrewsbury cakes, have been baked in the Shropshire market town since at least the 17th century and were a popular Georgian teatime biscuit. Serve it with earl Grey tea.

Variations

Orange-zest version: use 1 tbsp (6 g) finely grated orange zest instead of lemon; bake time unchanged.
Bite-size pieces: cut 1.5-inch (4 cm) rounds for about 50 biscuits and bake 9 to 11 minutes.
Caraway version: replace the currants with 1 tsp (2 g) caraway seeds, as in some 17th-century recipes.

Estimated · per serving

Nutrition

Per serving = 1 of 24 servings this recipe makes.

94 Calories / serving

4.2g Fat

13.0g Carbs

1.2g Protein

5.5g Sugar

Whole recipe (24 servings): ~2256 cal · 101g fat · 312g carbs · 29g protein · 132g sugar

Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.