Petit Beurre Français (Printable View)

Biscuit français classique doré et croustillant, idéal pour accompagner thé ou café.

# What You Need:

→ Main Ingredients

01 - 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
02 - ½ cup granulated sugar
03 - ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
04 - 3 tablespoons whole milk
05 - 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
06 - 1 pinch fine sea salt
07 - 1 vanilla bean (or 1 packet vanilla sugar)

# How To Make It:

01 - In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the whole milk. Add the granulated sugar and the scraped seeds from the vanilla bean, stirring continuously until the sugar has fully dissolved and the mixture is smooth.
02 - Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the butter-milk mixture to cool slightly until lukewarm, then transfer it to a large mixing bowl.
03 - Add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and fine sea salt to the mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until a smooth, homogeneous dough forms and no dry pockets of flour remain.
04 - Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour to firm up and make it easier to roll out.
05 - Preheat your oven to 350°F using conventional (static) heat. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
06 - On a lightly floured work surface, roll the chilled dough out to an even thickness of about ⅛ inch (3–4 mm), rotating it occasionally to prevent sticking.
07 - Using a traditional fluted rectangular cookie cutter, cut out as many biscuits as possible from the rolled dough. Gather and re-roll the scraps to cut additional biscuits until all the dough is used.
08 - Place the cut biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about ½ inch apart. Gently prick each biscuit several times with a fork to create the classic pattern and prevent puffing during baking.
09 - Bake on the center rack for 12 minutes, or until the biscuits are evenly golden brown around the edges and set on top.
10 - Transfer the biscuits to a wire cooling rack and let them cool completely before serving. This ensures they develop their signature crisp texture.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • These biscuits taste like something pulled from a vintage tin in a French pantry, simple, golden, and impossible to stop eating.
  • The dough comes together with ingredients you probably already have, and the rolling and cutting is oddly therapeutic after a long day.
02 -
  • If the dough warms up while you are cutting and becomes sticky and uncooperative, gather it back into a ball and return it to the fridge for fifteen minutes before trying again.
  • Watch the oven like a hawk in the final two minutes because these biscuits cross from golden to burnt in what feels like a single breath.
03 -
  • Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to avoid adding extra flour that can toughen the final texture.
  • If you do not have a fluted rectangular cutter, use a clean ruler and a sharp knife to cut squares, because the shape matters less than the even thickness.

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