Lu Le Petit Beurre: The Shape, the Salt and the Dunk

Lu Le Petit Beurre: The Butter Biscuit with a Calendar Edge

Published 26 Sep 2026 Curator-written, not crowdsourced

Lu Le Petit Beurre: The Butter Biscuit with a Calendar Edge, in summary: A thin, hard French butter biscuit whose classic outline counts the weeks and hours. The salt sharpens the butter, the sweetness stays low, and a clean black tea or an Earl Grey suits it best.

Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in September 2026.

Louis Lefèvre-Utile perfected the Petit Beurre recipe in Nantes in 1886, and the biscuit's outline works as a small calendar: 52 points round the edge for the weeks of the year and 24 dots for the hours of the day. The Le Petit range Lu brought to Britain in 2021 keeps the notched edge and puts the salt in the name.

Why the salt is in the name

Salt in a sweet biscuit is not there to be noticed as salt. A little of it sharpens the butter and keeps the sweetness from going flat, so the biscuit tastes richer than its short recipe suggests while staying only mildly sweet. The published ingredient list shows how short that recipe is: wheat flour at 58%, butter at 24%, sugar, raising agents, skimmed milk powder, salt at 1% and an emulsifier.

By that list it contains wheat (gluten) and milk, and it may contain egg and sesame, so it is not one for a coeliac or dairy-free table. Otherwise it is an obliging biscuit. Spread it with chocolate, press it into a fridge cake, or set it beside a delicate tea that anything spiced or coated would drown out, and it does the job without fuss.

How to dunk a thin, hard biscuit

Thin and hard is the best shape a dunking biscuit can have. The tea soaks in evenly and the biscuit softens instead of folding, so around four seconds is comfortable. Grip it flat along one of the long sides, never by a corner, or the end will break away into the mug. Pull it out while the middle still has some firmness and it will reach your mouth in one piece.

Set beside a British rich tea, the Petit Beurre has more going on: more butter, a note of salt and a firmer snap. A rich tea is the airier, plainer cousin, the one an office gets through by the box. Choose this pack when the biscuit is meant to be noticed rather than simply eaten, and when a small pack will be finished while it is still crisp.

Tea, coffee and the time of day

Butter and salt sit comfortably against either drink. Coffee is the older partner, and a bowl of milky coffee is the setting this kind of biscuit grew up in. With tea, choose something clean and black, such as an Earl Grey or a light Ceylon, rather than a heavy, malty blend that would bury the butter. A little milk in the cup ties the two together.

Low sweetness also makes it one of the few biscuits that sits sensibly at breakfast, which is where we shelve it. It works just as well mid-afternoon for anyone who finds British sweet biscuits too soft, and it is a biscuit children and grown-ups tend to agree on.

The packs we stock

Lu Le Petit Beurre Biscuits With Butter & a Hint of Salt, 167g (barcode 7622201499679)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Lu Le Petit Beurre Biscuits With Butter & a Hint of Salt, 167g (barcode 7622201499679) says it contains wheat (gluten) and milk, and it may contain egg and sesame. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.

Ingredients, as published: wheat flour 58 %, butter (from milk) 24%, sugar, raising agents (ammonium carbonates, diphosphates, sodium carbonates), skimmed milk powder, salt 1%, emulsifier (e472e).

Typical values per 100g	Per 100g
Energy	481 kcal
Fat	21g
of which saturates	14g
Carbohydrate	65g
of which sugars	25g
Fibre	2.4g
Protein	6.6g
Salt	1.6g

Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.

What to drink with it

Tetley Earl Grey, 50 Tea Bags 125g: a straightforward everyday Earl Grey, the clean black tea this biscuit likes best.
Twinings Scotland's Ceylon Tea (International Blend), 20 Tea Bags 40g: a light Ceylon that leaves the butter room to show, with or without milk.
Teapigs Darjeeling Earl Grey, 15 Tea Bags 37.5g: a finer Earl Grey on a Darjeeling base for a proper afternoon pot.

Elsewhere in the Lu range

The full range is on the Lu brand page.

FAQ

What do the notches on a Petit Beurre mean? In the classic design there are 52 points around the edge, one for each week of the year, and 24 dots for the hours of the day.

Does Le Petit Beurre taste salty? No. The hint of salt sharpens the butter and keeps the sweetness in check rather than tasting of salt itself.

How long can you dunk a Petit Beurre? About four seconds, held flat along a long side. It softens evenly rather than collapsing.

Does Lu Le Petit Beurre contain milk? Yes. The published ingredient list includes butter and skimmed milk powder. It also contains wheat (gluten), and it may contain egg and sesame.

Who created the Petit Beurre? Louis Lefèvre-Utile, who perfected the recipe in Nantes in 1886. The Lu name comes from the first letters of the Lefèvre and Utile family names.

Curator's note: Two of these with a pot of Earl Grey at four o'clock is about as civilised as an afternoon gets. Hold them flat when you dunk. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Lu Le Petit Beurre: The Butter Biscuit with a Calendar Edge

Field	Detail
Brand	Lu
Packs we stock	167g
Category	Breakfast Biscuits
Allergens (as published)	It contains wheat (gluten) and milk, and it may contain egg and sesame.
Dunkable	Yes, about four seconds, held flat
Sweetness	Low
Best with	Earl Grey or a light Ceylon