Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
This is the ultimate homemade buttermilk biscuits recipe! These biscuits are crisp on the outside, with buttery soft layers you can literally peel back like pages in a book! Best of all, this flaky biscuit recipe is ready in under 30 minutes!
A great recipe for old-fashioned buttermilk biscuits is a must for anyone cooking from scratch, and although the concept seems simple enough, without the right recipe disappointment is imminent.
This recipe is straightforward and versatile! Use it to top this crab chowder, serve it with this chorizo chili or enjoy it alongside your favorite breakfast recipes with a spoonful of blueberry compote. If you're looking for an even easier biscuit recipe, try these homemade cheddar bay biscuits!
Recipe Overview: Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
✅ Recipe Name: Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
🕒 Ready In: 22 minutes
👪 Serves: 10
🍽 Calories: 248 calories (estimated)
🥣 Main Ingredients: flour, buttermilk, butter, brown sugar.
👌 Difficulty: Easy! Knead, roll, cut, and bake!
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Why You'll Love This Biscuit Recipe
- They're easy to make & restaurant-worthy! Seriously, this is one of my best butter biscuit recipes & you'll have a hard time going back to those ready-made cans of biscuit dough!
- You don't need any special ingredients! This recipe ends up perfect even if you tend to reach for the cheaper store brands like me.
- Layers on layers! The pockets of butter and the technique for these biscuits give you pillowy layers for days!
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Key Ingredients
All-purpose flour. Has enough gluten for a stable structure, so the biscuits aren't crumbly.
Cultured buttermilk. A signature tangy flavor that tenderizes the crumb and helps make these biscuits soft.
Butter. Gives the biscuits a tender texture and rich flavor and contributes to the flaky layers as they melt just like my Belizean tortilla recipe.
Brown sugar. Has a warmer flavor than granulated sugar and gives these homemade buttermilk biscuits a softer, more moist texture.
How to Make Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Step 1: Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles fine sand with large butter clumps.
- Step 2: Add the buttermilk and knead just until the dough comes together.
- Step 3: Roll out the biscuit dough, add sliced butter, and roll it out again.
- Step 4: Cut out the biscuit dough as desired.
- Step 5: Bake and enjoy your homemade buttermilk biscuits!
Biscuit FAQs
Cultured buttermilk is thicker due to being fermented, giving it a tangy flavor. Uncultured buttermilk is the same by-product of butter-making, but it hasn't been fermented, so it is thinner with a sweeter and more subtle flavor.
These flaky buttermilk biscuits use cultured buttermilk. Most buttermilk you get in the grocery store will be cultured.
No. Although grating frozen butter has become a viral hack when making biscuits, it's actually more of a hassle and messier than rubbing the butter directly into the dry ingredients. Grating may help to ensure chunks of butter are preserved in the biscuit dough, but it does away with an important step - coating the flour in butter.
When you rub butter into the dry ingredients, the fat coats the flour, preventing it from developing too much gluten. This is the same principle used in the reverse creaming method I employ for my pink champagne cupcakes, brown butter vanilla cupcakes, and my moist lemon bundt cake recipe.
Also, washing a greasy grater is punishment on its own.
There are several culprits that prevent biscuits from rising. The first is expired baking powder. Past the date of expiration, the leavening powder is no longer reliable, so make sure you have a good can.
Next is oven temperature. These biscuits depend on a hot oven for a strong rise. Use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven reading is accurate.
Lastly is the cutting method. When cutting out your biscuits, use a single downward motion and pull the butter/knife directly up. Do not twist or drag the cutter, as this seals the ends, inhibiting rising. Also, if you choose to cut your biscuits into squares, be sure to trim the edges to expose the layers.
Top Tips For the World's Best Biscuits
- Skip the parchment paper. Since these biscuits use a high ratio of fat, using parchment paper can prevent the butter from completely browning and getting crisp.
- Use cold butter & buttermilk. It prevents the butter from melting during kneading and rolling to keep the butter pockets intact for flaky layers!
- Don't overwork the dough. For the same reason as above, to preserve the butter chunks. Only knead/mix the dough until all the flour is incorporated.
- Use metric measurements. Grams are more precise for these homemade buttermilk biscuits and prevent you from adding too much flour, which would make the biscuits dry. If you insist on using measuring cups, spoon the flour into the measuring cups to avoid packing. Here's my favorite kitchen scale.
- Make taller, larger biscuits by rolling out the dough to a thicker height.
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The Flakiest Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits!
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Add the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt to a bowl and mix thoroughly to evenly distribute.300 grams all-purpose flour, 56 grams brown sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt
- Cube 8 tablespoons (½ cup) of the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients from the previous step until the mixture mostly resembles fine sand but still has some chunks of butter.170 grams unsalted butter
- Add the buttermilk and, using your hands, form the mixture into a dough just until combined. Avoid using a full kneading motion and instead, push the dry ingredients into the wet portion of the dough repeating this until there are no more dry spots.180 milliliters cultured buttermilk
- On a floured surface roll the dough out until half-inch thick.
- Spread the remaining 4 tablespoons (¼ cup) of butter evenly across the surface of the rolled out dough. If slicing the butter be sure to make cuts as thin as possible.170 grams unsalted butter
- Roll the dough up lengthwise then tuck the ends inward to form a ball.
- Roll the dough out again until a half to three-quarters inch thick and cut into your desired shapes. Whatever your tool of choice, use one downward motion to cut; do not drag or twist.
- Arrange the biscuits on a baking sheet leaving at least an inch of space around each. Alternatively, you can arrange in a pan close together for pull-apart biscuits.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. If the biscuits were arranged closer together the baking time will be about 5 minutes longer.
- Enjoy warm with your favorite toppings and/or alongside your favorite breakfast mains!
Nutrition
Notes
- Skip the parchment paper to maximize browning.
- Use cold butter & buttermilk to keep the butter pockets intact for flaky layers!
- Don't overwork the dough. For the same reason as above, to preserve the butter chunks.
The perfect biscuit for the morning! Love it with my breakfast!