These easy buttermilk biscuits from scratch are buttery, tall, and full of pillowy soft layers. You only need a few ingredients to make the all-butter biscuits, and with the help of a dough-folding technique, you will have flaky biscuits in no time!
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If you are new to bread making, the from-scratch buttermilk biscuit is a good beginner recipe because you can get used to working with dough. But, if you’re already a bagel with different seasoning, pizza dough from scratch, or a bread-making master, these biscuits are also a great recipe to give yourself a little bread-making break!
If the idea of an easy bread recipe is intriguing, be sure to check out my Irish soda bread for two, or give these buttermilk biscuits a little spin and make a small batch of peach monkey bread muffins!
What Makes These Buttermilk Biscuits Better Than the Rest
- Butter ratio – I use a slightly higher ratio of butter to flour. Which yields to the delicious flavor and texture of these biscuits. And it also helps to make them fluffy and tall!
- Grated butter method – To make sure there is a good distribution of butter in the dough, I grate the butter. The better the distribution, the better the flaky layers.
- Seasoned – I use a little extra salt, plus pepper, in my easy biscuits. Salt punches up the butter flavor and pepper is a nice complement.
- Folding technique for layers – We flatten and fold the dough a few times to get all the fluffy layers, much like we do for making fluffy homemade croissants.
- No rolling pin – I don’t use a rolling pin to roll out or flatten my biscuit dough, I use my fingertips. A rolling pin can work the dough too much resulting in tougher, chewier biscuits. Using your hands provides a more gentle touch.
What Is The Secret To Fluffy Biscuits
If you haven’t guessed by now, it is butter. Cold, cold butter. There are leaveners in the from-scratch biscuit dough. However, cold butter also plays a key role in the tall, flaky layers of these homemade buttermilk biscuits. Why, you ask?
- Butter contains water. When cold water is hit with hot air (i.e. the hot oven), the water turns to steam. As a result, where all the little pieces of butter are in the biscuits, we are essentially creating little steam pockets. Which makes the biscuits poof up.
Easy Ingredient List
- All-Purpose Flour – AP flour will make the biscuits light. If you need a gluten free biscuit, you can try a 1:1 gluten free flour blend.
- Unsalted Butter – The colder the butter, the better. I keep sticks of butter in the freezer for these types of recipes.
- Buttermilk – Buttermilk is fermented milk and it has a high level of acidity. The acid in the buttermilk combines with the baking powder and baking soda to make the biscuits tall. Plus, it tenderizes the gluten in the flour to produce a tender biscuit.
- Baking Powder – Baking powder is a mix of baking soda and a weak acid, like cream of tartar. To keep the base and acid from reacting in the can, a buffer like cornstarch is included.
- Baking Soda – Baking soda works in combination with the acidity in the buttermilk to give the biscuits texture and with the baking powder to make the biscuits nice and tall.
- Salt and Pepper – Both add flavor. However, salt does double duty in that it enhances the flavor as well.
- Honey – The honey doesn’t make the biscuits sweet, it simply balances the savory flavors of the biscuit.
Simple Steps To Make Biscuits
Step 1. Grate the butter – Then place the grated butter in the freezer until you are ready for it.
Step 2. Measure and combine the dry ingredients – Use a larger bowl so you have plenty of room to mix. Then add the grated butter and mix just until the butter flakes are coated with flour.
Step 3. Add the buttermilk and honey – I like to pour it along the sides of the bowl because it will make coating and moisten the flour easily.
Step 4. Stir the dough – You want the dough to be coarse and shaggy. Add a little more buttermilk at a time if the dough is super dry. Keep in mind, that temperature and humidity can impact the dough. If it is warm or dry, you may need a little more buttermilk.
Step 5. Form the dough into a rough triangle – Use your hands and fingertips to shape the dough.
Step 6. Fold and turn the dough – This is dough lamination and where the biscuits get all their layers. Flatten (with your fingertips!) fold, turn, and repeat at least 3 times.
Step 7. Cut the biscuits – Use a biscuit cutter to even sizes and shapes. Press straight down with the cutter. Do not turn or twist the cutter as this can seal the edges of the dough and the biscuits won’t rise as tall!
Step 8. Brush the tops with extra buttermilk – This will give the biscuits a little extra texture on the outside.
Step 9. Bake – The biscuits will rise like little buildings as they bake! The tops, edges, and bottoms will be golden brown when they’re done.
Helpful Tips
- The butter and buttermilk need to be cold – The colder the better to make the biscuits tall, fluffy, and flaky.
- Don’t twist the biscuit cutter – This will seal the sides of the biscuits and block air circulation to make the butter steam, and the biscuits rise.
- Bake close, but not touching – I place my biscuits close to each other on the baking sheet, but not touching. We want air to be able to circulate the biscuits.
- Finish with butter – While the biscuits are warm, slather on some butter for extra flavor!
Recipe FAQ
Yes. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Fill the measuring cup with milk to the 1-cup mark and let it sit for 10 minutes in the refrigerator. The only milk I don’t recommend using is skim milk.
I use a cutter that is almost 3 inches in diameter. However, any size will work.
Keep the biscuits in a paper bag or zipper bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. Beyond that, they will start to dry out.
Yes! Place the biscuits in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room tempertaure.
Serving Ideas For Your Biscuits
- Pair the biscuits with a warm homemade gingerbread latte.
- A buttery biscuit is delicious alongside a bowl of peanut butter and jelly overnight oats.
- Raspberry chia seed jam is delicious smeared between two biscuit halves.
- Holiday eggnog overnight oats aren’t complete unless they have a warm biscuit as a dunker!
Recipe
Quick and Easy Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
EQUIPMENT
- Baking Sheet Unlined
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups all purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (optional)
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold ( )
- 1 cup buttermilk, cold (reserve and set aside 1 tablespoon)
- 1 tablespoon honey (or any sweetener)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Using a box cheese grater, grate the cold butter onto a piece of parchment paper. Put the grated butter in the freezer until ready to use.
- In a liquid measuring cup, measure out the buttermilk. Place it in the refrigerator until ready to use. See Notes for Homemade Buttermilk.
- Preheat oven to 425F degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula.2 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Remove the butter from the freezer and add it to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined.7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
- Remove the buttermilk from the refrigerator and reserve and set aside 1 tablespoon – this will be used to brush the tops of the biscuits.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the honey and 2/3 of the buttermilk to the dry ingredients. Mix gently and add more buttermilk as needed until the dough is coarse and crumbly and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. You don't want the dough to be too wet, and you may not need all of the buttermilk.1 cup buttermilk, cold, 1 tablespoon honey
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using your hands, gently work the dough together and form into a rough rectangle. If the dough is sticky, lightly flour the top of the dough.
- Once the dough has come together, fold the dough in half. With your fingertips, gently flatten the dough. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, gently flattening the layers again. Repeat this step 5-6 more times. Keep the surface lightly floured as needed to avoid the dough sticking to your work surface. The folding and rotating is what creates the flaky layers in the biscuit.
- Flatten the dough to approximately 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Dip the biscuit cutter into flour. Starting in one of the corners of the dough, gently press the biscuit cutter straight down – making close cuts to get as many biscuits as you can before having to re-work the dough. Note – The number of biscuits you get will depend on how thick your dough is and what size biscuit cutter you use. Re-flatten and cut any remaining dough.
- Place the biscuits close to each other, but not touching, on the baking sheet. With a pastry brush, brush the reserved buttermilk on top of each biscuit.
- Bake the biscuits until the tops are golden brown, about 18 – 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm! You can also brush on some melted butter or honey before serving.
RECIPE NOTES
- Homemade Buttermilk – Pour a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup, then pour milk to the 1 cup mark. Stir and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes before using. I prefer whole milk, but 2% will also work.
- Cold Butter – Butter is, by far, the most important ingredient in this recipe, and it needs to be VERY cold before using. I even go so far as to just keep sticks of butter in the freezer for recipes that need very cold butter.
- Grate the Butter – Grating the frozen butter on a cheese box grater is a great way to get small pieces of butter evenly distributed into your dough, without having to over-handle the butter. A pastry cutter will work as well, just cut the butter into tablespoons before using.
- Work by Hand – When preparing your dough, I do not use a rolling pin because I don’t want to over-work the dough or melt the small butter pieces in the dough. The folding and flattening technique is an easy alternative and it gives you more control of the dough and its thickness.
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about the author ...
I'm Erin and I'm all about desserts - and a little bit of butter!
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