Cinnamon Sugar Biscuits From Scratch
Ready in under 40 minutes, these flaky all-butter cinnamon buttermilk biscuits are baked in a sugar-coated pan and make the softest breakfast biscuits with crisp caramelized cinnamon-sugar tops.
Servings: 7 3-Inch Biscuits
Calories: 279kcal
Equipment
- 8-Inch Round Cake Pan
- Rolling Mat optional
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold plus more to grease pan
- 1 cup buttermilk, cold reserve and set aside 1 tablespoon
- 2 to 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
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. Tip - see the Notes below to make homemade buttermilk.
- Preheat oven to 425F degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with a tablespoon of butter. Coat the pan with cinnamon sugar - swirl around to get the sides!
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.2 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Add the chilled butter shavings to the flour and stir until all the pieces are coated with flour.7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
- Reserve 1 tablespoon of buttermilk to brush over the top of the biscuits.
- Pour about 2/3 of the buttermilk over the dry ingredients. You may not need all of it. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix gently until the dough is moist, coarse, and crumbly. Add more buttermilk as needed. You don't want the dough to be too wet. Temperature and humidity can affect how much is needed. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of buttermilk to brush over the biscuits before baking. If you used all of it, regular milk or cream will work.1 cup buttermilk, cold
- Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using your hands, gently work the dough together and form it into a rough rectangle. If the dough is sticky, lightly flour the top of the dough. Tip - I provide a link above for the rolling mat I like to use to form and cut the biscuits. It sticks to the countertop and makes clean-up easy!
- Once the dough has come together, fold it 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 2 to 3 more times. Keep the surface lightly floured to avoid the dough sticking to your work surface. The folding and rotating (aka "laminating") is what creates the flaky layers in the biscuits.
- Flatten the dough to approximately 1/2 to 3/4 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. Re-flatten and cut any remaining dough. Note - The number of biscuits you get will depend on how thick your dough is and what size biscuit cutter you use. For an 8-inch round pan, it will snuggly fit 7 biscuits.
- Place the biscuits in the prepared pan. It's ok if they touch. Brush the tops with the reserved buttermilk, then sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.2 to 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
- Bake the biscuits until the tops are golden brown, about 20 to 22 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve warm. You can also drizzle the biscuits with a simple glaze (see next step).
- Simple Biscuit Glaze - Mix 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, 1/8 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 2 to 3 teaspoons of cream, milk, or water. For a thinner glaze, add extra splashes of liquid to reach the desired consistency. You can also add a couple dashes of cinnamon for extra flavor.
Notes
- Serving Size - This recipe is easily doubled. Either use 2 8-inch baking pans, or 9x13 baking dish.
- Baking Pan - For the small batch, you can also use an 11 x 7-Inch baking pan.
- 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 a key ingredient in this recipe, and it needs to be VERY cold before using.
- Grate the Butter - Grating the butter is a great way to get small pieces of butter evenly distributed into your dough. A pastry cutter will work as well, just cut the butter into tablespoons before using.
- Work by Hand - I do not use a rolling pin because I don't want to overwork the dough or melt the butter. The folding and flattening technique is an easy alternative and it gives you more control of the dough and its thickness.
- Cinnamon Sugar - Use premade or make your own: 1 teaspoon of cinnamon for every 1 tablespoon of sugar.
- Storage - Cover and store leftover biscuits at room temperature for 3 to 5 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 279kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 509mg | Potassium: 89mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 407IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 2mg