These Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits are tender, flaky, buttery, and sooo deliciously irresistible when served fresh-out-of-the-oven warm. The best part? They’re easy to make!
If you’ve been afraid to try making your own homemade biscuits from scratch, I’m telling you right now don’t be! Forget whatever you might have heard about it being difficult. Actually, it’s not hard at all – especially when you know a few tips and tricks – and the results are sooo worth it!
These Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits are the perfect accompaniment to my Homemade Sausage Gravy for a hearty, filling breakfast, brunch, or dinner – or you could simply slather them with butter…or spread on some jam…or drizzle them with honey. Yum, yum, yum, and yum!
One of the best things about making biscuits (besides eating them!) is that they’re relatively quick and easy when compared to making dinner rolls with yeast. You don’t have to wait hours for the dough to rise. Just combine the ingredients, fold the dough a few times to get those awesome flaky layers, roll it out, cut out the biscuits, and bake. Done!
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED:
- Butter
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Buttermilk
If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a buttermilk substitute by combining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar with enough milk to make 1 cup. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. This recipe only calls for ¾ cup, so you may have a little left over. You can brush it on the tops of the biscuits before baking or discard it.
Note: Don’t substitute only regular milk in this recipe. The acidity in the buttermilk (or from the lemon juice or vinegar if making the substitute) is key in keeping the biscuits tender.
HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS:
Don’t let all those steps scare you away…they’re all really simple, and it goes fast!
TIPS & TIDBITS:
There are a few tricks to making tall, tender, flaky buttermilk biscuits.
- Make sure the buttermilk, and especially the butter, are very COLD! Those cold bits of butter melt and create steam pockets, which is what gives the biscuits those nice tall, flaky layers. Warm butter equals hockey-puck-like biscuits.
- Work FAST! Again, you want to keep that butter cold. The quicker you work, the colder it will stay.
- Don’t over-mix the dough after you add the buttermilk. As soon as the dough starts to come together, stop mixing (it will probably be a little shaggy at this point and there might even be some crumbles in the bottom of the bowl – that’s exactly how you want it to be).
- GENTLY handle the dough when shaping and folding. Use a light touch. Don’t use a lot of pressure. When you work the dough too much… again, hockey pucks.
- When cutting out the biscuits, dip your cutter in flour each time and just cut straight down for a nice clean cut. Don’t twist the cutter! Doing so may pinch the edges of the dough together, preventing your biscuits from rising properly (see the top biscuit in the photo below – it’s a little lopsided because I accidentally twisted the cutter – it’s a hard habit to break – but it was still yummy!).
- Cut out as many biscuits as you can on the first try. Biscuits made from scraps will likely be a little more dense because you have worked the dough more.
- Instead of cutting out circles, you could just cut the dough into equal-sized squares with a knife – so no scraps! If doing it this way, I would probably cut the dough into 8 or 10 squares (12 might give you a more rectangle shape).
CAN YOU FREEZE HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS? YES!
Although there is nothing better than warm biscuits fresh out of the oven, whenever I have leftover biscuits, I freeze them immediately because, unfortunately, they lose their freshness pretty quickly (even within a day).
Freezing the leftover biscuits helps keep that fresh-from-the-oven texture. Store the biscuits in a freezer bag or container, and remove as much air as possible without crushing the biscuits.
When you want some biscuits, just thaw and then reheat them in a 350°F oven for a few minutes just until warmed through. You could also put them in the microwave for about 20 seconds or until warmed through.
So, are you ready to say goodbye to the can and give it a try?
I hope you try this recipe for Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits and love it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting today!
Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons cold butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup cold buttermilk
Instructions
- Cut the cold butter into cubes and place in a bowl. Put in the freezer while you preheat the oven (this usually takes about 15 to 20 minutes). Don't skip this step. One of the keys to light and flaky biscuits is using cold butter – as the butter melts, it creates steam pockets which make those wonderful flaky layers.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the cold butter to the flour mixture and combine, using a pastry blender or two knives, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with bits of butter that are the size of small peas.
- Add the buttermilk and stir just until the dough starts to come together. It will be a bit shaggy at this point, and there may even be a few crumbly bits at the bottom of the bowl. This is fine and is how you want it to be. If it is super dry and not coming together, add a little more buttermilk. Note: You need to be very careful to not over-mix the dough, as this will cause your biscuits to be dense and less tender. ¾
- Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface. Gently gather the dough together, along with any crumbs, and shape into a rectangle (about the size of a sheet of paper). Gently fold the dough into thirds (like you would fold a letter).
- Turn the dough 90 degrees (a half turn), and shape into another rectangle. Again, fold the dough into thirds.
- Turn the dough 90 degrees, and shape into another rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds one last time.
- Turn the dough over so that the seam is at the bottom. Using a rolling pin, gently roll out the dough to ½-inch thickness.
- Using a 2½-inch biscuit cutter and dipping the cutter into some flour before each cut, cut out 12 biscuits (or as many as you can). Only press the biscuit cutter straight down, and do not twist the cutter. Twisting the cutter can pinch together some of the edges, causing the biscuits to rise improperly. If you need to use the scraps to get a few more biscuits, gather the dough together and gently roll it out and cut out a few more. These biscuits will likely be a little more dense because you have worked the dough more. Try to get as many as you can out of that first cut. Alternately, you could use a knife and cut the dough into 8 to 10 squares – no scraps or re-rolling the dough!
- Place the biscuits on the baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until the biscuits have puffed up and are golden brown.
- Best when served warm from the oven!
Notes
- Once you add the butter, work as quickly as you can on the remaining steps. You want to keep the butter as cold as possible for tender, flaky biscuits.
- It’s important that you use a light touch and not a lot of pressure when handling the dough. Overworked dough will result in dense, tough biscuits.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a substitute by combining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar with enough milk to make 1 cup. Let sit for 5 minutes. Since the recipe only calls for 3/4 cup, you may not use it all. If you have some left over, you can brush it on the biscuits before baking or discard it.
Recipe slightly adapted from allrecipes.
If you made this or any of my other recipes, take a photo and tag @nowcookthis on Instagram and hashtag it #nowcookthisrecipes.
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