These homemade buttermilk biscuits are soft and buttery with hundreds of flaky layers. This biscuit recipe only requires 6 simple ingredients and they’re ready in about 35 minutes.
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more helpful success tips.
.jfif)
What are Biscuits?
The term “biscuits” has different meanings depending where you live in the world. In the U.S., biscuits are similar to a dinner roll, but are denser and flakier because they aren’t (typically) made with yeast. Since there’s usually no yeast involved and the rising agent is either baking soda, baking powder, or both—biscuits are considered a quick bread, like banana bread and no yeast bread . In other parts of the world, “biscuits” are more like cookies or scones.
.jfif)
6 Key Ingredients in Buttermilk Biscuits
You need just 6 basic ingredients for my homemade biscuits recipe:
- 1.All-purpose Flour
- 2.Baking Powder
- 3.Salt
- 4.Cold Butter
- 5.Cold Buttermilk
- 6.Honey
- With so few ingredients, it’s important to reach for quality ingredients and avoid any substitutions. Notice the emphasis on cold? See tip #1 below.
.jfif)
Success Tips for the Best Homemade Biscuits
Let me share what I’ve learned in the world of homemade buttermilk biscuit recipes. I’ve made plenty of mistakes so you don’t have to. These tried-and-true tricks will turn your flat, dry biscuits into the best biscuits ever. And that’s a guarantee.
- Cold Fat: For flaky layers and pockets, use cold butter. When little pieces of butter melt as the biscuits bake, they release steam and create little pockets of air–this makes the biscuits airy and flaky on the inside while remaining crisp on the outside. It’s the same thing that happens when making these ham and cheese scones .
- Buttermilk & Honey for Flavor: Real buttermilk and teeny drizzle of honey balance out the salt. Buttermilk creates the most tender biscuit! If you’re interested, I have plenty more on this topic in my Baking with buttermilk post (including a DIY buttermilk substitute recipe).
- Don’t Over Mix: Never overwork biscuit dough. Overworking and over-handling biscuit dough will result in tough, hard, and flat biscuits. Mix the ingredients together *just* until combined. Dough will be crumbly; that’s normal.
- Flatten & Fold Method: The most important step of all is folding the dough together. Turn the scrappy dough out onto a work surface and flatten it with your hands. Form into a rectangle. More below.
- Don’t Twist the Biscuit Cutter: When cutting the dough with a biscuit cutter, do not twist the cutter. Press the cutter down into the dough firmly. Twisting it will seal off the biscuit edges, preventing the biscuits from rising.
- Bake Close Together: Biscuits rise up nice and tall when they are touching, pressed snuggly against one another in the oven.
How to Fold Biscuit Dough
Flattening and folding biscuit dough creates multiple flaky layers, just as it does when we make homemade croissants, rough puff pastry,mille feuille and croissant bread , This step will take you no more than 2 minutes and you’ll be rewarded with the flakiest biscuits in the world. First, shape dough into a rectangle:
.jfif)
Then the other side:
Turn the folded dough horizontal, gently flatten, and begin that folding process 2 more times.
The dough should be about 3/4 inch thick and the biscuits will rise as they bake.
Honey Butter Topping
The honey butter topping is optional, but it will set your biscuits apart from the rest. When the biscuits come out of the oven, brush with a mix of melted butter + honey. You use both ingredients in the biscuit dough, keeping the count at 6 ingredients total.
Serve your homemade biscuits with jam or homemade rasberry sauce ,cinnamon butter , or biscuit and gravy —I love this particular recipe. Or a swipe of homemade honey butter really kicks it up a notch!
.jfif)
0 Comments