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Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits are flaky and delicious! Learn how to make biscuits from scratch with this recipe and instructions.
Featured with this recipe
- Ingredients for Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Making the Dough for Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Knead the Dough and Bake
- How to Avoid Flat Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Tips for Making Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Ideas for Enjoying Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Storing Homemade Buttermilk Biscuit
- More Bread Side Dishes to Try
- How to Make Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe
These buttermilk biscuits check all the boxes! These biscuits are quick and easy to make. They have a soft and flaky inside with a perfectly golden brown outside. Plus, they also have that yummy tangy buttermilk taste.
You will never make the stuff from the tube again! I love using this biscuit recipe for biscuits and gravy, strawberry shortcakes, and breakfast sandwiches. However, they are great with just some butter and honey or jam. My favorite topping is this Strawberry Freezer Jam!
Ingredients for Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
Most of these ingredients are pantry and fridge staples. They are easy to store for long periods of time in dark and cool places. Having these staples on hand allows you to make these homemade buttermilk biscuits when needed!
- Flour – We use all-purpose flour for this recipe. Sift it for best results.
- Baking powder – Baking powder is the leavening agent for these biscuits. It makes them nice and tall and fluffy!
- Sugar – Just a touch of sweetness makes these biscuits taste amazing.
- Salt – Just a little bit of salt for flavor.
- Cream of Tartar – Cream of Tartar, when combined with a liquid like buttermilk, helps to activate the baking powder.
- Butter – Make sure you use cold butter. It makes all the difference in the texture. Put the butter in the freezer for a few minutes before using, but don’t freeze completely.
- Shortening – Shortening aids butter in the creation of flaky layers, but it helps the biscuits stay tender. The shortening can be at room temperature because it has a higher melting point than butter.
- Buttermilk – Buttermilk gives the biscuits a nice tangy flavor and helps bind everything together.
- Melted butter – If desired, then you can brush melted butter on the tops of the biscuits right after they come out of the oven. This is optional.
Making the Dough for Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
The dough comes together with a few simple steps. Grating the butter and using a pastry cutter helps make the dough flakey. Follow these steps for the best dough.
- Start – Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Grating butter – Add the butter and shortening to the bowl. I like to cut the shortening into small cubes and if I have time I like to grate the cold butter with a cheese grater. Grating the butter makes it easier to mix into the flour mixture.
- Mix – Use a pastry blender, pastry cutter, or your hands to mix the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients. You want the mixture to become crumbly, with no crumbs bigger than the size of a pea.
- Add buttermilk – Once the mixture is crumbly, make a large well in the center of the bowl. Pour all the buttermilk into the well.
- Folding – Then, use a fork or your hands to mix the buttermilk into the flour mixture. Once the buttermilk is incorporated, start folding the dough back on itself and pressing down. Do this until the dough forms a ball.
Knead the Dough and Bake
Handle the dough gently, with a light touch. The dough will be soft and easy to knead if it is not overmixed. The rolling pin will help roll the dough into a thick circle. Baking the dough will help it rise in the oven and give it the flakey layers.
- Knead – Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead it about 5 times until it isn’t sticky to the touch.
- Rolling pin – Pat with your hands or use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a rectangle about 3/4-inch in thickness.
- Cut biscuits – Using a biscuit cutter, a cookie cutter, or the rim of a glass, cut out the biscuits. Try to get as many biscuits out of one rectangle of dough as you can. Roll the scraps together and repeat until all the dough is used.
- Bake – Place a piece of parchment paper or a mat on a lined baking sheet and then place the cutout biscuits about 1 inch apart on the paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.
How to Avoid Flat Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Expiration – If your buttermilk biscuits don’t grow nice and tall in the oven, there are a couple of things that might have gone wrong. First, check the expiration date on your baking powder. Baking powder is the key leavening agent in this recipe. If you’ve had yours for over a year, it might not be doing its job.
- Overmixed – You might have overworked your dough. If you knead the dough too much or roll it out too firmly, you can stunt the growth of the biscuits.
- Not cold enough – The last reason that your biscuits might be too short is if your butter isn’t cold enough. If the butter melts too early in the oven, it doesn’t produce the airy, flaky layers.
Try to cut out as many biscuits as possible the first time you roll out the dough. The more you roll the dough, the tougher it gets. This results in biscuits that are a little less tender and flaky. We find that you get the best yield if you roll the dough out in a rectangle.
Tips for Making Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Fresh ingredients – Since most of the ingredients are stored and pantry favorites, the ingredients can become old or not as fresh if left out or not sealed properly. This will be reflected in the way the buttermilk biscuits rise and bake.
- Cold ingredients – Keep your buttermilk and butter cold until you are ready to use them. The colder they are the better.
- Don’t overmix – For biscuits and most dough, you want to make sure you only mix until it is well combined. This will give a soft and flakey biscuit. Too much mixing can turn into hard and stale biscuits when they are baked and stored.
- Cutting the biscuits – Use a biscuit cutter to help make firm and direct circle cuts. Do not twist and turn the biscuit cutter. This will restrain the biscuits from rising.
- Golden brown – For a golden brown bottom, place the baking sheet in the oven ahead of time. Once it is warm or hot, put the biscuit dough circles on the pan. This will pre-bake the biscuit bottoms.
- Keep them close – Place the biscuits close to each other on the pan to help the biscuit grow upwards rather than out.
- Add – Try adding herbs, cheddar cheese, or melted butter on top of the baked biscuits.
Ideas for Enjoying Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
Enjoy these homemade buttermilk biscuits for breakfast, an easy side dish, or a dessert!
- Biscuits and gravy – We love a classic sausage gravy that covers the baked biscuits.
- Jam – Choose your favorite jam or jelly to spread in between the sliced biscuits.
- Breakfast sandwiches – Cook bacon and eggs and assemble a breakfast sandwich with them and the biscuit.
- Strawberry shortcake – Slice the biscuit in half and add strawberries and whipped cream for a delicious strawberry shortcake dessert.
- Honey – Honey and honey butter taste delicious on buttermilk biscuits.
“There is nothing like homemade biscuits! This recipe was easy to follow, and they came out perfect. Definitely a great addition to our dinner!”
-Brandy
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, don’t fret. You can still achieve that creamy texture and tangy flavor. To replace buttermilk in this recipe, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a 1 cup measuring cup. Fill the rest of the cup with whole milk. Let this mixture sit for about 10 minutes and then add it to the dry ingredients.
Using cold butter is best, making sure the baking powder is not expired, and cutting the biscuits perfectly without twisting them.
The cold butter will help give you fluffy biscuits every time.
Butter is our first choice! It allows the biscuits to rise the highest.
Storing Homemade Buttermilk Biscuit
These buttermilk biscuits are best right out of the oven. However, if you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container on the counter. For best results, heat before serving again. Biscuits will be kept for a few days.
More Bread Side Dishes to Try
You will love these bread recipes that are homemade and with ingredients you already have at home. Each of these recipes accomadate most main dish recipes. You can’t go wrong with a roll or breadstick at your next dinner!
How to Make Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup butter, cold
- ¼ cup shortening
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.
- Using a pastry blender or your hands, mix in the butter and shortening until coarse crumbs form. Create a well in the middle.
- Add buttermilk to the well and stir with a wooden spoon or your hands until a dough ball forms. Knead the dough about 5 times, until it holds together without being sticky.
- Roll out on a floured surface, to about ¾ inch thickness. Cut the dough into circles with a cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, or the rim of a large glass. Place on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden. Serve immediately.
Perfect recipe to make with kids. They love baking with me. We enjoyed these biscuites with some jam, thank you.
There is nothing like homemade biscuits! This recipe was easy to follow, and they came out perfect. Definitely a great addition to our dinner!