A family favorite! This easy recipe works as a sweet or savory breakfast treat or as a delicious side for dinner.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Fast and easy
- Versatile recipe that works for breakfast, lunch, or dinner
- Dough freezes well for up to 3 months for a quick meal solution
About the Ingredients
The beauty of a truly great biscuit is that it asks almost nothing of your pantry. These come together with six ingredients you almost certainly already have — and understanding what each one does is the difference between a biscuit that rises tall and pulls apart in flaky layers and one that comes out dense and flat.
Flour is your foundation. All-purpose flour gives these biscuits enough structure to hold their shape when rolled and cut while staying tender enough to pull apart cleanly. Bread flour will make them tough — stick with all-purpose.
Cold butter is the single most important ingredient in this recipe. When cold butter hits the heat of the oven it releases steam, and that steam is what creates the flaky layers biscuits are famous for. Cold means cold — if your kitchen runs warm, cut your butter and put it back in the freezer for ten minutes before you start. Do not soften it, do not melt it, and do not use margarine.
Baking powder is your primary leavener and the reason these biscuits are oven-ready in under 20 minutes with no yeast and no rise time. Make sure yours is fresh — baking powder loses its lift after about six months and flat biscuits are almost always a sign of expired leavener. Test it by dropping a teaspoon in hot water. If it bubbles vigorously it is still good.
Buttermilk is what separates a good biscuit from a great one. The natural acidity in buttermilk reacts with the baking powder to produce extra lift, giving these biscuits their tall, layered rise. It also tenderizes the gluten in the flour, which is why the crumb stays soft and pulls apart instead of tearing. Do not substitute regular milk if you can help it — but if you must, add one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of whole milk, stir, and let it sit for five minutes before using.
Salt is not optional. It is what makes everything else taste like itself. Under-salted biscuits taste flat no matter how good your butter and buttermilk are.
Full quantities and measurements are in the recipe card below.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour - spooned and leveled (optional)
- 1 TB baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 TB cold butter
- 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F Prep the cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Dry Ingredients: Spoon flour into measuring cup and flatten with the back of a knife. This step is often skipped but too much flour makes the biscuits tough and heavy. Use a wire whisk to combine all dry ingredients together.
- Butter: If you don't have a food processor stick a fork in the butter and run it across a standard cheese grater to allow butter to distribute evenly and keep the butter cold.
- Buttermilk: I have used whole milk when I don't have buttermilk or if i want the extra flavor of buttermilk take whole milk and add 1/2 tsp if white vinegar to curdle the milk. Whatever you use make sure it is very cold when added to the dry ingredient/butter mixture
- Handle the dough: Lightly combine the wet and dry ingredients. The dough will have areas that are dry and the butter should still be solid. Don't underestimate the importance of this step. If the dough is overworked your biscuit is heavy and dense.
- Rollout: Empty the dough onto a lightly floured surface or a pastry cloth. Keep the dough cold by quickly rolling the dough to 1/4 inch
- Secret Trick: Fold the dough over on itself 2 times. Roll out without over combining the ingredients. The fold over is the secret to a flaky biscuit.
- Cut Out Biscuits: Using a round cookie cutter cut out 10 round biscuits and place them on prepared cookie sheet.
- Optional: Brush room temperature melted butter on the top of the biscuits before putting in the oven
- Bake: Put biscuits in the oven at 450 for 15-17 minutes until golden brown on the top.
Tips and Variations
Don't overwork your dough: Barely combined is the goal.
Add your favorite cheese and garlic for a savory dinner side.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a flaky biscuit everytime?
Roll the dough to a 1/4 inch- fold it over on itself 2 times then roll it out to 1/2 inch and shape with a cookie cutter. These layers bake into a beautiful flaky masterpiece!
