The Best Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

The best recipe for buttermilk biscuits that are extra tall, flaky, fluffy and perfect to eat on their own or piled high with gravy, butter, or jam.

All hail the perfectly buttery biscuit that has a million flaky layers, a crispy crunchy top, and a light and fluffy center. This, my friends, is one delicious homemade biscuit, and I’m so excited to share the recipe with you today.

I have a tried-and-true butter biscuit recipe that I use all the time. I use it so often that I have it memorized. That being said, I was on the hunt for a traditional buttermilk biscuit recipe. That’s the funny thing about loving to cook and bake – you’re always looking for the next best recipe. Why use buttermilk in a biscuit, you might ask? Well the acid from the buttermilk reacts more prevalently with the baking powder and it lends to biscuits that are extra tall and fluffy. This recipe is also unique in the fact that there’s an egg in it. Yes friends, an egg in a biscuit recipe. I found that it made the dough really nice to work with and made the biscuits extra tender.

These biscuits are perfection.

Tips and Tricks for Making the Best Buttermilk Biscuits of Your Life:

• Use a biscuit cutter. No biscuit cutter? Use a knife and cut the dough into squares. A sharp edge when cutting biscuits keeps the flaky layers from getting mashed together.
• Make sure your baking powder is fresh. Baking powder plays a big rolE in this recipe. If you don’t cook much, be sure to check the expiration date before adding it to your biscuits.
• Use cold butter and cold buttermilk. The cold helps to form the flaky layers.
• Pro Tip: use a cheese grater to grate cold or even frozen butter into Your flour mixture. Then you can finish working it in with a fork or pastry blender. It speeds up biscuit making a ton.
• This recipe makes very large biscuits. You can make smaller biscuits by rolling out the dough to 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick before cutting, getting almost double the number of biscuits. Adjust baking time as needed.

What can I substitute for buttermilk?

There are a couple of different substitutes for buttermilk in baking. For each cup of buttermilk, you can use 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice plus enough milk to measure 1 cup. Stir, then let rest for 5 minutes before using. You can also use 1 cup of plain yogurt or 1-3/4 teaspoons cream of tartar plus 1 cup milk.

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The Best Buttermilk Biscuits

The best recipe for buttermilk biscuits that are extra tall, flaky, fluffy and perfect to eat on their own or piled high with gravy.

• Author: Melissa Griffiths - Bless this Mess
• Prep Time: 15 min
• Cook Time: 15 min
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 9-12 biscuits

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup cold or frozen butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup cold buttermilk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to combine well.
3. Use a cheese grater to grate the butter into the flour mixture. Then use a pastry cutter or a fork to combine the butter and flour mixture well (you can use a fork for the whole process but using a cheese grater first works super well – I recommend it). The goal is to have pea-sized pieces of butter mixed into your flour mixture.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg and buttermilk. Use a fork to whisk the two together and slowly bring in the flour mixture.
5. Stir until the biscuits just come together, taking care not to over mix.
6. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and finish combining by lightly kneading the dough together.
7. Roll the dough into a 2-inch-thick slab. Use a  biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can and place them on the prepared sheet, 1 inch apart.
8. Re-roll the dough and cut more biscuits until you have used all of the dough, adding a bit of flour to your work surface and rolling pin as needed. You should end up with 9-12 biscuits.
9. Bake the biscuits for 15-18 minutes until the tops are very golden brown.
10. Remove from the oven and serve right away.

Notes

• Use a biscuit cutter. No biscuit cutter? Use a knife and cut the dough into squares. A sharp edge when cutting biscuits keeps the flaky layers from getting mashed together.
• Make sure your baking powder is fresh. Baking powder plays a big role in this recipe. If you don’t cook much, be sure to check the expiration date before adding it to your biscuits.
• Use cold butter and cold buttermilk. The cold helps to form the flaky layers in between.
• Pro Tip: use a cheese grater to grate cold or even frozen butter into your flour mixture. Then you can finish working it in with a fork or pastry blender. It speeds up biscuit making a ton.
• These make very large biscuits. You can make smaller biscuits by rolling out the dough to 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick before cutting, getting almost double the number of biscuits. Adjust baking time as needed.

Buttermilk biscuit recipe hitting the spot? So might these recipes:

• Quick and Easy Sweet Potato Biscuits
• The Best Biscuit Recipe Ever, Really
• Pumpkin Skillet Biscuits
• Maple Cornmeal Biscuits
• Sausage gravy recipe coming soon!

If the pictures in this post didn’t get you hungry, you much have just eaten. I can’t wait to make these again! When I was recipe-testing, I made 3 different recipe variations at once so we could compare them side by side. My kids had so much fun eating biscuits and telling me what they thought. This was the clear winner and I’m sure you’ll see why. Enjoy this amazing recipe from my kitchen to yours!