Buttermilk Biscuits
on May 03, 2022, Updated Feb 05, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
The best recipe for extra tall, flaky and fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits. They taste amazing on their own or piled high with sausage gravy, butter, or jam! This is the only biscuit recipe you need!
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.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll This Recipe
- Taste: Buttermilk gives a tangy flavor and tender texture.
- Comfort: Associated with home and tradition, offering a sense of warmth.
- Ease of Making: Simple ingredients and quick preparation make them accessible to bakers of all levels.
Recipe Ingredients
- All purpose flour: this is the back bone of the recipe, I like using it because I always have it on hand!
- Sugar: just a little to add a little flavor and balance
- Baking powder: this is what helps react with the buttermilk and make extra fluffy and tall biscuits
- Salt: just a bit for balance and flavor
- Butter: using cold butter and working it into the flour makes for flaky layers in your biscuits
- Egg: not traditional in biscuits but this helps everything come together
- Buttermilk: this is the ingredient that helps to add tenderness and flakiness to the biscuits as well a flavor! It’s magic. If you are new to using buttermilk or don’t have any on hand, read this post for substitutions or how to make your own.
How To Make Buttermilk Biscuits
- Add your sugar, baking powder, and salt to the flour and mix to combine.
- Grate the butter into the flour and mix to combine.
- Add the egg and buttermilk and stir until it all comes together.
- Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out and cut with a biscuit cutter.
- Bake, serve, and enjoy! These are great on their own, but butter/jam/and or honey on top or to make breakfast sandwiches with or to serve under some sausage gravy.
Expert Tips
- 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.
Frequently Asked Questions:
I prefer to use a biscuit cutter. However, if you don’t have one, simply use a knife and cut the dough into squares. A sharp edge when cutting biscuits keeps the flaky layers from getting mashed together.
Using cold butter helps to form the flaky layers that you want in a biscuit. Using cold butter will create the texture that makes these so desirable. 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.
If you over mix or overwork the biscuit dough it will become tough and won’t be as tall as you want them. You want to mix the ingredients just until all the ingredients are combined. If the dough is still just a bit crumbly then you know that you haven’t over mixed the dough and you are good to go!
One of the best parts about buttermilk is that you can make it at home and substitute it for so many things. I wrote a whole post on buttermilk, it’s substitutions, and how to make it at home. You can find more information on buttermilk here.
How To Store Leftovers
These are best stored in an air-tight container at room temperature (for 1-2 days) or in the fridge for 3-5 days. You can reheat them gently in the oven and they are good at room temperature. They also freeze very well.
More Breakfast Recipes
Did you try this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ rating below and share it on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup cold or frozen butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup cold buttermilk, buttermilk substitute
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to combine well.
- 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.
- 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.
- Stir until the biscuits just come together, taking care not to over mix.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and finish combining by lightly kneading the dough together.
- 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.
- 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.
- Bake the biscuits for 15-18 minutes until the tops are very golden brown.
- 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.
- Don’t have buttermilk? See buttermilk substitutions and how to make it yourself here.
Hubby said to give it a 6 rating, but there wasn’t one! I love it too. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve been trying for decades, yes, decades to reproduce my daddy’s baking powder biscuits to no avail. Until now! . I had never used egg before and perhaps that was Daddys secret ingredient that I missed somehow. This recipe, minus the buttermilk, comes the closest to his. Thank you for the recipe/secret!
Ruth!! I love this so much. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I hope you think of your Daddy every time you make these. That’s really special.
Hi Melissa ,
Tgank you for this recipe. I made it but added baking soda because of the buttermilk. Why is there no baking soda included in this recipe? I looked it up and because of the acidity normally there’s baking soda.
The biscuits are good. But, I only got 6 biscuits and rolled
Out to only 1 1/4″ thick.