This recipe for buttermilk biscuits is so quick and easy, they take only 45 minutes to make! You can make them as a traditional biscuit (my favorite) or a drop biscuit and they require just a few simple ingredients. They are fluffy, with lots of layers and they always get rave reviews. I make these biscuits every weekend for my family and I know your family will love them too!
I have a full tutorial, with photos on how to make buttermilk biscuits below. So make sure to check out the visual and the easy to follow steps!
This recipe was first published 12/14/2020.
My family loves these buttermilk biscuits! I've been making them for years and they always turn out great. But I really love how easy and quick they are to make. So easy that I make them just about every single weekend. It's a rare occasion that I skip a weekend.
One thing you will notice is that this recipe doesn't call for a lot of butter. When I first came up with it I wanted something that didn't go overboard but you could still enjoy a yummy tender biscuit.
I've never had any complaints though and I feel a bit less guilty eating them!
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But if you really want to indulge then waffles with strawberries and whipped cream is the way to go.
It's an all butter recipe, meaning the biscuits are made without shortening (crisco). And while shortening can create a very tender biscuit, the intention was still to make something a bit healthier than the norm.
Everyone loves buttermilk biscuits, I mean they even made a buttermilk biscuits song forever ago.
What Ingredients are In Buttermilk Biscuits
As I mentioned, you only need a few basic ingredients.
- flour - all purpose flour
- kosher salt - for flavor, I like to use kosher salt in all my recipes
- cane sugar - can sugar is my go to sugar, if you don't have cane sugar that's fine you can use whatever variety you like, since cane sugar has bigger granules you may need to decrease the amount of sugar depending if you use a traditional white sugar
- baking soda - this helps to rise the biscuits and since we are using buttermilk, baking soda is necessary
- baking powder - gives rise to the biscuits
- butter - start with cold, right out of the fridge, butter (I prefer salted butter)
- buttermilk - this can be cold too, right out of the fridge. I use buttermilk in some of my most favorite recipes, like these pancakes, waffles and these cranberry orange poppyseed muffins.
For this recipe it's not necessary to have any room temperature ingredients. The butter and buttermilk can be cold, right out of the fridge to use.
Biscuits are always better homemade.
In the winter, I pretty much always have these ingredients on hand to make a batch in the morning. We also love to use these for breakfast sandwiches on Christmas morning or you can slather them with butter and strawberry jam.
We also make these maple cream cheese cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, a family tradition.
How To Make Buttermilk Biscuits
I've made these biscuits so much, I hope this visual step by step helps you make really good buttermilk biscuits! For the step by step in this 'how to make buttermilk biscuits' example I used a 2 ¾ inch biscuit cutter. But normally I use a 3 ¼" (see the section below this for that size).
Step 1. Grab a large bowl and sift together (or whisk together) flour, kosher salt, baking soda, baking powder and sugar.
Step 2. Cut the butter into little cubes and use your hands to mix it into the flour. You could use a pastry cutter or a fork, but I've found that your hands are your best tools for this.
If you use a food processor the results of the biscuits are a little different. They aren't as flaky. But that's just in my experience trying it that way.
Step 3. Pour in the buttermilk and use a large spoon to mix it together. You may be tempted to add more buttermilk but resist - the dough will come together!
Any excess buttermilk in your measuring cup you can use to brush on top of the biscuits before they bake, so don't wash that out yet.
Step 4. It's time to roll out the dough. Use your counter top, I used a cutting board just for picture purposes. Dust flour all over your counter. You can be generous with the flour, so it doesn't stick while rolling.
Dump out the dough. Using a rolling pin to gently roll the dough out.
Tip* If you notice your dough is a bit too wet you can sprinkle flour on top, it just means you used too much buttermilk.
Step 5. Fold the dough over 2 times (like folding a letter). Now roll it a little bit more and fold it over another 2 times.
Step 6. Lift up the dough, sprinkle a bit more flour on your counter. Roll this out so the dough is 1" thick.
Use a biscuit cutter, press straight down and then wiggle a bit to separate. Put the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Tip * Dip your biscuit cutter into flour after each biscuit cut.
With any excess dough roll it back up and repeat the above steps, folding a few times and rolling out. Cut more biscuits out.
Step 7. Once all the biscuits are on your pan, brush the tops with some buttermilk and bake at 425 for about 15-17 minutes. They will be golden on top when done. Serve right away!
This was with a 2 ¾ inch biscuit cutter and makes about 15 biscuits. A 3 ¼ inch biscuit cutter cooks for 18-19 minutes and makes 8 big biscuits (these are perfect for egg, ham and cheese breakfast sandwiches).
Breakfast Sandwich Sized Biscuits
If you want to make big biscuits that are perfect for breakfast sandwiches (eggs, cheese and ham or bacon) then I recommend using a 3 ¼" biscuit cutter.
They are slightly bigger but a bit more substantial and this size is better for a fried egg or just an impressive big flaky biscuit.
You will get about 9 big biscuits total and will need to bake them for 18-20 minutes.
Storing
You can store these buttermilk biscuits in an airtight container on your kitchen counter. You can also store them in the fridge.
They are best eaten within 3 days of making them.
Putting them in a toaster or toaster oven is an easy way to reheat them and get a bit of that crispness you first had straight out of the oven.
FAQ
If you don't have any buttermilk you can substitute 2 cups of milk (minus 2 tablespoons) and to it add 2 tablespoons white vinegar or lemon juice. Let it sit for 10 minutes then use it in the recipe. It won't be exactly the same, but close when you are in a bind.
Check your baking soda and baking powder, is one of them expired or been sitting out for too long? It may be time to replace. Old baking soda/powder doesn't work as well for lifting baked goods.
Yes! I make them as a half batch all the time, halving the recipe works great.
They don't have to be touching when they go to bake. You can leave space between them too. If I'm baking them the same day as other things I'll stuff them all on to one pan. It doesn't make too much of a difference.
Yes! You can use whatever size you want, you just need to adjust the baking time. The recipe reflects using a 3 ¼ inch biscuit cutter for 18-19 minutes. If you use a smaller size, reduce the baking time.
Make sure to dip your biscuit cutter in flour before each cut of biscuits, it helps the biscuit cutter release from the sticky dough.
More Breakfast Recipes
- Fluffy Buttermilk Waffles
- Potato, Bacon and Onion Quiche
- Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancake
- Soft and Tender English Scones
- Best Buttermilk Pancakes
- Blueberry Crumb Muffins
- Great Grandma’s Cinnamon Apply Dutch Baby Pancake
Buttermilk Biscuits
This recipe for buttermilk biscuits is so quick and easy, taking only 30 minutes to make! You can make them as a traditional biscuit or a drop biscuit and they require just a few basic ingredients. They are fluffy and delicious.
Ingredients
- 4 c all purpose flour
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp cane sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 8 tbsp butter, cold and cubed
- 2 c buttermilk + more for brushing on biscuits before baking
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425
- Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and sugar into a large bowl
- Use your hands to mix in the cold cubed butter until fine crumbs form
- Use a large spoon to mix in the buttermilk
- Dump the dough on to your counter top, dusted with enough flour the dough won't stick
- Use a rolling pin and roll out the dough until it's about 1" thick
- Fold the dough over 2 times (like a letter)
- Use a rolling pin to lightly flatten the dough (just a bit)
- Fold the dough over 2 times again, you'll be left with a square shape of dough
- Pick up the dough and re-flour your surface, put the dough back down with the seam side down
- Use a floured rolling pin to roll out until the dough is about a ¾" - 1" thickness (the taller you keep it when rolling, the taller the biscuit)
- Use a 3 ¼” biscuit cutter
- Press the biscuit cutter down, wiggle until it separates (do not twist), and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
- Dip the biscuit cutter into flour before each biscuit cut (do not skip this step, it helps the biscuit glide smoothly as you make the cut, if you don't dip in flour the biscuit cutter will stick and your biscuits will not be super tall with wonderful edges)
- Line up all the biscuit on your baking pan, leaving some space between each one
- With the excess dough, form it back together, using your rolling pin to seal the edges up
- Fold the dough over twice and roll it out to ¾" - 1" thickness again, make your biscuit cuts again
- Keep repeating until all the dough is gone
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until they are golden
- Remove from the oven and serve right away
Notes
- This recipe makes 15 biscuits with a 2 ¾" biscuit cutter
- You can easily half this recipe
- If the dough is too dry you can add a splash extra of buttermilk, be careful not too add too much extra - sticky biscuit dough will be harder to work with
- And alternatively if you added too much buttermilk, you can use extra flour to dust your surface when rolling out the dough
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 344Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 736mgCarbohydrates: 50gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 8g
This information comes from online calculators. Although moderncrumb.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Brian
Hi!
At the step where we form the excess dough back together and you say "repeat the steps", are you saying go back and fold it twice and then roll it out then fold it twice again and roll it out again? Or just roll it back out?
Thanks!
Tara Moore
Hey Brian! So you don't have to fold it 4 times again, that gets hard to do as your dough starts disappearing, just another time or two. I like to smoosh all the sticky edges (where the biscuit cutter made cut) back together, flip it on it's side, roll and then double over and roll again, make more cuts. I make them just about every weekend! I'll make some updates to the recipe to make it easier to understand, thanks for the question!
Anthony
These are so good and they were really easy to make, thanks for the detailed instructions. We rolled the dough out and made sure to keep it thick and it made big flaky biscuits. We made a batch of sausage gravy with them!