Southern Old Fashioned Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe
Discover the perfect southern buttermilk biscuit recipe: easy to make, super fluffy with tons of incredibly flaky layers, and deliciously buttery.
Servings: 8 biscuits
Calories: 192kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cups 250 g all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter cold and cubed or grated
- ¾ cups buttermilk cold
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk for biscuit tops
- melted salted butter for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Set an ungreased baking sheet in the oven while it's preheating.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the pieces of butter are about the size of peas. You can also grate frozen butter into the dry mixture using a box grater.
- Stir in the ¾ cup of buttermilk until the dry ingredients are just combined and the dough is shaggy and dry-looking.
- Transfer your biscuit dough onto a clean work surface, flatten and fold the dough with your hands into a rectangle. It's alright if the dough seems like it's too dry, as you work the dough the buttermilk will moisten the dry flour mixture.
- Fold the dough by thirds onto itself, then flatten into a rectangle again using your hands. Repeat this at least 3 more times, flattening the dough into a ½-inch thick rectangle, and folding by thirds to build the flaky layers in your biscuits.
- Optional step: wrap the folded dough with plastic wrap and set in the fridge or freezer to chill for 5 to 10 minutes. This will ensure you have cold butter that'll keep your dough laminated and flaky, like when making croissants.
- Unwrap the biscuit dough if you chilled it, and flatten the dough to 1 inch thick. Dip a 2-inch diameter biscuit cutter into a little excess flour and cut biscuits using an up and down motion. Never twist, that will seal up the edges.
- Brush the 1 tablespoon of buttermilk onto the tops of the biscuits, so they'll be golden brown when ready.
- Place the biscuits onto the hot prepared baking sheet quickly in the oven and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the tops are golden.
- Remove from the oven to cool and brush the melted butter on top of each biscuit. Serve with honey butter, jam, gravy, chicken, etc.
Notes
Make Ahead Instructions
Freeze the cut-out biscuits on a single layer, then keep in a freezer-safe zip top bag. Keep the cut-out biscuit dough frozen for up to 3 months, then arrange the frozen biscuits onto your ungreased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.Pro Tips for Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits
Use fresh baking powder and baking soda. These ingredients lose potency as they get older, meaning they won't help your biscuits lift and rise to their full potential. I wouldn't use baking soda and powder older than 3 months for biscuits. If you want seriously flaky, tall biscuits keep nothing at room temperature. Keep your butter and buttermilk nice and cold so the butter doesn't melt while the dough is being manhandled. Bonus points for having cold flour, too. Do not twist your biscuit cutter. Use an up-and-down motion when cutting the dough because if you twist the cutter, it'll seal off the edges and close the layers you worked so hard for. A hot baking sheet means perfectly browned bottoms. Keep the baking sheet in the oven as it preheats, then place the biscuits right on top and hurry them into the oven. The heat from the baking sheet keeps the butter from melting onto it, instead the biscuit bakes from both the ambient heat and the hot sheet at the same time.Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 192kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 355mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g