Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe
These homemade buttermilk biscuits have fluffy, flaky layers and a sweet honey butter topping. They take just 35 minutes to make with just 6 ingredients!
Be sure to serve these with my Creamy Chicken Stew!
Buttermilk Biscuits
I can count on one hand the things I have been able to successfully bake in my life. So if I can nail down perfectly fluffy, flaky, buttery biscuits, anyone can!
Since biscuits go with…everything dinner recipe my site, I figured this was a side dish that was long overdue.
Definitely check out my pro tips below. If you follow the simple instructions, you’ll be golden. The temperature of the ingredients is important. Making sure you don’t twist the biscuit cutter is important. Even how close together you place the biscuits before baking them will make a difference.
So read on, and prepare for success!
Ingredients
The bottom of this post also contains recipe card with ingredients and full instructions.
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder (not teaspoons.)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons honey -an equal amount of sugar can be used if preferred
- 1 stick frozen butter, high quality like Cabot
- 1 cup + 3 Tablespoons cold Buttermilk
Topping
- 2 Tablespoons honey- If you don’t/can’t have honey, use all butter.
- 1 Tablespoon butter
How to Make It
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut the frozen butter into cubes and add it to the bowl. Use a pastry cutter to work the butter in until coarse crumbs have formed.
Create a hole in the middle and add the cold buttermilk and honey. Use a silicone spatula to stir until just combined, don’t overmix.
Use your hands to gently form a 9-10 inch rectangle. Take the left side and fold it into the middle.
Take the right side and fold it into the middle. Rotate the dough horizontally and gently form it back into a rectangle.
REPEAT the same folding technique 2 more times:
-Fold the left side to the middle, then the right. Rotate and gently form back into a rectangle.
-Again, fold the left and right sides to the middle. Rotate horizontally.
Roll into a rectangle that’s about 1 1/4 inch thick.
Use 3-inch biscuit/cookie cutters to cut 2 biscuits. Place into a buttered cast iron skillet or on parchment paper. I like to store them in the fridge as I cut them to prevent them from getting too warm.
Form the dough back into a rectangle of the same thickness, cut 2 more biscuits. Repeat until all biscuits are cut. You should end up with 7.
Place them close together- this is important as this helps them to rise. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Combine honey/melted butter and brush the tops when they come out of the oven. Serve and enjoy!
Pro Tips
- To properly measure the flour, take a spoon and scoop it into the measuring cup as opposed to dipping the measuring up into the flour. Use the spoon to level off the top. This is important to have an accurate measurement.
- If you don’t have honey, an equal amount of sugar can be used in the biscuits and you can brush the tops with just butter. (But honey really adds *great* flavor!)
- Refrigerated Butter can be used if you don’t have frozen, but I like using frozen because it’s less likely to soften before it hits the oven. When the butter melts in the oven, it creates steam which forms air pockets, which makes the layers light and fluffy.
- Don’t overmix the dough or it will become too dense and won’t be as flakey and soft.
- Fold the dough as instructed and pictured above- this is really important, that’s what creates the layers within the biscuit.
Buttermilk Substitutes
To create a substitute for buttermilk, you’ll need milk and any one of the following: Sour Cream, Plain Yogurt, White Vinegar, or Lemon Juice. These instructions give you enough to make a cup, which is sufficient for this recipe.
- 4 tablespoons milk + enough sour cream to make a cup.
- 2 tablespoons milk + enough plain yogurt to make a cup.
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar + enough milk to make a cup. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice + enough milk to make a cup. Let sit for 10 minutes. It’ll look curdled. Stir to combine.
Tools for This Recipe
There tools from Amazon are the same ones I used for this recipe:
Make-Ahead Method
- Method #1: Prepare the dough and cut the biscuits. Refrigerate for up to 2 days prior to baking. Alternatively, you can prepare the dough and complete the folding steps, cover the dough with plastic wrap and cut the biscuits prior to baking.
- Method #2: Make dough and cut biscuits as outlined. Flash freeze on a baking sheet for 2 hours, then store in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
- Let them defrost in the fridge overnight, then bake as outlined.
What to Serve with Buttermilk Biscuits
Storage
Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Try These Next
- Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls
- Easy Brown Gravy
- Roast Chicken
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Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder, not teaspoons.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 stick frozen butter, high quality like Cabot
- 1 cup + 3 Tablespoons cold Buttermilk
Topping
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 Tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Stir until well-combined.
- Cut the frozen butter into cubes and add it to the bowl. Use a pastry to work it in until coarse crumbs form.
- Create a hole in the middle of the dry mixture and add the cold buttermilk and honey. Use a silicone spatula to gently stir until just combined. Don’t overmix. It will be crumbly.
- Add the dough to a floured surface and create a rectangle with your hands about 9 inches long.
- Fold the left side into the middle, then the right side. (See process shots.)
- Rotate the dough so that it’s horizontal. Gently flatten into a rectangle again, fold the left and right sides into the middle again.
- Turn horizontally one more time, fold the left and right sides into the middle. Turn horizontally, flatten into a rectangle until it’s 1 ¼ inch thick.
- Use a 3-inch cookie cutter to cut 2 circles. DO NOT twist the cutter! (It’s hard to stop yourself but this will seal the edges and prevent airflow which will hinder them from rising.) Lightly flour the inside of the cutter in between. I like to store them in the fridge as I cut them to prevent them from getting too warm.
- Roll the dough back out until it’s 1 ¼ inch thick again. Cut 2 more biscuits, repeat until you’ve used all of the dough, you should end up with 7 biscuits.
- Butter a 10-inch cast iron skillet and place the biscuits inside so that they are almost touching. The close proximity makes them rise better. You could also place them close together on parchment paper on top of a baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
- Combine the honey and melted butter and brush the warm biscuits with it prior to serving.
- Store in an airtight container or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
If you don’t have honey, an equal amount of sugar can be used in the biscuits and you can brush the tops with just butter. (But honey really adds *great* flavor!)
Refrigerated Butter can be used if you don’t have frozen, but I like using frozen because it’s less likely to soften before it hits the oven. When the butter melts in the oven, it creates steam which forms air pockets, which makes the layers light and fluffy.
Don’t overmix the dough or it will become too dense and won’t be as flakey and soft.
Fold the dough as instructed and pictured above- this is really important, that’s what creates the layers within the biscuit.
Tools For This Recipe
Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
These are the best Buttermilk Biscuits I’ve ever tasted. Just perfect with pea soup!
Heaven help my waistline! lol
Judy
WAHOOOO!!! I am so happy to hear that! These biscuits are my family’s FAVORITE, we have them all the time and they’ve never failed us! 🙂 Thank you for the review, I am still jealous of that pea soup/biscuit lunch of yours, hahaha! 😉 -Stephanie
I made this tonight. My husband is on a Low Carb diet so he didn’t have one so I shared with my neighbor. Before the hubby got back, the neighbor was calling and asking for more! I loved the ease of the recipe and your tips. Now my cast iron was too small so I cooked them in an Air Bake pan. They cooked beautifully (not like cast iron but it worked.) Thank you SO VERY MUCH for sharing the keeper!
You’re very welcome Connie, I’m so happy to hear it was a hit!😃 I’m glad you found the tips helpful. Thanks so much for the review!😊
Can i make the dough in advanced (like thanksgiving morning) and then pop them in the oven right before dinner?
Hi Emily! You can definitely make them in the morning, cover and refrigerate, and bake them right before dinner! OR, you can prepare the dough up to 2 days ahead of time and go through the folding steps, then wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate, and cut the biscuits on Thanksgiving before you bake. Just protect the dough by handling it gently so the layers don’t get flattened! 🙂
What does a stick of butter weigh please.
110 grams.
I’ve been looking for a proper biscuit recipe for a long time and while these were delicious my dough was super wet and hard to work with. I weighed out my flower to the proper amount of 300 g. Do you mind weighing out yours and seeing if it’s different?
Hi Heather, yes, buttermilk biscuit dough can be like that for sure. 1.5 cups of flour is equivalent to 180 grams.
The best biscuits! Thank you so much for going into such detail in how to prepare these. Sometimes having only the basic recipe isn’t enough for a successful execution of the final product. I followed your steps exactly & the end result was the exact biscuit I’ve been trying to fix for 30 years! Thank you so much! My husband is so picky about food & he raved about these.
I am SO happy that the biscuits turned out well!! When it comes to anything baking related, I definitely like to provide AS much information as I can so that everyone can achieve the same results that they see in the photos! I’m so glad that you and your husband enjoyed these and thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review! I so appreciate it. Take care! -Stephanie
These turned out so good! My daughter thought they tasted like restaurant biscuits. Great recipe!!
Hey Joanna, I’m so happy to hear that!! My daughter DEVOURS these too! haha!! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know how they came out! -Stephanie
Wonderful! So flaky and delicious. The honey and butter topping makes it so sweet. I’ll definitely be cooking these for Thanksgiving this year!
Thanks Leslie!😀 I love the sweetness in these biscuits and so does my 4 year old daughter🤣