Rolled Buttermilk Biscuits
These biscuits are easy to make and are (too) easy to eat. They’re flaky, tender, and super filling. Choose to make them sweet or savory!
* This post was updated in 2020 with new pictures and clearer instructions 🙂
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These biscuits are fluffy, flaky, buttery, rich, and oh so tasty! They’re super easy to make and even easier to eat (maybe a bad thing for me). They’re such a great quick snack that you can take on the go. And bonus: they freeze really well!
How to make buttermilk biscuits:
First, start by whisking together your dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add cubed butter to the dry ingredients. It’s important the the butter is cold and straight from the fridge here so we can get those flakes that are so distinctive for a classic biscuit!
Using your hands, a fork, or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mix. Cutting the butter involves basically mashing and breaking the butter up into dry ingredients. You do want to leave slightly larger piece of butter here (again for the flakes). They should be a bit larger than the size of a pea.
Like so:
Add your buttermilk to the flour / butter mixture. Again, the buttermilk should be cold to help keep the butter cold as well. Stir until you get a rough, shaggy dough. It should still be a bit crumbly.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Press the dough down to bring it together and flatten it to about a 1/2 inch thick. Fold the dough in half. Continue pressing and folding 3 to 4 times to help build layers of flakiness.
Roll and cut. Roll the dough into about a 1/2 inch thick and cut using a round biscuit cutter. Arrange the cut biscuits on 2, parchment lined baking sheets. Bring the scraps of dough back together using your hands, and repeat the rolling and cutting until all the dough is used.
Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Cool slightly before serving!
How to get flaky and tender biscuits:
Making biscuits is very easy, but there are a few tips to keep in mind to help you get consistently great biscuits every time!
Tip #1: Use cold butter and milk. Using cold butter is very important for getting flakes within your biscuits. When cold butter is placed in the oven, it melts and produces steam, which gives you lots of air pockets and flakes within your baked good. Cold milk is important for making sure the butter stays as cold as possible before hitting the hot oven!
Tip #2: Work cubed butter into your dry ingredients. Cubing the butter before adding it to the dry ingredients makes it easier to work into the dry mix. Working quickly is key to avoid having the butter soften too much!
Tip #3: Use buttermilk. When buttermilk reacts with the baking powder in this recipe, it gives your biscuits a more dramatic rise thanks to its acidity. If you don’t have buttermilk, it’s super easy to make!
Tip #4: Don’t overwork the dough. Over-mixing or over-kneading the dough will tighten up the gluten, and make your biscuits more tough. If the dough is worked too much with your hands, the warmth in your hands can also cause the butter to soften. That’ll cause the biscuits to lose their flakiness.
Tip #5: Work fast! Butter at room temperature mixed with the warmth from your hands will cause the butter to soften. Softened butter will make your biscuits less flaky, because when they hit the heat in the oven, they’re not able to melt as much, release steam, and create air pockets.
Tip #6: Flatten and fold the dough. This is a technique I’ve just recently started using, and boy does it make a difference! Before cutting the biscuits out, I recommend taking a moment to do this step.
This step involves simply flattening the dough out into a rectangle that’s about 1/2 an inch thick (does NOT need to be perfect), and folding it in half. I like to repeat this 3 or 4 times to build more layers in the biscuits!
But you can have too much of a good thing. You shouldn’t fold the dough more than about 4 times. You then run the risk of overworking the dough and softening the butter, so you really just lose all of your hard work.
How to store biscuits:
To store your baked biscuits, let them cool completely to room temperature before transferring them to an airtight container. The biscuits will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature, or a week refrigerated.
How To Freeze Biscuits:
Biscuits are a very freezer friendly food, which is great for days when you just want a quick and easy snack.
To freeze baked biscuits, allow them to cool completely to room temperature. Arrange biscuits on a baking sheet, cover, and freeze until solid. Transfer frozen biscuits to a freezer safe bag and seal. Baked biscuits will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Since this recipe uses baking powder, which starts working as soon as the buttermilk hits it, the raw biscuit dough should be baked right away.
How to reheat biscuits:
If your biscuits have been sitting around for a while after baking, I recommend heating them before serving. To reheat biscuits stored in the fridge or at room temperature, place the biscuits on a baking sheet and warm in the center of a preheated 350°F oven for about 5 minutes, or until warmed all the way through. If reheating directly from the freezer, bake for 5 to 10 minutes to defrost and heat through.
Rolled Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling and cutting
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 cup cold buttermilk * see notes
Instructions
- Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Whisk to incorporate.
- Add cold, cubed butter to the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into the flour mix until the pieces of butter are slightly larger than the size of a pea. Add the buttermilk and mix until everything just comes together into a rough dough.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Press the dough down to flatten it to about 1/2 an inch thick, then fold the dough in half. Repeat the pressing and folding process 3 to 4 more times to build flaky layers into the dough. Try to work as quickly as possible to avoid having the butter warm up too much.
- Roll the dough out until it's about 1/2 an inch thick. Using a 2-1/2 inch, round biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits. Gather up the scrap pieces of dough and repeat the rolling and cutting process until all the dough is used up.
- Arrange the cut biscuits on your baking sheet, leaving a bit of room in between for them to expand in the oven. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Biscuits are best served warm.
Video
Notes
Enjoy!
I would love to hear any tips you’d like to add to this post and how your biscuits turned out in the comments below!
Have any questions? Any ideas to improve this recipe? Feel free to comment for that as well.
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