I’m going to share another way I love to use them next week. So stay tuned!!
This recipe is so simple. BUT it is simple to ruin as many biscuit recipes are.
My tip?
Don’t over mix. Please, don’t over mix. Can I even tell you how many biscuits I’ve ruined over the years by over mixing? Even when I thought for sure I hadn’t?
Yep, nothings worse than tough biscuits.
The key?
Make sure your butter and buttermilk are very chilled. Very.
Mix all dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter quickly. This little tool right here is what I use to cut the butter into the flour mixture.
It will be course looking, pour in your very chilled buttermilk and stir only enough to basically bring it together. (less than you probably think you should) It will not be smooth like batter. It will be very sticky and lumpy looking.
Turn it out onto a floured board and gently pat out to about 1 inch and fold. Repeat 2-3 more times.
You can now roll out the dough gently or pat it out with your hands. I always just pat it out with my hands because I can better control the dough this way. I like mine thick so only pat the dough out to about 1 inch or so.
Flour a biscuit cutter and cut into rounds. You can also just cut them into squares which wastes nothing. Again, very gently push the leftover pieces together and cut again. I will usually just smoosh the remaining dough together and create free from biscuits. The second go round with the dough will make for a little bit tougher biscuits as it’s been handled more, etc.
How about dairy free?
Yep, you can do that. Well, milk free I should say. I also make these with Ripple (milk substitute) and they’re great. Actually, that’s what I use most of the time since I try to stay dairy free for health reasons.
Place the biscuits on a pan and bake at 425 for about 8-12 minutes. Be sure you don’t over bake. That’s just like overworking your dough…dry biscuits are just as bad as tough biscuits! You can use some melted butter over the tops before baking, if you prefer.
1cup buttermilk (or Ripple for milk free) (very cold)
2 Tbsp melted butter (to brush on tops before baking)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Cut in the very cold butter with a pastry cutter. It will be coarse looking once all incorporated. Do this as quickly as you can to keep the butter chilled.
Make a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture and pour in the very cold buttermilk (or Ripple, for milk free version).
Stir gently with a wooden spoon until just mixed, no more. The batter will be sticky and lumpy looking. DON’T OVER MIX.
Turn it out onto a floured board and gently pat out to about 1 inch and fold the dough over. Repeat 2-3 more times…gently.
Pat the dough out to about 1 inch. You can use a roller but I would suggest using your hands so you can better control the pressure. Cut with a floured biscuit cutter or cut into squares.
Gently gather scraps and pat together to make more cuts with a biscuit cutter. I usually just pat them together and cut the remainder into squares. The more you work with the dough, the tougher the biscuits get.
Bake at 425 for approx 8-12 minutes. You can add the melted butter to the tops of the biscuits before baking, if desired.
DON’T OVER COOK. That’s just like overworking the dough, you’ll end up with dry biscuits which are just as bad as tough ones! Enjoy warm straight from the oven!
You might also like this recipe:
Need gluten-free? These are great! Recipe here >>> Easy Gluten Free Biscuits
The secret to the best biscuits is using very cold butter and baking powder. We've made a lot of biscuits, but this easy biscuits recipe is the one we turn to the most!
I personally think that biscuits are at their best when you use a fine pastry-type flour like White Lily or Bob's Pastry flour. BUT, all-purpose flour is absolutely an option. I actually think that your technique when making biscuits is just as - if not, more - important than the flour you use.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut in cold butter until mixture is crumbly and about the size of peas. Gradually add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and gently knead 3 to 4 times.
A non-fluffy, flat biscuit can be caused by a few things: too much liquid in the dough (resist the urge to add more buttermilk to make the dough come together and use the heat of your hands and a bit more kneading instead). Over-mixing the dough can cause flat biscuits.
White wheat in general is around 9-12% protein, while the hard reds are 11-15%. As far as brands of flour, White Lily “all-purpose” flour has been my go-to for biscuit making. It's a soft red winter wheat, and the low protein and low gluten content keep biscuits from becoming too dense.
But if you chill your pan of biscuits in the fridge before baking, not only will the gluten relax (yielding more tender biscuits), the butter will harden up. And the longer it takes the butter to melt as the biscuits bake, the more chance they have to rise high and maintain their shape. So, chill... and chill.
When you're making biscuits, you use buttermilk for its acidity as well as its fat and liquid content. The acidity is used, in conjunction with leaveners, to help the dough rise.
The solution: Use half cake flour and half all-purpose flour. This combination will give you a biscuit with light and airy interior with a pleasant, satisfying bite on the outside. Also, sifting the flour and other dry ingredients will give you a smoother, airier dough.
If you start asking around, any Southern chef, Southern Living Test Kitchen pro, or biscuit-making family member will swear by White Lily flour. Generations of bakers have claimed it as the secret to the perfect, flaky biscuit.
There are many theories about why Southern biscuits are different (ahem, better) than other biscuits—richer buttermilk, more butter, better grandmothers—but the real difference is more fundamental. Southern biscuits are different because of the flour most Southerners use. My grandmother swore by White Lily flour.
What's the Difference Between Buttermilk Biscuits and Regular Biscuits? As the names might suggest, regular biscuits do not contain buttermilk, while these do. Regular biscuits are typically prepared with milk or water instead. Buttermilk adds a nice tang to the biscuit flavor and helps them rise better.
First, Day confirmed that storing biscuits in the fridge is fine as long as they're in an airtight container. This keeps the biscuit fresh for up to five days. “For long term storage, wrap biscuits in plastic wrap, then with tin foil. Store for up to one month in the freezer,” she said.
Two words for ya: White Lily! If you don't have access to this brand, head to Amazon, and snag a bag. It's a soft winter wheat flour and just the best thing for making tender, fluffy biscuits. Of course, they are still amazing with regular all-purpose flour if you need to make do with what ya have on hand.
A word of advice: Start with good ingredients. Biscuits, like many breads, only use a few ingredients so you'll really taste each one. Choosing good-quality butter, milk, and flour will pay off in the flavor of the end result. Most of our recipes can be easily adapted to accommodate mix-ins.
Pillai became known in India as the 'Biscuit King' or 'Biscuit Baron'. He took over Nabisco's other Asian subsidiaries. Pillai then established links with Boussois-Souchon-Neuvesel (BSN), the French food company, and by 1989 controlled six Asian companies worth over US$400 million.
The two keys to success in making the best biscuits are handling the dough as little as possible as well as using very cold solid fat (butter, shortening, or lard) and cold liquid. When the biscuits hit the oven, the cold liquid will start to evaporate creating steam which will help our biscuits get very tall.
Mixing. The multi-stage mixing method is preferred for its ability to produce consistent doughs which are not fully developed. Blending all dry ingredients to rub or cut the shortening into the flour until fat is fully distributed and pea-sized lumps are visible.
Introduction: My name is Patricia Veum II, I am a vast, combative, smiling, famous, inexpensive, zealous, sparkling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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