Amazing Southern Buttermilk Biscuits
Eight simple ingredients in my southern buttermilk biscuits! These buttermilk biscuits have a gazillion flakey, buttery layers! Once you make them at home, you’ll never buy biscuits in a can again!
Servings: 12 biscuits
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour see notes
- 1 tablespoon EACH: powdered milk AND granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup salted butter frozen and grated (see notes) + 3 tablespoons melted
- 1 ¼ cup cold buttermilk plus 1-2 tablespoons
Instructions
- MIX: Combine the flour, powdered, milk, baking powder, granulated sugar, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Fold in the grated butter and then using a fork, mix as you pour in the buttermilk. Add half and check and see if the mixture needs more. The dough should be shaggy but not wet, if the dough is really dry, add another tablespoon of buttermilk (up to 2 tablespoons) until the dough is shaggy.
- DOUGH: Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gather the dough into a ball. Roll the dough out into a ½ inch thick rectangle (roughly 9x12.) Then fold in thirds (basically grab each side and fold it towards the middle overlapping the second side over the first.) Like you would a letter to put in an envelope. Then, flip the dough 90 degrees, so one of the sides you didn’t fold is in front of you. Roll it out again (½ inch thick.) Then, flip the dough 90 degrees, and repeat this step one more time. Roll the dough out into a 1-inch thick rectangle the last time and then cut out biscuits using a 2 ½ - 3-inch cookie cutter going straight down. DO NOT TWIST THE BISCUIT CUTTER. Gently reshape the dough (using that same envelope method, just once and rolling out the dough so it's 1-inch thick) then cut out additional biscuits.
- BAKE: Transfer the biscuits to a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper (placing them so they're touching.) And freeze the biscuit dough for 8-10 minutes. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375ºF while the biscuit dough is cooling. Brush the tops of the biscuits with a tablespoon of melted butter. When the oven is hot, bake the biscuits for 30-35 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the biscuits rise nice and tall. Brush with the remaining two tablespoons of butter before serving. Serve warm!
Notes
- I find the best method of measuring out flour for buttermilk biscuits is the ‘spoon and sweep method.’ Use a smaller measuring scoop or 1/4 cup measure to spoon flour into a 1-cup measure. Then use a knife and sweep from one side of the measuring cup to the other to level it off. Do this four times to make a total of 4 cups.
- I suggest grating the butter on a box grater or in a food processor. Pop the grated butter into a bowl (or in your food processor bowl is fine too) and then freeze it for 5-10 minutes before adding it to the dough. This way, the biscuits develop those beautiful butter pockets that make these biscuits extra yummy!
- For a sweeter biscuit, combine 1 tablespoon of honey with the butter or brush with melted butter and sprinkle with a tablespoon of granulated sugar!
