When it comes to American biscuits there are several styles. There are drop biscuits, and flaky biscuits, and then there are buttermilk biscuits. However, I think most people (or Americans at least) think of buttermilk biscuits when someone is talking about biscuits. Buttermilk biscuits are tender and buttery, rich and a little salty. They are the perfect side or snack, whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Biscuits are a super quick and easy bake. If you have made any of my scone recipes, you will see it is incredibly similar. There is no yeast involved, and you want to keep your ingredients cold and work the dough as little as possible to keep gluten formation to a minimum. I truly believe everyone can make these successfully. Just remember, less is more!
Many times you think of biscuits as round, which as you can tell these are not. You definitely could roll this out a little thinner and use a biscuit or cookie cutter. Personally I prefer to just cut them into squares to save time, dishes and not waste any of the dough.
These buttermilk biscuits are great alone, and also can be a great vehicle for something like a breakfast sandwich. They are tangy, a little sweet, a little salty. To me, biscuits are firmly in the savory category. If you’re thinking you might want something similar but a little sweeter, I’d recommend my Vanilla Cream Scones which are essentially a sweet version of these biscuits.
Buttermilk Biscuits Key Ingredients
- Buttermilk – Buttermilk (this one has been my favorite recently) is the star ingredient obviously in buttermilk biscuits. It lends to the rich tang as well as tenderizing your dough.
- AP Flour – You want to make sure you do not use bread flour or any higher protein flour. Biscuits do not want gluten and we don’t need extra protein helping it along. Therefore, all purpose is perfect.
- Honey – Biscuits need just a little sweetness to balance out the acidity of the buttermilk.
Ingredients
- 270 g AP Flour 2¼ cup
- ½ tbsp Morton kosher salt
- 1 tbsp Baking powder
- ¼ tsp Baking soda
- ½ cup Unsalted butter cold
- 1 cup Buttermilk cold
- 42 g Honey 2 tbsp
- 1 tbsp Buttermilk for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium to large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder with a fork.
- Take your cold butter and grate into the flour. Halfway through, take your fork and fluff the grated butter into the flour. Finish grating and repeat.
- Whisk your honey into your buttermilk.
- Pour your buttermilk honey mixture into the well you have created.
- Using your fork, bring the sides of the well into the center and then mix until a rough dough forms.
- Take the dough, gently flatten out slightly and fold it over onto itself 2-3 times.
- Transfer dough to parchment lined baking sheet and gently flatten into a square that's about 1½" thick.
- Take a knife or bench cutter and cut straight down in a grid pattern to make 9 biscuits.
- Separate biscuits leaving 1-2 inches between them.
- Place biscuits in the freezer for about 20 minutes to chill and firm. This step is optional but I find it helps give much better rise.
- Remove biscuits after chilling, brush tops with buttermilk.
- Place in the oven on the center rack and bake for about 22 minutes. Biscuits will be a rich golden brown.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and serve while warm. Enjoy!
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