I finally did it. Over the course of about 4 months, I painstakingly made batch after batch of buttermilk biscuits, trying to get the most fantastic recipe. Because biscuits only have a handful of ingredients, itās all about the way that you measure and handle those ingredients. A good biscuit is buttery, flaky, tender, and yet crispy. And thatās exactly how I would describe these Simple Buttermilk Biscuits.
Letās talk biscuits:
Iāve never met a person that didnāt like biscuits. Scratch that. I have met one person. And that person couldnāt even tell me a good reason why they didnāt like biscuits. Something about biscuits being too flaky. Is that even a thing? Iām going to say thatās not a thing and totally forget that they told me that they didnāt like biscuits. So back to business… Iāve never met a person that didnāt like biscuits. I mean what is there not to like?
Let me tell you, biscuits and I were not friends for a while. I had batches that didnāt rise enough, batches that didnāt brown enough. I had biscuits that were too dry and biscuits that were too bland. Sometimes the simplest things really can be the most difficult to make. When I first saw these beautiful biscuits come out of the oven, I knew that these were the ones. I mean, first of all, just look at them!
And then…
When I cracked one of these perfectly golden nuggets open… ah-mazing!! They are everything that you want in a fantastic biscuit. Buttery, flaky, tender, crispy, totally delicious. You gotta make these. Seriously. Youāre less than 30 minutes away from fresh-baked biscuits!
Let me show you how I made these Simple Buttermilk Biscuits šš»
Start by preheating your oven to 450 degrees and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper. Next, slice 1/2 cup of unsalted butter into half-tablespoon slices and place them in the freezer until you need them.
In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups of AP flour, 2 Tbsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 Tbsp sugar.
It should look light and airy, like this šš». Then whisk everything together.
Grab your butter slices from the freezer and throw them into the flour mixture.
Using a pastry blender (or 2 forks), cut the butter into the flour. And now how do you know when youāre done? You are done when the butter resembles little pebbles.
Make a well in the middle of the bowl and pour 1 cup of cold buttermilk into it.
Gently combine the buttermilk with the flour mixture using a rubber spatula. Do not overwork the dough. You want to stir until the dough is just starting to come together in a ball.
Dump the biscuit dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface.
Pat the dough out into a large rectangle. Add a little more flour, if necessary, if the dough is too sticky to work with. Be sure to not use too much or you will dry out the dough.
Next, mentally divide the dough into thirds. Take the left third and fold it over onto the middle third.
Then take the right third and fold it over onto the left side. Folding the dough over onto itself gives you the flaky layers of a biscuit that youāre looking for.
Turn the dough 180 degrees.
Now pat (or use a rolling pin) to roll the dough out into a large rectangle again. Repeat the folding instructions above. Next, turn 180 degrees again and then roll out into a rectangle. Do this twice more (a TOTAL of 4 times).
Finally-
After you have folded and turned your dough 4 times, roll it out into a large rectangle for a final time. It should be about 1/2ā thick.
Lightly flour the rim of a biscuit cutter. Push the cutter down into the dough and pull it right back out, DO NOT TWIST. Twisting the biscuit cutter in the dough will create a seal around the outside of the dough and can cause issues with the biscuitās rising.
Cut as many biscuits as you can. You can take whatās left of the dough, roll it out, and cut out biscuits ONE more time.
Place the cut biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet.
Note: How you place the biscuits will make a difference in the texture of your biscuit. If you place the biscuit discs so that they are touching each other, the edges will be soft. If you separate the biscuit discs, the edges will be slightly crisp. I prefer to separate. Choose what you like.
Bake the biscuits for 10-15 minutes until they are puffed and golden.
Immediately after pulling them out of the oven, brush these Simple Buttermilk Biscuits with 2 Tbsp of melted, unsalted butter. Then let them cool for a couple minutes before devouring.
Smear them with some butter and/or jam, serve them with some gravy, make a breakfast, or enjoy them naked. Any way you choose, they are delicious!!
Enjoy!!
These are some of the recommended products that I used to make this delicious recipe! These are not only products that I use, but products that I love.
Simple Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 Cups AP Flour + More for working the biscuits
- 2 Tbsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
- 8 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, very cold and cut into slices
- 1 Cup Buttermilk, cold
- 2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted (for brushing tops after cooked)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk it all together after sifting.
- Drop in the pieces of cold butter into the bowl. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or two forks until the butter resembles pebbles.
- Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour the cold buttermilk into it. Gently stir the buttermilk into the flour mixture just until it starts to come together and forms a ball. Do not overwork it.
- Dump the mixture out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Pat the biscuit dough into a large rectangle. Add a little flour, if necessary, if the dough is too sticky to work with.
- Mentally divide the dough into thirds. Take the left third of the rectangle and fold it over onto the middle. Then take the right third and fold it overtop of the left side in the middle. Rotate the dough 180 degrees and pat (or roll) it out into another large rectangle. Repeat this step 3 more times.
- After flipping, rotating, and rolling out your biscuits 4 times, roll it out into a large rectangle with a 1/2ā thickness.
- Lightly flour the rim of a biscuit cutter and press it down into the dough to cut the biscuit. DO NOT TWIST the biscuit cutter, simply pull back up out of the dough.
- Cut as many biscuits as you can from the dough. You can reshape the dough to cut more biscuits ONE more time. Place the cut biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet. Note: If you place the biscuits so that they are touching, the sides of the cooked biscuits will be soft. If you put space between the biscuits, the sides will be slightly crispy.
- Cook the biscuits for 10-15 minutes until they are puffed and golden. Immediately brush them with melted butter when out of the oven. Let cool for a few minutes before devouring.
Welcome to Cupcakes and Sarcasm! My name is Maggie and I am the creator of C & S. I am a wife and mom of two beautiful kiddos. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio and now live in Northeast Ohio with my family. I have been cooking and baking since I was a kid. I decided in 2017 that I wanted to share my passion (and recipes) with all of you! On this site, you’ll find easy and delicious recipes- both savory and sweet. I’ll also sprinkle in some stories of parenting and our adventures along the way.