Published: · Modified: by Rebecca Blackwell · This post may contain affiliate links · 14 Comments
If you're craving fluffy, tender buttermilk biscuits with hundreds of flaky, buttery layers, stop right here.
Here's how to make homemade buttermilk biscuits that are soft on the inside, slightly crispy on the outside, and rise to impressive heights with layer after delicious layer.
Jump to:
- How to Make Flaky, Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits
- How Do You Bake Biscuits with a Lot of Layers?
- Flaky Biscuit Tip #1:Don't overwork OR underwork the dough
- Flaky Biscuit Tip #2: Don't twist the biscuit cutter
- Flaky Biscuit Tip #3: Cold butter, cold buttermilk, cold dough
- What Type of Pan is Best for Baking Biscuits?
- How to Bake Biscuits in a Cast Iron Pan:
- Buttermilk Biscuit FAQs
- How to Serve Buttermilk Biscuits
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
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How to Make Flaky, Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits
What is the secret to light, flaky super tall biscuits? I'm so glad you asked. The most important things you need to know about makingtall, flaky biscuits with hundreds of layers are:
- Butter is better. If you want soft, crumbly, cake-like biscuits, use vegetable shortening. If you want aaaalllll the flaky layers, use butter. Butter contains water (about 18%) which evaporates quickly in a hot oven, leaving delicious, flaky layers in its wake.
- Use Buttermilk. The acid in buttermilk not only makes biscuits that are light and tender, it works with the leaveners in the dough (baking powder and baking soda) to help them rise and rise, and rise some more.In a pinch, you can use one of these methods to make homemade buttermilk.
- Bake the biscuits close together. To help the biscuits rise to their maximum potential, place them in the pan very close together so that their sides are touching. As they bake, the biscuits have nowhere to go but up, and will use each other to climb to new heights.
How Do You Bake Biscuits with a Lot of Layers?
You know those gorgeous layers in croissants,danishes and puff pastry? All those layers are created with lamination, a process that creates many thin layers of dough separated by butter. The layers are the result of repeatedly rolling and folding the dough.
The process for flaky multi-layered biscuits uses the same idea, but is MUCH more chill about it, requiring just a few simple steps:
- Pat and/ or roll the dough out into a rough rectangle that's about 1-inch thick.
2. Fold one side of the dough towards the center.
3. Fold the whole thing over onto itself.
4. Give it a quarter turn and repeat the process of rolling and folding two more times.
Unlike homemade croissants or danishes, which require rolling and folding the dough many, many times over the course of hours, or even days, folding biscuit dough should take less than two minutes and will still create layer after layer of super flaky dough.
Flaky Biscuit Tip #1:Don't overwork OR underwork the dough
While folding the dough a few times helps create all those delicious layers, it's also important to handle the dough with a light and gentle touch.The more you work the dough, the more you encourage gluten development.
Gluten development is great in things like Sandwich Bread and Homemade Tortillas. But, for things like muffins, cakes, cookies, biscuits and the like, it's important to keep gluten development to a minimum.
The more dough is mixed and kneaded, the more gluten is developed. So, mix and gently knead the dough just until it holds together. When rolling it out and folding the dough, handle it just enough to get the job done. Throughout the process, the dough should hold together, but still be craggy and slightly messy.
There's a fine line between under-kneading and over-kneading biscuit dough
Having just talked about the importance of limiting the development of gluten in tender biscuits, you do want some gluten development. Gluten is important to the structure of biscuits, helping them rise and not collapse on themselves after baking.
Once the ingredients have been mixed (step #6 in the recipe), use your hands to gently knead the dough, just a few times, until it is mostly uniform and holds together. The dough should have a loose structure, but still hold together as a cohesive dough.
If you're uncertain, err on the side of under-kneading. Under-kneaded dough will make tender biscits that are still quite delicious, they just won't be as tall as the ones pictured here. Over-kneaded biscuits will be quite tough.
Flaky Biscuit Tip #2: Don't twist the biscuit cutter
Whencutting the biscuits from the dough, don't twist the biscuit cutter.
After rollingout the dough, press thebiscuit cutter straight down into the dough without twisting it. Twisting the cutter can "seal" the edges of the biscuits and keep them from rising to their full potential.
Flaky Biscuit Tip #3: Cold butter, cold buttermilk, cold dough
There are nearly a gazillion recipe on this site in which I've emphasized the importance of using room temperature ingredients. Using room temperature ingredients is so important to things like cakes and muffins that I've written a whole post about how to bring dairy and eggs to room temperature quickly.
At room temperature, when you beat eggs and dairy with an electric mixer, they form an emulsion that traps air and creates a fluffy, tender consistency for desserts like my favoriteVanilla Cake.
BUT - the opposite is true for biscuits and other pastries like pie crust or tart dough. When biscuits bake, the water in the the little pieces of butter evaporates, creating tiny air pockets in the dough. It's these pockets of air that create soft flaky layers on the inside and a delicious, slightly crispy exterior.
To keep the butter cold, cut it into small pieces and then place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes before adding it to the biscuit dough. The goal is to get it as cold as possible without freezing it.
Use buttermilk straight from the refrigerator to make the dough and then place the cut-out biscuits in the freezer for another 10 minutes right before baking. This will ensure that the butter inside the dough is still nice and cold when it goes into the hot oven.
What Type of Pan is Best for Baking Biscuits?
My favorite pan to use for biscuits is my cast iron skillet. Cast iron is an excellent conductor of heat, which helps biscuits bake quickly and evenly. Cast iron also holds on to heat for quite some time after you remove it from the oven. Because of this, I often leave the biscuits in the pan after baking so the heat from the pan will keep the biscuits warm.
But, my favorite reason to use cast iron for biscuit baking is that it creates a a deliciously crispy crust on the bottom of the biscuits. Placing the biscuits nice and close inside the pan helps them stay soft and tender. At the same time, the bottom of the biscuits develops a lovely crips crust.
The contrast between the soft flaky layers and crisp bottom is one of those simple pleasures that just sends me. Seriously,people. It's so good.
Having said all that, you can also bake your biscuits in a baking dish or on a sheet pan. As always, placing them close together will help them rise, but you don't even have to do that. Spacing the biscuits out in a baking dish or on a baking sheet has its merits. They won't rise as high, but you'll also get a lovely crispy exterior all around the sides of the biscuits.
How to Bake Biscuits in a Cast Iron Pan:
Regardless of whether you pan is well seasoned or not, I like to rub the inside of the pan with a smidge of vegetable shortening or vegetable oil before adding the biscuits. Not only does this doubly insure that the biscuits won't stick to the pan, it will help create that delicious crispy bottom I've been going on and on about.
Remember our conversation about how well cast iron conducts and retains heat? Thepan can keep cooking the bottom of the biscuits to the point of burning them, even after you remove the pan from the oven.
To prevent this, simply remove the biscuits from the cast iron pan immediately after baking and line the bottom with a kitchen towel. Then, set the biscuits back inside the pan to keep them warm.
Buttermilk Biscuit FAQs
Why does this recipe includes a couple tablespoons of sugar?
Look up a hundred biscuit recipes and you'll find some that contain sugar and some that don't. I love adding a couple tablespoons to biscuit dough because the small amount of sugar not only adds flavor, it also contributes to their soft, tender consistency.
Sugar = moisture. So, the other thing that a bit of sugar does for biscuits is helps prevent them from drying out.
How much should you knead biscuit dough?
There's a fine line between under-kneading and over-kneading biscuit dough.Kneading dough encourages the development of gluten. A tiny bit of gluten development is important to the structure of biscuits and will help them rise and not collapse on themselves after baking. But too much gluten development will make the biscuits tough.
Once the ingredients have been mixed (step #6), use your hands to gently knead the dough, just a few times, until it is mostly uniform and holds together. The dough should be loose structured, but still hold together as a cohesive dough.
If you're uncertain, err on the side of under-kneading. Under-kneaded dough will make tender biscits that are still quite delicious, they just won't be as tall as the ones pictured here. Over-kneaded biscutis will be quite tough.
What is the best kind of flour to use in biscuits?
I know there are plenty of people who will swear to using only soft wheat flour, like White Lilly Flour, or pastry flour, or some kind of mixture of both.
I prefer to use a mix of cake flour and all-purpose flour. All-purpose flour gives biscuits a great structure and consistency, and a touch of cake flour keeps them nice and tender.
Having said that, if you don't have cake flour, don't sweat it. Just omit the cake flour and use 2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour instead.
How long can you store biscuits?
My personal preference is to make biscuits right before you plan to serve them. There's nothing better than warm, freshly baked biscuits. While it's certainly possible to store them for a day or two, they'll never be quite as good as they were freshly baked.
If you need to make them in advance, or simply want to store leftover biscuits for later, wrap them in plastic wrap or store them in a zip top bag or other air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
To reheat biscuits, set them on a baking sheet and place them in a 350 degree oven for 5 - 7 minutes. Brush them with a bit of melted butter before serving.
Can you freeze biscuit dough?
Yes! I love having biscuits in the freezer of my tiny kitchen so I can pull a couple out and bake them whenever I like.
Follow the recipe to make the dough and cut out the biscuits. Arrange them on a parchment lined plate or baking sheet, cover them loosely with plastic wrap, and pop them in the freezer for 2 - 3 hours. Remove them from the freezer and transfer them to a freezer bag or airtight container. Put them back in the freezer and store for up to 3 months.
Frozen biscuits can be baked straight from the freezer - no need to thaw! Simply pull them from the freezer, set inside the pan and bake in a preheated oven as instructed in the recipe below, adding an additional 5 - 10 minutes to the bake time.
What do you top biscuits with?
My favorite way to eat biscuits is, freshly baked, while still warm, drizzled with honey, or spread with homemade jam or preserves. Try them throughout the Spring and Summer withStrawberry Rhubarb Jamor in late summer withFresh Peach Preserves.
How to Serve Buttermilk Biscuits
My favorite way to eat these flaky buttermilk biscuits is smothered in honey or spread with a thick layer of Strawberry Rhubarb Jam, Peach Preserves, or Apple Butter.
Biscuits are often breakfast food for us, and when I really want to serve up an indulgent, big breakfast, we eat them with breakfast fries.
Or, make biscuits and gravy! This easy Southern Country Gravy recipe is rich, creamy, and pure comfort.
I also love to serve biscuits with soup. Here are a few of my favorite soup recipes, all of which are made even better when eaten with a warm, buttery biscuit.
Buttermilk Biscuits is a Building Block Recipe
Building block recipes are tried-and-true recipes that I consider foundational to great home baking. They are the kind of recipes I come back to over and over again, sometimes baking them as is, but often using them as a jumping off point to create something new. >Scroll through all Building Block recipes.
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If you give this recipe a try, let me know!Scroll down to rate the recipe, leave a comment, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.
Happy baking!
📖 Recipe
The Ultimate Flaky Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe
Yield: 6 - 8 biscuits
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes
Additional Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 3 minutes
If you're craving fluffy, tender biscuits with hundreds of flaky, buttery layers, stop right here. These are soft in the inside, slightly crispy on the outside, and rise to impressive heights.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ sticks (6oz/ 170g) cold salted butter + 2 tablespoon (1oz/ 28g) melted butter for brushing over the top of the biscuits
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (94g) cake flour (not self-rising)
- 2 teaspoon (8g) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (1.5g) baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon (25g) sugar
- 1 cup (236ml) cold buttermilk
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). Rub the inside of a cast iron skillet with a bit of vegetable oil or melted shortening. This will create a deliciously crispy bottom on the biscuits. (*You can also bake these in a baking dish. See note below.)
- Cut the butter into small ½-inch pieces, put them on a plate or in a bowl, and pop it into the freezer for about 10 minutes. You want the butter to be very cold, but not frozen.
- Put the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor OR in a mixing bowl. Pulse a few times to blend, OR stir with a wire whisk.
- Add the butter and pulse 3 or 4 times, just until the butter is incorporated enough for the mixture to look like coarse crumbs. Alternatively, use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. You can also just use your fingers; rub the butter into the dry ingredients just until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. (See photos above for guidance.)
- If you've been using a food processor, dump the mixture into a mixing bowl. Set a small bowl of flour nearby just incase you need it later.
- Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Use a spoon or rubber spatula to gently mix the ingredients until a shaggy dough begins to form. Then, use your hands to gently knead the dough until it holds together completely. (See notes below about under and over working the dough.)
- Dump the dough out onto a clean work surface. Pat or roll it out into a rectangle that’s about 1-inch thick. If it's really sticking to the work surface, sprinkle with a bit of flour. Use only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking.
- Fold one side of the dough to the center, then fold the whole thing over again, like you're folding a letter. (See photos above for guidance.)
- Give the dough a quarter turn and roll or pat it out into a 1-inch thick rectangle again. Repeat the folding process, give the dough a quarter turn, and repeat the folding process once more.
- Roll or pat the dough back out into a 1-inch thick rectangle and use a 3 ½-inch biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits. As you cut them out, set them on a plate. Reroll the dough as necessary, cutting out biscuits until you have 8-10 biscuits.
- Set the plate of biscuits in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then, remove the biscuits from the plate and place them in the cast iron pan (or baking dish). Set the biscuits very close together inside the pan so that their sides are touching. This will help them rise while they bake.
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with 2 tablespoon (1oz/ 28g) melted butter and place in the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until their tops are golden brown. Biscuits are best served immediately, while still warm, drizzled with honey or spread with jam.
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to rate this recipe and leave a comment for me!
Notes
- What if I don't have any cake flour? Using a bit of cake flour in this recipe helps create super tender biscuits. But, in a pinch, it's perfectly fine to omit the cake flour and use 2 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour instead.
- No buttermilk? No problem. DIY Buttermilk: How to make your own
- For super flaky biscuits, it's important for the butter to be very cold - as cold as possible without freezing it. Use buttermilk straight from the refrigerator to make the dough and then place the cut-out biscuits in the freezer for another 10 minutes right before baking. This will ensure that the butter inside the dough is still nice and cold when it goes into the hot oven.
- These biscuits can be baked in a cast iron skillet, baking dish, or sheet pan. Regardless of what pan you're using, place them close together with their sides touching if you want them to rise to their maximum potential.
- If baking on a baking sheet, line it with parchment paper or aluminum foil to prevent the biscuits from sticking.
- If baking in a baking dish, grease the inside with a bit of butter, shortening, or vegetable oil.
- If baking biscuits in a cast iron skillet, rub the inside of the pan with a smidge of vegetable shortening or vegetable oil before adding the biscuits. Not only does this ensure that the biscuits won't stick to the pan, it will help create a delicious crispy bottom.
There's a fine line between under-kneading and over-kneading biscuit dough
Kneading dough encourages the development of gluten. A tiny bit of gluten development is important to the structure of biscuits and will help them rise and not collapse on themselves after baking. But too much gluten development will make the biscuits tough.
Once the ingredients have been mixed (step #6), use your hands to gently knead the dough, just a few times, until it is mostly uniform and holds together. The dough should be loosely structured, but still hold together as a cohesive dough.
If you're uncertain, err on the side of under-kneading. The under-kneaded dough will make tender biscuits that are still quite delicious, they just won't be as tall as the ones pictured here. Over-kneaded biscuits will be quite tough.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8Serving Size: 1 biscuit
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 286Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 603mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 7g
Did you make this recipe?
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More Building Block Recipes
- What to Make with Buttermilk: 24 recipes for baking
- Candied Orange Slices ~ Easy Recipe
- Easy Berry Sauce with Fresh or Frozen Berries
- How to Make Chocolate Ganache
Reader Interactions
Comments
Frank says
Made them today to serve with Southern Fried Chicken. My wife loved them. Thank you.
Reply
Rebecca Blackwell says
I am so happy to hear that your wife loved these biscuits Frank! I'd guess your fried chicken is pretty darn good as well - I wish I had a plate in front of me right now. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me. I truly appreciate it!
Reply
M Key says
I clicked on the stars thinking I was going to read reviews but it appears I gave these a 3 star rating and have not made them! My apologies! I will give a 5 star rating to balance it out - I do plan to make them sometime soon
Reply
Rebecca Blackwell says
No worries! I hope when you make these they live up to your 5-star rating. 🙂 Please let me know if you ever have any questions about them!
Reply
Sheilah says
Hi
Can I use all White Lily flourReply
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Sheilah! Yes - you can use White Lily Flour instead of all-purpose and cake flour in these biscuits. Because White Lily is self-rising you can also omit the baking powder and baking soda. Please let me know if you have any other questions! And I'd love to hear how these biscuits come out for you!
Reply
Carol Love says
I made these biscuits for breakfast this morning. They are the best ones I've made! This will now be my go-to recipe. Thank you!
Reply
Rebecca Blackwell says
I am so happy to hear that these biscuits turned out well for you, Carol! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me! I truly appreciate it! xo
Reply
Sharon says
LOVE ❤️THESE BISCUTS
Reply
Rebecca Blackwell says
I'm so happy to hear that Sharon! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me! I truly appreciate it! xo
Reply
Michele says
These were so good! I baked 5 and froze the other 11. Now I'll have fabulous biscuits whenever the craving hits! I did swap out a little honey for the white sugar, but other than that I followed your instructions and the biscuits were perfect. Thank you for the recipe!
Reply
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Michele! I'm so happy to hear that this recipe worked out so well for you! I LOVE having ready-to-bake biscuits in the freezer. Especially when I really want a biscuit for breakfast.... and for situations like right now. Writing about biscuits is making me want one! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me. I truly appreciate it! xo
Reply
Laura says
These were the best biscuits I ever made from scratch! I didn’t have buttermilk so I made my own by adding vinegar to whole milk and they turned out perfect. They raised up nice and high and were so soft in the middle. We did have left overs since it’s just my husband and I and they were still nice and soft the next day.
Reply
Rebecca Blackwell says
I'm so happy to hear that you and your husband liked these biscuits, Laura! After reading your comment, I'm craving them. I might have to make a batch for our lunch today. 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me! I truly appreciate it! xo
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