My Favorite Buttermilk Biscuits
I shared these on the site way back in 2007, but I'd adapted them as chive biscuits and it was buried in a post without any photos of their deliciousness. They never got the spotlight they deserved. These can be adapted in a lot of ways. You can use unleavened cake flour for a more delicate biscuit, add herbs or a little grated cheese for a different flavor profile, and the sugar can be dialed up or down. You can make your own buttermilk or whisk together yogurt or sour cream and milk for a similar effect. They can be dropped from a spoon or cut into shapes. The original recipe has a larger yield (12 standard), but I've taken to scaling it to 3/4 of its original volume, which will yield 6 very large breakfast biscuits or 9 standard ones.
I shared these on the site way back in 2007, but I'd adapted them as chive biscuits and it was buried in a post without any photos of their deliciousness. They never got the spotlight they deserved. These can be adapted in a lot of ways. You can use unleavened cake flour for a more delicate biscuit, add herbs or a little grated cheese for a different flavor profile, and the sugar can be dialed up or down. You can make your own buttermilk or whisk together yogurt or sour cream and milk for a similar effect. They can be dropped from a spoon or cut into shapes. The original recipe has a larger yield (12 standard), but I've taken to scaling it to 3/4 of its original volume, which will yield 6 very large breakfast biscuits or 9 standard ones.
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/4 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons to 1 1/2 tablespoons (10 to 20 grams) sugar (to ta see note above)
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
- 9 tablespoons (125 grams) chilled unsalted butter cut into small chunks
- 3/4 cup (175 ml) buttermilk
- Carbohydrate 0.01135 g
- Cholesterol 40.6708333333333 mg
- Fat 15.3433083333333 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 0.160791666666667 g
- Saturated Fat 9.71711333333334 g
- Serving Size 1 1 biscuit (19g)
- Sodium 108.96 mg
- Sugar 0.01135 g
- Trans Fat 1.07408833333333 g
- Calories 136 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 400 °F and cover baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large, wide bowl.
- Using fingertips or a pastry blender, work butter into dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
- Add buttermilk and stir until large, craggy clumps form.
- Reach hands into bowl and knead mixture briefly until it just holds together.
- Transfer dough to floured counter and pat out until 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick.
- Using a round cutter, press straight down and transfer rounds to prepared sheet, spacing two inches apart.
- Alternatively, drop 1/4-cup spoonfuls onto baking sheet, spacing two inches apart.
- Bake until biscuits are golden brown on top, about 12 to 15 minutes.
- Cool slightly, then serve warm, with butter/jam/eggs/bacon/sausage and gravy or any combination thereof.
Ingredient Efficiency and Substitutions
Thrifty cooks can replicate fermented dairy by whisking standard milk with plain yogurt or sour cream until it matches the pourable consistency of buttermilk. Substituting unbleached all-purpose flour with unleavened cake flour yields a softer, more delicate crumb structure by reducing total gluten development. Sugar levels remain entirely flexible, adjusting easily from 10 to 20 grams depending on whether savory gravies or sweet jams accompany the final plate.Common Pitfalls
Overworking the dough develops excess gluten, producing tough, chewy rounds instead of tender layers. Rolling dough thicker than three-quarters of an inch often causes tall biscuits to destabilize and tip over mid-bake. Freezing unbaked rounds directly on the sheet preserves solid fat pockets for later use, requiring just a couple of extra minutes in the oven. Bake batches for 12 to 15 minutes until the tops display a deep golden hue.
