How to Make Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Here in the deep South, buttermilk biscuits are a religion with many branches and denominations, all of which think theirs is the closest to Heaven. And you know what? I think they’re all correct. But when I make biscuits, I like to keep it simple.

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Southern Buttermilk Biscuit Ingredients

My favorite biscuit recipe calls for only 3 ingredients:

1. White Lily Self Rising Flour
2. Buttermilk
3. Real butter (as opposed to shortening)

White Lily flour is a staple in the south. It contains less gluten than regular flour, which helps give biscuits that flaky, fluffy, tender texture southern biscuits are known for. It contains the leavening agents already, so if you use all-purpose flour, you’ll need to add salt and baking powder.

Buttermilk gives the biscuits a deeper, tangy flavor and also helps the biscuits to rise.

And butter, in my opinion, just tastes better than shortening in a biscuit. (I prefer to use salted butter and almost never buy unsalted.)

How to Make Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

The method is simple. You cut the flour into the butter, and then you add the buttermilk to form a dough. It’s easiest and most intuitive to use your hands, although you could use a spoon if you wanted to.

One important note is that over-mixing, or over-kneading, is the cardinal sin of biscuit making. Handling the dough too much makes the biscuits heavy and tough. For this reason, I don’t even roll out the dough, I just pat it into a circle or square about 3/4 – 1 inch thick on a very slightly floured surface.

You can usually only get about 3 or 4 biscuits cut the first time. Then you gently combine the dough pieces back together and pat out again to cut a few more biscuits. You could also shape the dough into a square and cut square biscuits. That also prevents over-handling or leftover bits of dough.

I bake my buttermilk biscuits on a pizza stone that I’ve preheated in the oven. That way the bottom of the biscuits get brown and slightly crisp. That part is completely optional though. I also place the biscuits very close together so that they rise higher. If you place them too far apart, they will spread. Then right before baking, brush buttermilk on top to help them brown.

You can also skip cutting them out, which often wastes some dough, and simply cut them into squares instead. This is much quicker and easier to do. And they make perfectly delicious square biscuits, as pictured below.

See how soft, fluffy, and tender they are on the inside? You can slice them open and slather with butter, or just spread the butter right on top.

These buttermilk biscuits are perfect for my Sausage Gravy and Biscuits recipe which you can find here. They’re also delicious with honey, jam, or my favorite way- covered in butter straight from the oven.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Tender, fluffy buttermilk biscuits are a southern staple. This recipe is quick and easy to make with only 3 ingredients.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Servings 6 biscuits

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 2 cups self-rising flour (I prefer White Lily)
• 1/4 cup cold butter (half a stick, cut into pieces)
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (or whole milk with 1 Tbsp vinegar added)

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 475 F / 246 C / gas mark 9
• Place flour and butter into a bowl. Using your hands, a pastry cutter, or a fork, work the butter into the flour until you have pea-sized crumbs.
• Add buttermilk and stir just until the flour is moistened and the dough is forming into a ball. It's best to use your hands so you can feel the dough coming together and don't overwork it.
• Lightly sprinkle flour onto countertop. Place the dough on the floured surface and gently pat into a circle or square about an inch thick. Cut biscuits using round biscuit cutter, or cut into squares using a sharp knife. For the best rise, do not twist the cutter while pressing down. Also, dust the cutter or the knife with flour after each cut to prevent sticking.
• If using a cutter, reform dough scraps to cut additional biscuits. Do not handle the dough too much or the biscuits will be tough.
• Place biscuits with sides touching onto baking sheet. Brush milk or buttermilk on top. Place biscuits into pre-heated oven. Bake 8-12 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown. remove from oven. Brush tops with butter

Keyword baking, biscuits

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