Easy Buttermilk Biscuits
These easy buttermilk biscuits are incredibly soft, tall, flaky, and buttery. Serve these with some jam or gravy for an easy breakfast!
Making buttermilk biscuits from scratch is so much easier than you’d think. All it takes is seven simple ingredients and a little elbow grease — just a little!
Believe me, once you find out how easy it is to make your own biscuits you’ll never buy the pre-made kind again.
One thing I love about this buttermilk biscuit recipe is how versatile it is. Top the biscuits with your favorite sausage gravy, jam or marmalade, or a little butter and a drizzle of honey.
No matter how you dress them up, you’re going to love these biscuits!
Recipe Ingredients
Homemade buttermilk biscuits require just seven basic ingredients, so it’s important that you use all the right ones. Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy biscuit recipe:
- All-purpose flour: You need to spoon and level the flour when measuring it rather than scooping it straight from the bag. This will ensure that you don’t measure out too much by mistake, which would result in dense, dry biscuits.
- Baking powder & baking soda: Make sure your baking powder and baking soda are still fresh before starting. Both ingredients are important to get a good rise.
- Granulated sugar: Doesn’t make the biscuits taste sweet, it just gives them some flavor.
- Salt: Like the sugar, the salt flavors the biscuits and makes them taste more buttery.
- Unsalted butter: Needs to be cold before being cut into the flour. If you use warm butter, the biscuits won’t rise properly in the oven, nor will they be flaky.
- Buttermilk: The acidity of the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to help them rise as they’re baking in the oven. It also creates ultra tender biscuits! I highly recommend using real buttermilk for best results.
How to Make Buttermilk Biscuits
Before you start the recipe, it’s important to note that you need to use cold butter and buttermilk in these biscuits. Prepare your dry ingredients first, then take your butter and buttermilk out of the refrigerator to ensure that they stay cold.
- Prepare the dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- Add the cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture: The butter can be cut into the flour mixture using a fork, a pastry cutter, or a food processor. You want to see small pea-sized crumbs of butter in your dry ingredients, a few larger pieces are okay though.
- Add the buttermilk: Pour the cold buttermilk into the bowl and mix just until the dough starts to come together.
- Work the dough together: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and very gently work it together with your hands.
- Fold the dough: Form the dough into a rectangle, fold it into thirds like a letter (as shown in the photo above), and then pat it back out into a rectangle. This folding process needs to be repeated two more times. By folding the dough over itself, you’re creating layers. These layers result in ultra flaky, fluffy buttermilk biscuits! Trust me here, it’s worth the extra step.
- Pat out the dough: After the dough has been folded a third time, pat it out into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle. Make sure to measure here! If the dough is too thin, the biscuits won’t rise very tall.
- Cut out the biscuits: Use a floured 2.5-inch biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits, and arrange them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. When cutting your biscuits out, don’t twist your cutter. This will seal off the edges of your dough and they won’t rise as high. Just cut the dough straight down and pull the cutter right back out.
- Place them side by side on the baking sheet: Make sure the biscuits are touching each other like the picture above. Not only will this help the biscuits rise taller in the oven, but it will also give them softer sides.
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk: This step is optional, but it helps the tops turn a beautiful golden brown as they’re baking in the oven.
- Bake until golden brown: This will take about 15 to 17 minutes, depending on your oven.
How To Freeze Buttermilk Biscuits
Yes, you can either freeze the biscuits before baking them or after you have baked them.
- To freeze before baking: Place the cut out biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and freeze for 1 to 2 hours or until the biscuits are frozen solid. Place the biscuits in a large freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. The biscuits may be baked from frozen, just add a few extra minutes to the baking time. If they start to brown too much before they’re fully baked through, place a piece of foil over the top until they’re done.
- To freeze the baked biscuits: Once the baked biscuits have cooled completely, place them in a large freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature on the counter. Reheat in the microwave or in the oven at 300°F until warmed through.
Storage Instructions
These biscuits are best eaten the same day that they are prepared. However, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. I recommend warming them for a few seconds in the microwave or for a few minutes in the oven at 300°F.
For longer storage, you may freeze the biscuits as mentioned above.
Baking Tips
- Don’t overwork your dough! The more gentle you are with the dough, the more tender the biscuits will be.
- If you don’t have a circular cutter, you can use a knife to cut the dough into eight to ten square biscuits.
- I prefer to bake my biscuits side by side on the baking sheet so the sides are softer. If you prefer crisper sides, you can leave a little space between each one. Keep in mind that if you do, they may not rise quite as tall.
- If the dough feels a little too warm after you have cut it out, place the baking sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes, then bake as directed.
More Easy Breakfast Recipes to Make!
Recipe Video
Easy Buttermilk Biscuits
These Easy Buttermilk Biscuits are incredibly soft, tall, flaky, and buttery. Serve these with some jam, gravy, or your topping of choice for an easy and delicious breakfast!
Ingredients
Servings: 10 biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (250 grams)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cubed (85 grams)
- ¾ cup cold buttermilk plus more for the tops of the biscuits (180 ml)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt until well combined. Add the cubed cold butter and cut it into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter (you may also use a food processor for this step) until you have small pea sized pieces of butter. Pour the cold buttermilk into the mixture and gently mix until the dough starts to come together.
- Scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently work it together with your hands. Pat the dough into a rectangle and fold it into thirds (like a letter). Turn the dough, gather any crumbs, and flatten back into a rectangle. Repeat the folding process two more times.
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat it down into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle (make sure to measure!). Using a floured 2.5-inch biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits. Make sure not to twist the biscuit cutter as you're cutting, just press the cutter straight down and pull it straight back up.
- Continue to gather any scrap pieces of dough, patting it back down to 1/2-inch thickness, and cutting it until you have 8 to 10 biscuits. I suggest trying to get as many as you can the first time, as you continue to work the dough the biscuits won't be quite as good.
- Arrange the biscuits on the baking sheet touching each other. Brush the top of each biscuit with a little bit of buttermilk.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter, if desired. Allow to cool for a few minutes, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Storage Instructions: Biscuits are best eaten the same day that they are prepared. However, they may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. Reheat for a few seconds in the microwave or for a few minutes in the oven at 300°F.
Did you make this recipe?Mention @livewellbakeoften on Instagram or tag #livewellbakeoften.
Adapted from All Recipes and Food.com with some helpful research from King Arthur Flour.
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Great recipe, I would have given it 5 stars but the time needs to be adjusted. With two minutes and about 28 seconds left on my timer, the biscuits were overcooked. I would recommend leaving them in for about 12 mins or keep an eye out on them for your preferred readiness after 10 mins!
Can you use self rising flower instead ???
I think it would be fine, but self-rising flour has baking powder and salt added to it. I would omit the baking powder and reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon if you use it.
These are great biscuits…..2nd batch! First batch came out burnt at 15 minutes. At 450° 10 minutes was all the second batch needed! And they were worth the effort of a second batch.
May I suggest the this blogger adjust the online recipe to save future biscuits? “Joy of Cooking” suggests 10-12 minutes at 450°.
The baking time is correct, I’ve made them dozens of times. Keep in mind that if your oven is too hot or you make your biscuits smaller, the baking time will need to be reduced.
I took mine out a lot earlier too. The bottoms were too dark, so that could be my oven. 450 sounds too hot to me.
Also I may not have used fresh enough soda/powder; these seemed tough to me. I will try again in a different oven with better ingredients.
What the calories in the biscuits?
Hi, Jessica! I’m not sure about the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator to get an estimate.
Made these tonight and for once in my house, I had left over potatoes and beans instead of a bunch of biscuits. I’m so thankful to have ran across your recipe and said ok well I’ll try again and FINALLY!!! I followed the recipe exactly and they came out like a chef was in my kitchen. I was elated to serve them to my family and to watch them try them and I see thir faces light up…all I can say is thank you thank you. Especially, my husband who has a hard time swallowing right now due to his radiation treatments ate 2, yes TWO WHOLE BISCUITS. A mom with happy tears tonight, thank you so much.
This makes me so happy to hear, Danielle! Thank you! I’m so glad that everyone enjoyed the biscuits!
Good flavor but the amount of buttermilk wasn’t right for my area. I added a bunch more buttermilk and the dough still had a hard time holding together so the biscuits were a little tough because they were overworked in order to hold it together.
Followed recipe to a tee…but unfortunately the dough was too dry couldn’t keep it together. Didn’t want to over work the dough so they more or less fell apart.
Sorry you had trouble with the dough, Wendy. If you find that it’s too dry, you can add an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of buttermilk.
Cook time as stated is too long. At 15 minutes my biscuits are very overcooked. They are crispy and dark brown, top and bottom. Taste is great, and the interiors are tender and flaky. Next time I’ll check them at 11 minutes.
Do you know if you can pre make the dough and cut in to biscuits and freeze them? And pull them out to bake later?
I haven’t tried it with this recipe yet, but I have with my scone recipe (which is kind of similar) and it worked well! You may need to increase the baking time if you’re baking them from frozen. If the tops begin to brown too much before they’re fully cooked through, you can place a piece of foil over them until they’re done.
What about high attitude baking? At an elevation that over 4,000 feet?
I’m not familiar with high altitude baking, but some readers have found this guide helpful.
These buttermilk biscuits are perfect! I love them. I used a food processor for cutting in the butter and adding the buttermilk. They were fluffy and very easy to make. I baked them for about 10-15 minutes. Thank you!
Finally a buttermilk recipe that’s easy an delicious!! I’ve made a few batches and they were great every time. I can’t make them fast enough, My husband loves them! Even used them in a dessert recipe! Thank you!!
Good recipe with the added baking soda and sugar, and helpful prep tips. Mine were done after 12 minutes at 450, tho, but likely depends on oven and size of biscuits. Plan to make more and freeze!
I made these they were great but I shook my flour in the container to get air into it I turned mine over last 5 min as the bottoms were burning.
These were definitely a hit! I’ve always had trouble making biscuits and these turned out light and flakey. I even forgot to put in the sugar and we still liked them!
We were trying to decide what to do for breakfast on a Sunday morning (we were out of eggs) and I suggested that I make biscuits. I hopped online and found this recipe. We only had powdered buttermilk, but made that up and let it chill a little. Then I couldn’t find my pastry blender, so I tried my food processor. Thought I overmixed the dough, but I guess not. Danielle’s tip on folding in thirds, three times was perfect! I didn’t have a biscuit cutter, so I just cut the dough into squares with a knife and baked. 15 minutes in my oven was perfect! Oven temps vary, it depends on where your oven rack is placed, and I think the inside size of your oven all can affect baking times. I have gotten into the habit of checking about 5 minutes before the suggested time.
Thanks Danielle! This is my go to recipe now.
Thank you, Jane! So glad you loved the recipe!
Hands down best recipe I’ve used for tea biscuits
Everything was spot on except they came out a little salty and the recipe was followed throughout the process
Sorry you thought that they were too salty. Feel free to reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon if you prefer.
Hi Danielle, thanks for a yummy recipe. I have a problem though…I live in Italy and just CAN’T find real butter milk – not even fake buttermilk for that matter! I make my own yoghurt from a kefir culture which I then filter through a cloth to get the consistency of Greek yoghurt. Can I use the whey instead? Unless I start making my own butter, but it’s been more than 60 years since I’ve made some and quite honestly, I don’t really feel up to the strain now. (We used to produce it manually in my mom’s home…)
Your recipes are awesome!!
Regards from Angela
Hi, Angela! You could probably use the whey from the Greek yogurt in place of buttermilk. I have a buttermilk substitute here that you can use. You may want to use a tablespoon or two less, since it’s thinner than regular buttermilk. Another option would be to mix Greek yogurt with some water until you get a buttermilk-like consistency. I hope that helps!
Love this one. I doubled it. Mixed by hand. Baked in a cast iron skillet.. still had nice soft bottoms which I was hoping for. Turned out fantastic. Thank you
These were the best biscuits I’ve made in 40+ years! The texture inside soft and flakey!
I baked them at 435 for 12 minutes, but took them out at 11 min. They were beautiful and brown and delicious!
Excellent! Simple and tasty.
Tried the biscuits this morning and they turned out great! I did watch them after 10 minutes to make sure they didn’t get too brown. They were very moist and flaky! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Sorry I forgot the well-derserved 5 stars!
These buttermilk biscuits were fast and easy to make. They were so much better tasting and texture than anything from a box or store bought! I’ll be making them often!
Really great recipe. 12-15 minutes was the time i used and the biscuits came out great.
These are delicious! I followed the recipe to a tee except my oven seems to run hot so I set the temp at 445 and biscuits were done at 14 minutes.
We made breakfast sandwiches with 2 and the rest will be a late night snack with butter and jam!
Thanks for the recipe!
Yum! These came out great. My round cutter was too big so I used a pint class instead. Worked great! We were in Vermont over the weekend and had these incredible biscuits. We went back the following day and the line was out the door so we reluctantly decided against the muffins. I found this recipe and made them myself this morning and they were better then the ones we had in VT. Thank you for the recipe ❤️
Perfect and easy forgiving recipe. Love the crunchy bottom when using parchment paper. I liked the recipe so much that I measure and prepare the dry ingredients into batch portions so all I have to do is add my butter and buttermilk when ready to bake. I like them as they are with no adjustment to recipe. So kind and generous of you to share.
This is a great recipe. The flavor and texture are perfect. The first time I tried it though, I used store bought buttermilk and the dough seemed too dry. But the second time, I tried it with homemade, whole buttermilk, which is a bit thinner, and they turned out perfectly fluffy and moist. These are probably the best biscuits I have ever made.
Made these the other day, they were spot on, SOOOO delicious. Added a bit more garlic powder and some paprika. Best recipe for biscuits I have ever tried. My girls LOVED them. We didn’t do the folding, and they turned out just fine without the layered look, rose beautifully.
There was too much dough, so we made a thick sausage shape with the dough and then cut thick disks which we froze individually on a baking sheet and then bagged up. Cooked from frozen at 180C until golden and risen, couldn’t tell the difference. EXCELLENT recipe. Thank you for posting.
Flavor was amazing – very good recipe with tips that I think are the secret to a great biscuit. I shredded the cold butter with a cheese grater, put it in freezer for a few minutes after shredding, then cut it in. At 450 degrees, my biscuits were done in 12 mins.
I’ve made a lot of biscuits, but have never being completely satisfied with any of the recipes I’ve tried online; so needing something today for my biscuits & gravy, I decided to take the risk, and try this recipe. I am so glad I did, because these biscuits were perfect! I loved the provided details, and thank you for suggesting the folding technique to get layered biscuits. —something you really never think about when making drop biscuits; quite honestly these were much neater & easier than making drop biscuits.
*Readers may want to keep in mind that oven temperatures, and cooking techniques vary based on many factors; location/elevation/environment/calibration, etc.
**Get to know your oven, maybe see if the person providing the recipe is from your region, and adjust all your recipe cook times based on your oven/regional location.
Love this recipe!
Your tips were great also.
I know my oven is hot so set it at 445 and baked 12 min…perfect.
I use a clean soup can with a couple of nail holes in the bottom to cut biscuits. That’s what Mom used and it works great!!
If you doubled this recipe would you double the baking powder and soda also??
Thank you, Joan! And yes, I would double those as well.
Made these and they turned out perfect,first try, thank you for such an easy to follow receipe.
It worked just the way you described. My family really enjoyed. I shared biscuits with 3 family members. Do you have doubling or tripling instructions?.
So happy to hear that, Pam! I don’t have instructions for doubling/tripling, but I imagine that you could just double all of the ingredients to make a larger batch.