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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What’s the best way to store and reheat the leftovers if I want to enjoy them tomorrow?
You can store them in an airtight container on the counter and then just reheat in the microwave or in the oven at a lower temperature until they’re warmed through.
Hi Danielle,
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell us your process of how to make buttermilk biscuits! I love it!!
but I have one question:
I like all the ingredients above, but what if people have high cholesterol? Can they substitute the butter with olive oil?
Thank you! I wouldn’t suggest it for this recipe. The cold butter helps the biscuits rise too, if you substitute it they won’t be quite the same.
I have made this simple bisquit recipe or some variation of it for years and for some reason my bisquits never rise. They always taste good they just turn out flat.
Have you tried this particular recipe and used the tips in this post? I’ve never had any issues with these not rising 🙂
I tried your recipe and loved it . Biscuits were tasty !!
I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all of the tips and the recipe came out PERFECTLY on the first try!! Thank You!
So glad to hear that, Charity!
Absolutely splendid. Followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfectly fluffy and flaky. And tasted delicious.
So happy to hear that biscuits turned out great for you, Lucy!
I accidentally froze my buttermilk and the biscuits turned out even better than the first time I tried this recipe! They were lighter and rose so much more. Maybe it was just luck, but possibly a tip?
It could be that the dough was quite a bit colder, Lydia. Glad to hear they turned out great!
Hey there, I was thinking of making these biscuits for thanksgiving this year, but I was wondering, can you make the dough ahead of time and keep it refrigerated until needed? Will that affect how they rise? They look great so I’m excited to try them either way!
Hi, Whitney! They won’t rise as well if you let the dough sit for too long. I would definitely suggest making the dough and then baking them.
I found these easy to make. They came out perfectly golden brown outside, and inside beautifully puffy and flaky. Will be making them again and again.
So glad to hear that, Amanda!
I’ve probably tried about a dozen recipes for buttermilk biscuits, none have been as good as these. Not only do they look delicious coming out of the oven, but they are. I took a bit of one plain, and it was amazing. Well done. This ones a keeper.
Thank you, Gregory! Glad you liked the biscuits!
I made these biscuits tonight and they were great! One question though, what should the final consistency of the dough be when I start cutting out the rounds for biscuits? It seemed almost too dry and a bit crumbly.
It will be a little crumbly at first, but should come together as you work it together with your hands. If you find that it’s still too crumbly, try adding 1-2 tablespoons of buttermilk and that should help.
I am going to add cheese and the requisite seasonings and turn these into buttermilk cheddar bay bisquits. Wish me luck.
That sounds fantastic, Bernadette! I’ve added shredded cheddar cheese to them before and they turned out great.
I live in Portugal so have to use local products of course. I followed all directions, did the butter with flour mix in a food processor. My dough was SO DRY I couldn’t combine, had to work with my hands to get it even to stick together, and I´m sure I worked it too much…but biscuits didn´t rise (although they tasted good) while hot.
Sorry to hear that, Jill. Did you happen to scoop your flour from the container or did you weigh it? I’m wondering if there was just too much flour and that’s why it was crumbly. If you’re unable to work it together you can always add another 1-2 tablespoons of buttermilk and that should help.
I made these this morning for Thanksgiving and they were a hit!
Thank you!
So happy to hear that!
Made these just now and they were good and tasty. My baking soda was a little out of date… it expired in 2009 so about 9 years ago, but they still raised a little and had some nice layers. But will try again next weekend with new soda and let you know.
Glad the biscuits turned out well for you, Bruce! Some fresh baking soda will definitely give them a better rise next time too.
Good,, Good! biscuits!
However, made with the above 3/4 cup of buttermilk the resultant mixture was waaaay too dry – I had very near an additional 1/4 c of liquid needed before the dough reached an acceptable level of flexibility to roll and cut.
(I always use measurements with a small scale, by grams, so yes, exactly 250g flour and 85g butter.)
Excellent results!
Best regards from a little ‘(old) Southern lady who knows her biscuits…
So happy you liked the biscuits, Jean! I’ve never had any issues with the 3/4 cup buttermilk, it is a little crumbly at first but it always comes together when I work it together with my hands. Glad they still worked out well for you though!
How do you know if you are over working the dough? My dough was too dry & crumbly to fold.
You should be able to work it together with your hands. If not, try adding 1-2 tablespoons of buttermilk and that should help.
Mine did not rise. I had very cold butter. Not sure why…
Cold butter is just one thing that helps them rise, there are several reasons they may not have risen. It could be from twisting the cutter too much, baking powder/soda was not fresh, or the dough was too thin when you cut it.
Wondering if making the dough the night before, if they would be okay to put in the fridge, then bake in the morning… please help
I wouldn’t suggest it for this recipe, the biscuits won’t rise as well if the dough sits for too long.
They rose beautifully. The texture was fabulous! However, mine were quite bland. I was wondering what type of salt you used in the recipe. I use kosher salt. I think that the difference is probably the type of salt. Looking forward to your answer. I’d like to try them again tomorrow morning.
I use regular table salt.
These were absolutely perfect! My first time making biscuits and everyone raved about them! We even decided to have a midday snack with jelly on them 🙂 thank you!!
So glad the biscuits turned out great for you, Cher!
Its been an on-going family joke that my mother ( which is an extremely good cook of all things but biscuits) can never get her biscuits to turn out right. Always hard and flat. It makes her so angry. Lol. I’ve never attempted to make homemade bicuits until this morning and used your recipe. They were as beautiful as your picture and tasted excellent! She scowled at me while eating hers. It was great family fun !! Lol.. Thanks so much .
So glad the biscuits turned out great for you!
Just made these biscuits for myself for breakfast, on a whim. They were….AMAZING. They rose to about 2 inches (i measured) and the texture was tender, not crumbly, gently flaky (not that obnoxious phony flakiness of a Pillsbury canned biscuit) and melted in my mouth. The flavor, subtly buttery and savory. I followed the instructions exactly. My only imperfection was that some of the biscuits rose in a lopsided manner. Meh…still praiseworthy. I didn’t have buttermilk, so I used milk with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and let it sit in the fridge while I worked on the first few steps of the recipe. I used Kings Arthur organic unbleached flour, and measured not by weighing it but by spooning it into a measuring cup and leveling with a knife. And for the first time ever, I let my food processor do the work of mixing the cold butter with the flour. Instantaneous! And what a relief on my hand and wrist!!! I’ll never use that darn pastry cutter again LOLOL!!! I poured the flour/butter combo into a large bowl and poured in the ‘buttermilk.’ The dough came together very quickly and i stopped stirring as soon as the flour came off the sides of the bowl. It was very very sticky, so I had to flour my hands a little bit to keep from having doughy fingers. I lightly floured my clean counter top, plopped the dough on top of it and followed the instructions about shaping the dough into a rectangle (it was a small rectangle, maybe even smaller than the width and length of a typical loaf pan) and then folding into thirds, etc. Precision was not important here. I think what matters is that you fold the dough several times to encourage those layers. And be kinda gentle, a light touch is all it took. After that, I used a floured rolling pin and rolled out the dough right where it was on the counter top. I measured the dough to 1/2 inch. I don’t have a biscuit cutter, so I just used the mouth of a wine glass dipped in flour. Works great. Baked at 450 but only for 13 minutes. They were plenty browned by then and I did NOT want to burn them. Maybe if I had left them in the over for the total 15 minutes, some of the biscuits would not have been lopsided? Oh well. Seriously, though, these were amazing biscuits. My husband’s gonna fall in love with me all over again. And again and again. oxoxoxoxox
So glad the biscuits turned out great for you, Maria!
my grandmother always made the most awesome buttermilk buiscuits but it seemed to be such a long process that I would never try it. I just used your recipe and they turned out great with little effort on my part. Thank you for the recipe and tips!
So glad the biscuits turned out great for you, Jody!
Hi! I made these tonight. They were amazing! When I purchase parchment paper it says not to cook at temperatures higher than 425. So I made them at 420 and I don’t think they rose quite as much as they would have normally but they were still beautiful and delicious. This is now my go to recipe! Thanks so much!
You could always skip the parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat. The higher temperature does help a little as far as making them rise higher. I’m glad you liked them! 🙂
I made these for a dinner party and they were inedible. Is it really supposed to be 1 tablespoon of baking soda? That was way too much and it was all anyone could taste. I’m confused about that amount.
Did you use 1 tablespoon of baking soda or baking powder? The 1 tablespoon of baking powder in the recipe is correct.
Used your recipe for my first-ever go at buttermilk biscuits (and biscuits in general)! They turned out delicious, though the rise wasn’t as high as yours. Totally user error; I overworked the dough & probably added just a little too much buttermilk because the crumbly dough made me panic ?. Will try again the next time I buy buttermilk, this time using the food processor!
So glad you liked the biscuits, Mary! The dough is a little crumbly at first, but it does come together 🙂
Your many special tips worked wonders, fluffiest biscuits ever. Never heard of folding the dough before. I used half whole wheat and increased the buttermilk until the texture was right. Thx.
So glad the biscuits turned out great for you, Heather!
I’ve tried about 6 different recipes for biscuits and this is by far the best! First time I made it and they came out golden, fluffy and delicious. Perfect ingredients to make great tasting biscuit free of whatever that crap is they put in the canned kind. Thanks!!!
I’m not sure if anyone pointed this out already, but when you click to adjust the yield, the amount in grams (in parentheses) doesn’t change. If anyone was having difficulty, that could be an issue! I always try to find metric so I can use a scale, so I just noticed this. That said, I made these last week with stale baking soda and I still loved them hahah! Thanks so much for this!
Thanks for the heads up, I’ll work on getting that fixed! Glad you liked the biscuits too 🙂
I made these just to try a new recipe . see if it would top my old recipe and it did! They were so soft and yummy and had a great taste ! Def saving this recipe for the books. Perfect for breakfast samdwiches!
I used Softasilk cake flour, and these turned out spectacular. I don’t recommend using regular AP Flour unless you have a brand like White Lilly or similar.
Glad the biscuits turned out great for you, Eric! White Lily has a lower protein content than other brands of all-purpose flour so it definitely creates lighter biscuits. That being said, I think most brands of all-purpose flour work fine in this recipe too.