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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These were quite tender and delicious. Though I had to turn my oven down as I have a double oven so the upper one is quite smaller. Very tasty.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the biscuits, Veronica! 🙂
Just made these biscuits and they look good and taste very good
Glad to hear that, hope you enjoyed the biscuits!
Just made these for lunch and they are the best I’ve ever made and I’m 81. Our Home Ec teacher specialized in teaching baking powder biscuits but she didn’t know your secret. Chill, chill, chill! :)… But where we live in NE Montana 450 degrees is too hot. (Also it’s been minus 20 for a couple weeks and that’s too cold.) I preheated to that temp but after they were in the oven I cranked it down to 400. Only to10 to 12 minutes and they were browned top and bottom. I used an insulated cooky sheet thinking it would prevent burning. And it did, but another couple minutes and they would have. Haven’t been to the grocery store for awhile so had to substitute non fat dry milk soured with bottled lemon juice for buttermilk. I cut in the ‘chilled’ cubed butter into the dry stuff and put the whole bowlful in the fridge till I was ready to mix. Long story short…I’m convinced I’d have got an A in Home Ec today, for these Chilly BPB’s! 🙂
Oh wow! Minus 20 is so cold, Arlene! I’m glad to hear that you liked the biscuits! 🙂
These are the best biscuits I have made! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Thank you, Jackie! I’m glad you liked the biscuits!
Great recipe, thorough directions, and the best tips! I’ve never made biscuits before, this was my first time and they tasted better than I could have imagined! I didn’t have a biscuit cutter, so I used a glass cup (worked out well), I also used salted grass-fed butter and only added 1/8th tsp of Celtic sea salt. Printed this recipe off to add to my file of recipes to be passed on to my daughter, thank you for sharing!
So happy to hear that you loved the recipe, Sara!
I love to make biscuits. These are excellent. An important thing you did was the tips. Most people don’t realize how cold the butter and buttermilk need to be. You made that important. Also to not twist the biskit cutter. Another perfect hint was put the biscuits so they are touching to rise better. All things I learned from older folks and videos on Appalachia homestead on utube. Thanks
Thank you, Jane! I’m glad you liked the biscuits!
I would really like to try these for dinner later but don’t have any buttermilk, can I use the subtitute of adding either lemon juice or vinegar to the milk or does it have to be real buttermilk? Thanking you in advance.
Hi, Linda! I’ve used a buttermilk substitute in other baked goods and haven’t had any issues. But I haven’t tried it with these biscuits yet. I will say that I think real buttermilk is always best, but it may work to use a substitute. If you try it, I’d love to hear how they turn out!
Hey Danielle,
I did use the buttermilk substitute and I thought they turned out great. They were moist, light and flaky. I will have to make another batch using actual buttermilk so I can compare them. Thank you so much for sharing such an awesome recipe with us. My previous attempts using other recipes were unsuccessful. One other thing, i used salted butter cuz I didn’t have unsalted but didnt add the salt that was listed in recipe so they did lack a little salt.
Glad to hear the biscuits turned out great, Linda! A good rule of thumb when using salted butter in a recipe that calls for unsalted is to reduce the salt by 1/4 teaspoon per stick of butter. If you do use salted butter again, I would reduce the salt down to about 3/4 teaspoon. Hope that helps!
Could I use salted butter and leave out the 1 tsp salt?
Yes, but I wouldn’t leave out the salt completely. I would reduce it down to about 1/2-3/4 teaspoon.
Had to make a few substitutes, but even then they turned out fantastic!
Thanks for the recipe~
Ill be sure to get everything together properly this time
Glad your subtitutions worked great and that you enjoyed the biscuits, Sam!
Came across your blog tonight while searching for buttermilk biscuit recipes, so glad I did as I made them for supper and they were the very best biscuits I have ever made! My hubby loved them too and said they were great! It is a keeper for sure! Now we are searching through the rest of your wonderful recipes, already found more we cannot wait to try! Thanks so much for the recipes, I appreciate it!
So glad to hear that, Brenda! Let me know if you try any other recipes 🙂
Can you add cheddar cheese to this recipe? If yes how much?
Yes, absolutely! I would probably start with 1/3-1/2 cup and then add more depending on your preference.
These were so tasty! I was looking for a good biscuit recipe, and this is going to be my go to one!
So glad you liked the biscuits, Grace!
Hi, would love to see a video of someone making these .
Hi, Lynn! I have a few videos on my site with recipes, but not for this one yet. I do plan to add more videos in the future and I’ll keep this recipe in mind.
I just made these! I didn’t change a thing! They came out PERFECT! My great grandmother used to make her own, but no one was ever able to get the recipe because she made them “by feel”. These are the closest to hers I have ever found. Thank you for sharing.
So happy to hear that, Michelle! I’m glad you liked the biscuits 🙂
Can I make these and freeze them after i cut them out? Thank you for a great recipe! It looks great!
The baking powder is activated once you add the liquid (buttermilk) so I wouldn’t suggest it. If you let them sit overnight, they won’t rise quite as high.
This are the best biscuits. My kids loved it. Thank you for sharing.
So glad you and your kids enjoyed the biscuits, Lorena!
These were great! Very close to my mother’s and grandmother’s.
They never measured anything going into the sifter. Since they did not and any time I tried to get them to messure, they never turned out the ssme, this recipe will go into my book as a staple.
I did not have butter milk so I used a trick I learned on-line for biscuits. Short your milk volume by the 4 table spoons, then wisk in 4 table spoons of sour cream (not low fat). Works like magic. You get the get the extra milk fat and the acidity to activate the baking soda.
Thank you very much for sharing this.
Glad you liked the biscuits, Bryan! And thanks for sharing about the buttermilk substitute, that will be helpful for others who may not have any on hand.
I’ve been looking for a better biscuit method and recipe for some time. Yours is perfect. Thank you.
So glad you liked the biscuits, Brook!
Can I pre-make the dough and cut biscuits in the morning? Would I need to wrap in Saran Wrap and refrigerate?
The biscuits won’t rise nearly as tall if they sit overnight. I wouldn’t suggest it for this recipe.
I found this recipe when I looked up buttermilk biscuits. I am so EXCITED to say that I followed your recipe on every step of the way plus all the extra tips that you gave AND they turned out GREAT. I love the taste of them and will NOW be using ONLY this recipe. Thanks for all the pictures too, will be making some of your other recipes when I go to the store.
So happy to hear that they turned out great for you, Dorothy! I’d love to hear if you try any other recipes.
I forgot to leave a 5 STAR rating….oops
Dumb question, is everyone using a convection oven? I have a woefully slow 1948 gas range oven and am experiencing slow rise and bake.
Also, How’d you manage a dozen biscuits…I only formed 7 and one free form for doggie ?
I’ pretty certain once I get them cooked they are going to be delicious…
Thanks for sharing.
Scooter
I don’t use a convection oven, just a conventional oven. I’m usually able to get at least 10 biscuits, did you make sure to measure the dough when you flattened it out and make sure it wasn’t too thick?
Yes, kiddo… and we’re getting ready to make these most delicious biscuits again… Thank you for sharing ?
OMG! These were the most amazing, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits!! Thanks for all the great tips. The science behind tender biscuits is the cold wet ingredients. I was a little skeptical about the sugar in the recipe but the slight hint of sweetness was perfect. Next time I will lower my oven temperature because they were golden brown several minutes earlier than Recipe called for and the middles could’ve used a minute or two more. Overall a fantastic recipe that will be my “go to “ for my family.
So glad you liked the biscuits, Tammy! You can also cover them with some foil if the tops get too brown before they’re finished baking.
Very nice biscuits, they were well received at breakfast.. A few modifications that you or someone might want to try: For a savory biscuit, I left out the sugar (recommend less salt in that case) and substituted a half-cup buckwheat flour and a handful of grated cheese. They were brown, hearty, but nonetheless good under butter and jam, or peanut butter. The only other departure from the very good instructions: I cut them square, in order to avoid re-forming the scraps and re-cutting.
So glad you liked the biscuits, Steve! And I love the suggestions too, especially cutting them into squares. Definitely can make it a bit easier!
A rather simple to follow recipe! I didn’t realize that I had a pastry cutter until after I used a knife to cut in the butter. I added honey to the dough (about 3 tablespoons) and made a honey maple and butter glaze for the top. A great balance between sweet and savory!
I’ll return to this recipe again for certain…Thanks for sharing this!!!
A knife works just fine too, Kevin! The honey sounds like a fantastic addition as well, I’ll have to give that a try next time I make a batch.
My father in law requested buttermilk biscuits for dinner tonight. He’s 70 and disabled Vietnam Veteran. I’m so excited to try these tonight and so is he!!
Hope you both enjoyed the biscuits!
This recipe is perfect! I forgot to make them touch in the oven. A very, very important step in my opinion. Next time I make these, I’ll remember that and they will be beyond perfect I think. This recipe is going in my baking book. Only my go to recipes are allowed in there. ?
I find that putting them side by side definitely helps them rise taller and just gives them softer sides, but it’s fine to skip that step too! Glad you liked the biscuits, Vanessa 🙂
First time ever making biscuits and they earned a big thumbs up from the kids (and me). Easy to make, and next time I’ll be better prepared for the sticky dough. 😉 I followed advice to preheat the oven at 450, then reduce to 400, then baked for 14-16 minutes. Delicious!
So glad everyone enjoyed the biscuits, Sandy!
Great recipe! I did something a little different, instead of using a bisuict cutter I used a pizza cutter and cut them into squares right on the baking sheet and baked them. Every one came out light and fluffy like you promised!
So glad to hear that you enjoyed the biscuits, Desiree!