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Buttermilk Biscuits are the kind of tall, flaky, buttery magic that make you feel like a Southern grandma even on your very first try. I baked a batch on a slow Sunday morning while Maddie and Lizzie hovered by the oven waiting to split the first hot one, and they vanished before the pan even cooled. If you love an easy from scratch comfort win like our crispy fried hot honey chicken, these biscuits belong on your table.
Grab your butter and buttermilk, because these come together in about 40 minutes with pantry staples you already have.
Buttermilk Biscuits Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 25 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 15 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 40 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 8 biscuits
- ⚡ Calories: 261kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Buttery, tender, and lightly tangy with golden flaky layers
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, about as simple as our creamy buttery grits
Quick Answer
To make Buttermilk Biscuits, cut cold grated butter into a mix of flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda, then stir in cold buttermilk until the dough is shaggy. Fold the dough over itself a few times to build flaky layers, cut into rounds, and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 13 to 15 minutes until tall and golden. The keys are keeping everything cold and barely working the dough.
Jump to:
- Buttermilk Biscuits Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Buttermilk Biscuits
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Buttermilk Biscuits FAQs
- Other Recommended Southern Comfort Recipes
- Southern Buttermilk Biscuits
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Cold butter builds the layers. Freezing grated butter keeps it in little pieces that steam in the oven and push the dough up into tall, flaky sheets.
- Buttermilk adds lift and tang. The acid in buttermilk reacts with the baking soda for extra rise while giving the biscuits that classic gentle Southern tang.
- The tri-fold creates flaky layers. Folding the dough over itself a few times stacks thin sheets of butter and dough so the baked biscuits pull apart in ribbons.
- A hot oven sets the rise fast. Baking at 425 degrees Fahrenheit flashes the butter to steam quickly so the biscuits spring up before they can spread.
- Barely mixing keeps them tender. Stirring just until the dough comes together keeps the gluten relaxed so the crumb stays soft instead of tough and bready.
- Biscuits touching means soft sides. Placing the rounds so they barely touch helps them rise straight up and keeps the sides tender instead of crusty.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They are tall, flaky, and buttery with crisp golden tops and a soft tender middle every single time.
- You only need seven simple pantry staples and about 40 minutes from bowl to oven.
- They are the ultimate comfort side, perfect next to cheesy fried chicken or a big bowl of soup.
Key Ingredients
Just seven everyday staples come together for these biscuits, and each one pulls its weight.
- Unsalted Butter: Grate it and freeze it so it stays cold and creates those signature flaky layers.
- Buttermilk: Real buttermilk adds tang and reacts with the baking soda for a better rise, so keep it cold too.
- All-Purpose Flour: The everyday workhorse here, no special flour needed for tall tender biscuits.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Working together they give these biscuits a strong, even lift.
- Sugar and Salt: A touch of sugar rounds out the flavor while salt keeps every bite balanced.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
Make these biscuits your own with a few easy swaps.
- Add a cup of shredded sharp cheddar and a pinch of garlic powder for cheesy biscuits.
- Brush the hot tops with honey butter for a sweet and salty finish.
- Stir in chopped fresh chives or crispy bacon bits for a savory upgrade.
- No buttermilk on hand? Stir 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar into a scant cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Make them drop biscuits by skipping the rolling and scooping the shaggy dough straight onto the tray, great alongside our white chicken chili.
How to Make Buttermilk Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a sheet tray with parchment paper. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
- Grate 8 tablespoons of the butter or dice it very small, then place it in the freezer for 15 minutes along with the buttermilk so everything stays ice cold.
- Add the cold butter to the flour mixture and cut it in with a pastry cutter or two forks until it looks crumbly with no pieces larger than a pea.
- Pour in 3/4 cup of the buttermilk and stir until just combined. The mixture will be crumbly with some loose flour, and that is exactly what you want.
- Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour, turn out the dough, and gently work it with your hands into a ball.
- Roll the dough into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle, fold it into thirds like a letter, then roll and fold the same way two more times to build layers.
- Roll the dough to a 1 inch thickness and cut out biscuits with a 2 and 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, pressing straight down without twisting.
- Place the biscuits on the parchment lined tray so they are just barely touching, which helps them rise tall with soft sides.
- Brush the tops with the remaining 1 tablespoon of buttermilk and bake for 13 to 15 minutes until puffed and golden brown.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Keep everything cold. Cold butter and cold buttermilk are the single biggest secret to tall, flaky biscuits.
- Do not twist the cutter. Press straight down and lift so the edges stay clean and the biscuits rise evenly.
- Do not overwork the dough. Stop mixing as soon as it holds together to keep the crumb tender.
- Use the tri-fold. Those folds are what create the pull apart layers, so do not skip them.
- Reheat them right. Warm leftover biscuits in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 8 minutes to bring back the crisp tops.
- Freeze for later. Freeze cut unbaked biscuits on a tray, then bake from frozen, adding a couple of extra minutes.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These biscuits are pure comfort next to almost anything. Pile them next to cheesy fried chicken for a classic Southern plate, or serve them alongside our crispy fried hot honey chicken for a little sweet heat. For a cozy bowl meal, set a basket of warm biscuits beside white chicken chili or a steaming pot of chicken, sausage, and shrimp gumbo for dunking. They also shine at breakfast. Split them open for sausage gravy, layer them with eggs and bacon, or serve them with our creamy buttery grits and a side of collard greens for a true Southern spread.
Buttermilk Biscuits FAQs
Flat Buttermilk Biscuits usually mean the butter got too warm or the leavening is old. Keep your butter and buttermilk ice cold, use fresh baking powder and baking soda, and bake in a fully preheated 425 degree Fahrenheit oven so they spring up fast.
Yes. Press the dough into a rectangle and cut it into squares with a sharp knife so there are no scraps to re-roll, or scoop the shaggy dough into mounds for drop style Buttermilk Biscuits. A drinking glass dipped in flour also works in a pinch.
If you are out of buttermilk, stir 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into a scant cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. This quick substitute still gives your Buttermilk Biscuits the tang and rise they need.
Store cooled Buttermilk Biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat them in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 8 minutes to bring back the crisp tops and soft centers.
Absolutely. Freeze cut unbaked biscuits on a tray until solid, then transfer them to a freezer bag and bake straight from frozen, adding a couple of extra minutes. Baked Buttermilk Biscuits also freeze well for up to 3 months.
Folding the dough into thirds a few times stacks thin layers of butter and dough. As the Buttermilk Biscuits bake, that butter steams and pushes the layers apart, giving you those tall, flaky, pull apart ribbons.
Ready for another from scratch comfort classic? Try our cheesy fried chicken next for the ultimate Southern dinner.
Spread our homemade fig jam over warm biscuits for an easy, special breakfast.
Love an easy bake? Our popovers puff up tall and golden with just four ingredients.
If you love a from scratch baking project, our cinnamon roll buns use the same cold butter magic.
Southern Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon buttermilk divided
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 1 & 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper.
- Grate 8 tablespoons of the butter or dice it very small and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes. Add the buttermilk to the freezer during this time as well.10 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter or you can use two forks. The mixture should appear crumbly with no larger than pea-sized pieces of butter.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 & 1/2 tablespoons baking powder, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- Pour in ¾ cup of buttermilk (if any of the buttermilk started to freeze, just break it up with a fork). Stir until combined, mixture will be crumbly, with some of the flour not fully mixing in.
- Lightly dust a clean work surface with more flour. Pour out the dough mixture and work it with your hands to form a ball.
- Roll the dough out into ½ inch thick rectangle. Fold ⅓ of one side over the center. Fold the other ⅓ on top. Roll it out into a ½ inch rectangle again and fold the same way. Repeat 1 more time.
- Do the tri-fold one last time but this time roll out the dough into a 1-inch thickness. Using a 2 & ½ inch biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits. Place the biscuits slightly touching onto the parchment-lined sheet tray.
- Roll the scraps back into a ball and roll it out again to cut more biscuits. Keep doing this until you have 8 biscuits.
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with the remaining 1 tablespoon of buttermilk. Bake for 13-15 minutes until puffed up and the tops are golden brown.
Notes
- Cold Ingredients: Always use cold butter and buttermilk. This is the absolute best way to get flaky and buttery biscuits.
- Don’t Overwork the Dough: Handle with love! Overworking is the quickest way to hard biscuits.
- Use Parchment Paper: This ensures your biscuits won’t stick to the baking sheet.
- Close Placement: Placing the biscuits close on the baking tray ensures they rise upwards and not spread out.
- Biscuit Cutter: Instead of twisting the cutter, press it straight down. This helps biscuits rise evenly.
- Warm Leftovers the Right Way: To enjoy biscuits the next day, warm the cold biscuits in the oven and not the microwave for the best flavor.
Nutrition
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Super easy fantastic. Did cook extra 3 minutes to cook middles