Southern Buttermilk Biscuits
Soft, fluffy, buttery, golden southern buttermilk biscuits! It’s enough to bring a man to his knees. Or so I use to hear growing up. I snagged my husband with the help of chocolate chip cookies so I can’t really vouch for biscuits. Although these southern buttermilk biscuits are heavenly and my husband did ask if I’d make them everyday to which I lovingly replied “AINT NOBODY GOT TIME FA DAT!”
The truth is, I could totally make these every day because not only are they insanely easy, but they are soooooo daggum GOOD!!!! These are the kind of biscuits where you sink your teeth into that first bite and you just have to look at the biscuit while knodding yes. It takes you there honey!! To that comforting place that only a fluffy, scratch-made southern buttermilk biscuit can!
Now if you normally suck at making biscuits (quickly raises hand) don’t let the process defeat you, even if your first or tenth batch doesn’t turn out right. KEEP TRYING! You WILL get it!! There is a such thing as biscuit gods and they will shine upon you. Although you may just get them right on your first try with this recipe. It’s that easy! Biscuit making is an art form that relies mainly on the look and feel of the dough. Many biscuit recipes work just fine but you aren’t gonna get fabulous buttermilk biscuits until you learn a few tips.
This is a southern girl speaking to you from experience honey because even after seeing and helping my grandmother make homemade biscuits almost every week as a child, I still could not get it right. My grandmother forgot to tell me a few valuable tips, so incase your grandmother or mother or whomever, forgot to tell you as well, Imma tell you right now. Are you leeesaning Leeenda?
How to get the BEST Southern Buttermilk Biscuits Everrrr!
(or at least this is what changed my biscuit making game)
1.) Keep everything COLD!!! COLD is the word of the day, m’kay! Biscuit ingredients love to be cold. When the ingredients start to warm up before they hit the oven, they start reacting with each other and you don’t want that to happen just yet. You want all the magic to take place in the oven aka the loooove zone! So freeze the butter and keep all the other ingredients in the fridge beforehand. If things start to warm up while you are making them then stick it in the fridge for a bit. Now I know why my grandmother use to work so fast, yet gently while making biscuits. She knew she had to get these bad boys in the oven while that dough was still cold.
2.) Use a gentle touch. Biscuit dough is so seeeensitiiiive! They like to be handled, touched and patted (never rolled) very gently. Awww, how precious! If you are rough with the dough or handle it for too long you’re gonna cause the dough to release gluten which will makes biscuits tough, dry and ugly. So stir gently, knead gently, matter of fact, sing a little love song to your biscuits. They like that.
3.) No twisting that cutter! Whenever you go to cut the biscuits out, do not twist that cutter! I mean it! It’s hard not to do, but don’t. This seals the biscuits and keeps them from rising and cooking properly. Just go straight down into the dough and bring the cutter back up. NO TWISTING or doing any other weird stuff! Got it? I’m watching you. *pointing to both of my eyes and then at you*
4.) Use self-rising, soft winter wheat flour. Ok now I know a few folks are gonna say “booooooo” to self-rising flour. My grandmother never used it but I’ve found out that it’s the best deal for folks who aren’t very good with biscuits. For some reason it seems to allow room for error. As much as I love adding in the salt, baking powder and baking soda to regular flour(not really) self-rising flour is the way to go for ME. Also use an all-purpose (not cake flour) white winter wheat flour like White Lilly. This brand makes the FLUFFIEST biscuits ever. I’m not even kidding you right now! Seriously. White Lily. Order it if you need to.
Ok go forth and create big beautiful buttery batches of buttermilk biscuits…Betty!! I just had to throw another B word in there.
Watch me make these Southern Buttermilk Biscuits from start to finish!
Get the Recipe: Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups White Lilly self-rising flour, or any other soft winter wheat self-rising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk, super cold
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, super cold
- 6 tablespoons real butter, super cold
- 2 tablespoons butter-flavored vegetable shortening, super cold
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl add flour, salt and brown sugar.
- Whisk until well combined. (may need to sift it to help break up the brown sugar)
- Grate the cold butter into the flour mixture.
- Add the shortening.
- Use a fork, whisk or pastry cutter to cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles large crumbs.
- Make a well in the center of the bowl.
- Mix together the buttermilk and heavy cream.
- Add to the center of well.
- Slowly and very gently begin adding the flour mixture into the well.
- Stir gently until the flour mixture is moistened (do not over stir)
- Generously flour your work surface with flour.
- Place dough onto floured surface.
- Sprinkle the top of dough with flour and flour your hands as well.
- Very gently, knead the dough by folding it in layers a few times while adding more flour, just enough so that the dough is not sticking to your hands or your work surface. (less flour, the better)
- Gently pat the dough out into a small rectangle about 1 inch thick.
- Flour your biscuit cutter and cut out circles.
- Place biscuits on prepared cookie sheet with sides barely touching.
- Make a small dent in the center of each biscuit with your finger (this helps tall biscuits rise without falling over)
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. (sometimes mine take up to 14 minutes)
- Brush generously with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven. (don't skip this step)
- Serve hot.
Video
I really want this recipe to work. But, being a relative novice in the kitchen, I rely on instructions being easy to follow and accurate. I’m afraid that did not happen with this recipe. How can you “Make a well in the center of the bowl (containing the flour mixture with the butter and shortening cut in), mix the buttermilk and heavy cream, then “slowly and very gently begin adding the flour mixture into the well.” This error is obviously due to poor proofing/editing. But how do I have faith that other errors don’t also exist and I end up wasting my time and ingredients and end up with an un-eatable mess. I will assume, hoping that doesn’t make an a_ _ out of me, that the correct instruction is to “begin adding the milk mixture into the well” and that there are no further mistakes or possible omissions. With that said, I will try this recipe. Sorry to be so nasty, but I depend on published material being more accurate.
Hi there, the instructions are correct. There is a video attached to the recipe in case you a visual learner.
Rude… ijs
You ain’t (yep ain’t) a Novice.
You’re a hot and crazy mess.
Here’s my question to you (and I DO….realize this is old).
How do ask HOW it works, don’t BELIEVE it works YET—she has a video…DOING it????
Mannnnn….people like you are scary.
(I’m sorry Monique)
I made them and they turned out perfectly. I did not have butter flavored shorting, so I put a whole stick of butter. I had to add a little more buttermilk and I also brushed my tops with buttermilk before cooking them. I had to discipline myself not to go eat another one.
I just want to thank you so much for sharing your recipes!! Because of you I’m getting a new ring!!!!!
hahaha!!! Yessss girl!!!
WILl it come out right using almond milk instead of buttermilk?
Hmmmm… never used almond milk in biscuits but I’m intrigued.
I think that would violate the Southern Pure Food Act of 1974, chapter III Biscuits, breads and cookies.
Hi there, so i just gave these a try and they looked like pastry dough on the inside after 12 minutes. I didnt want to leave them in any longer but do you have any idea what happened lol i didnt take a picture so i hope you can kind of picture them. It’s like how a soft baked cookie looks on the inside. I love your recipe so i’d just like to try an master it instead of looking for another.
Were they getting golden?
I need some help! These biscuits have turned out absolutely DELICIOUS both times I’ve made them, but I can’t get them to rise at all quite like the ones in the pictures. They spread in the oven and are difficult to even pick up to put on the baking sheet after I cut them out. I’m using white lily self rising flour, and I’ve kept everything cold and even put the biscuits in the fridge before I baked them. The first batch, the dough came out very wet and difficult to handle, so I thought I used too little flour and too much buttermilk. So the second time around, I tried to adjust my measurements, and they are still spreading in the oven! Any suggestions on what I should do? My family and I LOVE these biscuits and I want to get them just right!!
Hmmm…the only times I’ve experience spreading biscuits is when the dough became warm before going into the oven or if the oven wasn’t hot enough. The dough should definitely be a little wet but not so wet that’s it’s sticking to everything. Have you had any similar issues with baked goods? If so I’d do an oven water test just to make sure your oven is heating up correctly.