Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits

Our Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits are soft, buttery, light, and tender – in a word: heavenly. Serve them up with butter, homemade jam, sausage gravy and eggs, or (if you want some real South in your mouth) chocolate gravy!

When we were first married, Mr. B wasn’t very big on bread at meals, and biscuits in particular were a head-shaker for him. He explained once that almost every biscuit he’d ever eaten was “too hard or too soft, too dry, too bland, too salty, too sweet, too floury, too, too… too biscuity.” 

That is, until I made him these amazing, pillowy buttermilk biscuits – the same light and airy biscuits my mother taught me to make so long ago.

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This biscuit recipe, like all of the recipes on this blog, has been thoroughly tried-and-tested.

Ten Tips for Light, Tender Biscuits Every Time

This really is an amazing buttermilk biscuit recipe – the lightest, tenderest buttermilk biscuits ever! And that’s your bonus baking tip, because the first thing you need to do is start with a great biscuit recipe. After that: 

1. Keep everything COLD. – Refrigerate or freeze everything you are using to make your biscuit dough; especially your butter! The colder you can keep things, the more successful your biscuits will be.
2. Use fresh ingredients. That means everything from butter to baking powder! (Did you know that baking powder has an expiration date? You can test the freshness by mixing a small spoonful of baking powder with ¼ cup of hot water. If it is viable, it will bubble vigorously. No bubbles? Replace it!) 
3. Freeze, then grate the butter. I almost always grate my butter: I find that this allows me to distribute it quicker, therein keeping everything colder. To do this, first chill butter in the freezer for about an hour.  
4. Incorporate fats by hand. – I am not a fan of pastry cutters. They have just never worked for me. Instead, I prefer to incorporate fats by hand. This allows you to keep the bits of shortening and butter bigger, up to the size of a cooked butter bean. One of the leading causes of tough baked goods is that bits of fat in it are too small. (This is why I avoid using a food processor for making dough.) The trick, though, is to do it quickly so as not to warm up the dough ingredients. 
5. Use the well technique for combining dry and wet ingredients. When mixing the buttermilk (or other wet ingredients) into the butter and dough mixture, use a well technique. This is done by making a well in the center of the butter-flour mixture and pouring the buttermilk in the center, then stirring with a wooden spoon just enough to combine.
6. Use a gentle hand. The more you mix the dough, the more gluten strands are formed. Gluten formation in pastry dough results a tough, chewy crust, and is to be avoided whenever possible. Do not, under any circumstances, knead your biscuit dough beyond the initial mixing.
7. Work on a cold surface. (See Tip #1) Roll dough only as much as needed to cut it. 
8. Fold your dough. Rolling dough out and then folding it before cutting will give you light, beautiful layers. I usually fold it a minimum of two times, and a maximum of three. 
9. Cut down, and don’t twist. When cutting your biscuits, press the cutter straight down, and do not twist. Dip the cutter in flour between each cut to keep it from sticking. 
10. Be aware of the weather. You may need to add a little more flour on humid days, and a little less on arid days. 

Recipe Updated May 7, 2021 (Originally published May 29, 2014)

Did you know that before the invention of baking powder, buttermilk was a necessary staple in the home baker’s kitchen? Baking soda needed an acidic ingredient to do its leavening magic (i.e., produce carbon dioxide), and buttermilk fit the bill perfectly!

We love baking and cooking with buttermilk. Here are a few of our favorite “Buttermilk” recipes:

• Fresh Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
• Fried Green Tomatoes
• Caribbean Chicken Stew
• Naked Original Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC Copycat Recipe)

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