Easy, Flaky Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe (Only 6 Ingredients!)

Ready to bake within 5 minutes. Great with just butter, honey or jam. You can also make traditional classics like strawberry shortcakes and biscuits and gravy.

I love when biscuits are fresh out of the oven — crispy on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside. And those flaky layers are the best part. The layers make it easier to pull the halves apart right down the middle, so you can still see the steam rising from the fluffy center of your Buttermilk Biscuit.

Are you hungry yet?

This buttermilk biscuit recipe is so simple, that you won’t even reach for the tin can of premade biscuits in the refrigerator aisle ever again. 

Seriously, you can make these Buttermilk Biscuits in less time than it takes you to make a quick run to the grocery store and it tastes just as good… maybe even better. 

Let’s get to it!

What’s the difference between Buttermilk biscuits and scones?

In the US, we say biscuits and in the UK they say scones. Apparently, this is a hot topic, depending on where you’re from.

So what’s the difference? 

Is there a difference?

Yes. there is.

Scones are made with cream and eggs. They are slightly dry and can be sweet or savory. Although scones are dryer, they are still soft when they’re made right. They should be firm but crumbly. We usually see them in a triangular shape.

Biscuits have milk and no eggs so they come out with flaky layers and are soft on the inside and slightly browned to perfection on the outside. Biscuits aren’t usually sweet so they can be eaten with savory foods, like bacon, eggs, and cheese for a quick, to-go breakfast. 

Scones and biscuits are very similar but they are different. 

We’ll leave it at that.

Why use buttermilk in biscuits?

Buttermilk mixes with leavening agents, like baking powder, so your biscuits turn out fluffy, with flaky layers. Regular milk doesn’t do this because it doesn’t have the acidity, fat, and liquid content to help your Buttermilk Biscuit dough to rise. So if you can’t get enough of those layers (like me), you want to use buttermilk.

What goes with buttermilk biscuits?

The possibilities are endless. A few savory options would be as a sandwich with ham and cheese (you could have that as a breakfast too), with soups, or even throw in some cheese chives right into the dough. 

A few sweet options are cream cheese, jam, and of course butter with honey. Top your biscuits with fresh fruit and a drizzle of honey, finished off with a dollop of whipped cream for an easy and satisfying dessert — like this Strawberry Shortcake.

How do you reheat buttermilk biscuits?

First, you can reheat them in the oven at 350°F. Lay your biscuits out in an even layer, about an inch in between, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then bake for 5-7 minutes and brush them with butter when they come out of the oven.

Or you can brush your biscuits with butter and wrap each biscuit with foil. Then reheat it in a hot pan. The foil prevents the biscuits from drying out but you still get a crispy edge on your biscuits with a warm center. That way when you spread more butter, it melts into your steaming hot biscuit.

You can’t go wrong with this buttermilk biscuit recipe. Especially since now, you’ve got all the secrets to the perfect Buttermilk Biscuit.

Ready to give it a try?

Be sure to watch the Youtube video to see how to knead the dough. 

You got this!

Buttermilk Biscuits

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Equipment

• round biscuit or cookie cutter
• large Mixing Bowl
• spatula
• cast iron pan baking sheet

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 7 tbsp unsalted butter cold
• 3/4 cup buttermilk cold

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 425°
• In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Use a whisk to mix all of the ingredients together.
• Cut the cold butter into small cubes. Cut the butter in half longways, stack the halves on top of each other, and longways again, You should have four lone, narrow sticks of butter. Then cut the entire stick of butter into cubes, about a tablespoon wide. You can use your butter wrapper as a guide. Add it to the flour mixer and using you fingers rub the butter and flour together until butter lumps are no bigger than a pea. Requires a little patience.
• Add the cubed butter to the flour mixer and use your fingers to squish the butter into pea size pieces as you mix it into the flour. This part requires a little patience but it makes all the difference.
• Add the buttermilk. Then use a spatula to fold the buttermilk into the dry ingredients so they are well combined. It'll still be pretty crumbly but that's ok.
• Flour your work surface and your hands. Then pour the dough onto your workspace and use your hands to gently fold the dough together. Fold one side into the middle, then old the other side on top, so your dough is in thirds. Then press it outwards into a rectangular shape. This step creates the layers so repeat this step a few times.
• When your dough is in a rectangular shape, flour your dough cutter. Press straight down with your dough cutter, without twisting. Lift your cutter straight up to keep the folded layers in your biscuits. continue to flour your dough cutter in between cuts so the dough doesn't stick.
• Fold the excess dough together, as you did in step 6, and cut out biscuits with your dough cutter until all of the dough is used. Refrigerate your biscuits for 10 minutes, then place them on a baking sheet. Cut as many biscuits out as you can until all the dough is used.
• Bake at 425°F for about 15 minutes or just until golden brown.

Video

Notes

Remember to go straight up and down with your dough cutter so you keep the layers in your buttermilk biscuits.

Bake your buttermilk biscuits in a cast iron skillet, if you have one, for crisp edges and a soft center.

Keyword buttermilk biscuits