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These old fashioned buttermilk biscuits bake up tall, flaky, and golden brown with the perfect balance of buttery flavor and tender, soft layers inside. They’re simple, comforting, and exactly what you’ll want on the table whether it’s breakfast, dinner, or just a quick snack with jam.
If you love this buttermilk biscuit recipe, make these Cheddar Cheese Chive Biscuits and Air Fryer Biscuits !
Nothing says comfort food like homemade biscuits. This old fashioned buttermilk biscuits recipe is one of those faithful, tried and true recipes that I love. That everyone loves.
The inside of the biscuits are buttery, soft, and tender with lots of flaky layers while the outside is golden brown with crisp edges for that nice crunch when you bite into the them.
They’re simple, comforting, and the kind of recipe you’ll want to keep on repeat whether you’re piling them high with buttermilk fried chicken or biscuits and gravy, or enjoying with a swipe of apple butter or a drizzle of honey on a Sunday morning.
Table of Contents
Why These Are The Best Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits!
- Easy Buttermilk Biscuits = Tried and True Recipe! The dough comes together quickly with simple ingredients and turns out perfectly EVERY TIME.
- Versatile to serve: Perfect with jam at breakfast, alongside fried chicken at dinner, or smothered in delicious sausage gravy for brunch.
- Flaky, tender texture! These buttermilk biscuits are soft, pillowy, and have the softest melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Buttery flavor in every bite! These flaky biscuits not only look amazing, they taste amazing, too!
Key Ingredients
(full list of ingredients and quantities can be found in the recipe card)
- A mix of All purpose flour and cake flour provides structure and softness to the biscuits. The cake flour makes for a tender, soft texture while the all purpose flour holds everything together. Do not use self-rising flour – it contains a leavening agent and will throw off the recipe completely. I use a mix of all purpose flour and cake flour. If you have access to White Lily Flour, you can just use that entirely.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda are the leavening agents that help the biscuits rise tall and fluffy while in the oven. They also help with browning the biscuits and giving them a beautiful golden brown color.
- Just a little sugar adds a touch of sweetness that helps balance out all of the salty, buttery flavors. It also helps with browning and tenderizing the dough.
- Kosher salt boosts flavor and keeps the biscuits from tasting flat. It also strengthens the gluten slightly so the biscuits hold their shape.
- Cold Salted Butter is the key to flaky layers. When the cold butter melts in the oven, it creates steam pockets that puff up the biscuits. You can use unsalted butter if that’s your preference!
- Cold Buttermilk adds a slightly tangy flavor while working with the baking soda to help leaven the biscuits. Its acidity also softens the gluten, giving biscuits that melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Heavy Cream adds richness, fat, and moisture. It makes the crumb softer and velvety, tender biscuits.
Substitutions and Variations
- If you don’t have any buttermilk at home, don’t fret! I have a guide on how to make your own buttermilk with just two ingredients – whole milk and lemon juice! I use this in my sweet potato biscuits too!
- You can also bake the biscuits in a cast iron skillet, just note that the baking time may be extended 1-2 minutes.
- If you only have all purpose flour or can’t find cake flour, using all purpose flour will still give you great results!
- No heavy cream? Just use buttermilk in its place.
- Add mix-ins! Mix in shredded cheddar, fresh herbs, garlic powder, or even a pinch of cayenne for a little kick.
How To Make Classic Buttermilk Biscuits
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Mix together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl – all-purpose flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and kosher salt.
Step 2: Cut the butter into small cubes OR Grate the butter with a box grater and add it to the flour mixture. Pinch and turn the butter into the flour together until pea sized morsels form. (when you can squeeze everything together and it holds shape in your hand, you’re ready to proceed) You can also use a pastry cutter or food processor to do this.
Step 3: Create a well in the center of the mixture, then pour in cold buttermilk and heavy cream. Mix together until a shaggy crumbly dough with coarse crumbs forms. The dough may seem very crumbly, do not add more buttermilk/cream! Remove biscuit dough from the bowl and turn the dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Gently work and pat the dough until the dough is no longer crumbly. Use your hands to press the pieces together and then use a rolling pin to flatten dough until it’s 1 inch thick. Shape dough into a square
Step 4: Cut the dough into 4 pieces and place on top of each other. Repeat this 3 times. (this creates those flaky layers!)
Step 5: Press a 2 3/4 inch round biscuit cutter into the dough in one motion. Press down, then pull up – do not twist and turn, this disturbs the flaky layers. Fold any excess dough back together and repeat until all of the biscuit dough is used, about 8-10 biscuits.
Step 6: Place biscuits onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place the biscuits into the freezer and freeze for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together an egg and 1 tbsp of heavy. This will be for the egg wash. Brush the tops of the biscuits with the eggs wash, liberally, and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
Pro Tip: Fresh out of the oven, brush the warm biscuits with melted butter and serve.
Pro Tips For The Best Biscuits!
- Keep everything cold: Cold butter and cold buttermilk are the secret to tall, flaky layers. Warm ingredients = flat biscuits. If you feel your dough getting warm, pop it into the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Think of it as pie crust!
- I like to freeze my butter for 30 minutes prior to making biscuits. The slightly frozen butter is what creates the flakiest biscuits ever!
- Don’t overwork the dough: Mix just until a cohesive dough forms. Overmixing develops gluten, making tough biscuits instead of soft and tender.
- Place them close together while baking: Placing biscuits so they’re almost touching on the baking sheet helps them rise up instead of spreading out.
What To Eat With Biscuits
This easy Biscuit recipe is one of those magical foods that go with just about everything. Make them into breakfast sandwiches and pile on scrambled eggs, cheese, and bacon, or a drizzle of honey for something sweet.
They’re perfect for dunking in sausage gravy or topping with fruit and whipped cream for a quick strawberry or peach shortcake. At lunch, turn them into little sandwiches with fried chicken, glazed ham, or even leftover turkey.
For dinner, biscuits shine alongside hearty soups like stove top beef stew, dutch oven chili, or sweet potato chowder. You can also serve them family-style with a big pot of cajun seafood gumbo or a seafood boil. And let’s be real, a warm biscuit with a slab of butter or spoonful of jam is a snack all on its own.
Recipe FAQs
Using cold butter is the key to fluffy biscuits. Freeze the butter for 20 minutes prior to using to ensure the butter is nice and cold.
Homemade Drop biscuits tend to have more milk in the batter which makes the batter a bit looser so that you can “drop” them onto a cookie sheet and bake. Regular biscuits tend to be a laminated dough where you cut butter into the flour to make the biscuits layered and flaky.
Store any leftover biscuits in an airtight container or bag. At room temperature, they’ll last for about 4 days. If you’d like to freeze them, add them to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to eat them, place frozen biscuits onto a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes.
If your biscuits aren’t rising in the oven, it means that the biscuit is either too warm prior to baking or your oven isn’t hot enough. If your home is warm, freeze the biscuits for 20 minutes prior to baking.
There are two ways to ensure crispy biscuits – a hot oven and a biscuit dough that doesn’t have a too much moisture. Make sure that your oven temperature is accurate and be sure to measure your ingredients properly to prevent a soggy dough.
More Biscuit Recipes
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Old Fashioned Buttermilk Biscuits
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- 2 3/4 inch Biscuit Cutter
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (313 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup cup (127 g) Cake Flour , (see notes)
- 1 1/2 tbsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 2 tbsps (25 g) Sugar
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter, (cold)
- 3/4 cup (180 g) Buttermilk, (cold)
- 1/3 cup (80 g) Heavy Cream, (cold)
Egg Wash
- 1 Egg
- 1 tbsp Heavy Cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Mix together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl – all-purpose flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and kosher salt. 2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour 1 cup cup Cake Flour 2 tbsps Sugar 1 1/2 tbsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Baking Soda 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- Cut the butter into small cubes OR Grate the butter with a box grater and add it to the flour mixture. Pinch and turn the butter into the flour together until pea sized morsels form. (when you can squeeze everything together and it holds shape in your hand, you're ready to proceed) You can also use a pastry cutter or food processor to do this. 1 cup Butter
- Create a well in the center of the mixture, then pour in cold buttermilk and heavy cream. Mix together until a shaggy crumbly dough with coarse crumbs forms. The dough may seem very crumbly, do not add more buttermilk/cream! 3/4 cup Buttermilk 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
- Remove biscuit dough from the bowl and turn the dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Gently work and pat the dough until the dough is no longer crumbly. Use your hands to press the pieces together and then use a rolling pin to flatten dough until it’s 1 inch thick.
- Shape dough into a square and cut the dough into 4 pieces and place on top of each other. Repeat this 3 times. (this creates those flaky layers!)Press a 2 3/4 inch round biscuit cutter into the dough in one motion. Press down, then pull up – do not twist and turn, this disturbs the flaky layers. Fold any excess dough back together and repeat until all of the biscuit dough is used, about 8-10 biscuits.
- Place biscuits onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Add to the freezer and freeze for 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together an egg and 1 tbsp of heavy cream. This will be for the egg wash. 1 Egg 1 tbsp Heavy Cream
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with the eggs wash, liberally, and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Fresh out of the oven, brush the warm biscuits with melted butter and serve.
Notes
- If you don’t have cake flour, you can use all purpose flour in its place. If you can find White Lily Flour, you can use that entirely.
- Freeze the butter for at least 20 minutes prior to slicing it into the flour mixture. Also, leave the buttermilk in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it. The butter and buttermilk should be as cold as possible – this is key to getting that nice flaky fluffy texture! Do not use room temperature butter.
- Use a wooden spoon to mix the dry and wet ingredients. This will help to keep the biscuit dough cold as your hands are warm and will lower the temperature of the butter. We want to keep the dough as cold as possible to ensure we get fluffy biscuits.
- Do not overwork your dough. There’s no need to knead the dough, just press it together until it’s no longer crumbly, then stop. Overworking the dough will result in tough biscuits.
- When cutting the biscuits, do not twist the biscuit cutter. Simply press down and then pull it straight up. When you twist the cutter, the layers collapse on each other and the biscuits won’t cook evenly.
- If you would like to use a food processor to incorporate the butter into the flour, you can absolutely do this. It does help save time. However, just be sure to pour to add the butter/flour mixture to a large bowl prior to adding the buttermilk. The dough becomes thick and could break the food processor once the milk is added.
- Oven temp is also very important. Not all ovens are calibrated the same way so be sure to use an oven thermometer to ensure your oven’s temperature is accurate.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So good! With this easy recipe, I end up with beautiful, tasty biscuits. Terrific recipe and instructions.
Made these tonight and they were fantastic! A major win for all!! This is a definite keeper! Thank you!!
Anytime, it’s one of my favorite recipes. So glad that you loved it too!
This is my 2nd time making your biscuit recipe. By far…thee best biscuits EVER! So incredibly tasty❤️
I make these ALL THE TIME. They’re my all time favorite biscuit recipes I’ve ever found. Shockingly easy to make too.