Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe Light and Buttery
(Originally published July 1, 2008) I told my mother I was going to do a web tutorial about my buttermilk biscuit recipe, a staple in the south. She said “Oh, you HAVE to do that new recipe!”. Now, admittedly, these are awfully good. So good, the fact, that my mother has abandoned the long taught family method in lieu of this one shows just how good this recipe is.
Light and Tender Buttermilk Biscuits
The finished product is lighter and more tender than our usual biscuit and it is worth the effort. If you have had problems in the past with your biscuits turning out to be more like hockey pucks than our beloved southern staple, this recipe is the one for you.
The ingredients needed for this Buttermilk Biscuit recipe are:
- Milk
- Butter
- Lemon juice added (because I rarely have buttermilk in the house so this is a homemade concoction)
- Self rising flour
That’s it! (The actual recipe is at the bottom of this page)
For those of you who have no idea what self rising flour is this is how you make it:
*To make your own self rising flour, simply add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt for EACH cup of all purpose flour.
Sift ingredients well to make sure it is uniform.
How to Make The Best Buttermilk Biscuits Step By Step
Put your flour in a bowl (With the salt and baking powder stirred into it if you don’t have self rising) and toss in the butter. Now you need a pastry cutter or just fork with long tines , which is what I use.
Begin by simply cutting the butter into the flour.
Sit down and turn on the tv, this will take a few minutes (make sure your butter is cold).
When it looks like this and you can’t find any lumps of butter, you’re good to go :). Stick this bowl in the fridge for ten to fifteen minutes. If this is your first time making biscuits with this method, I recommend fifteen. The colder it is, the easier the next step is going to be.
Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to your milk before you go get your bowl out of the fridge.
Stir it around and let it sit a minute or two.
Pour milk into flour mixture and stir until just moistened.
This is gonna be much looser than your typical biscuit dough, but it should look something like this.
Flour a surface.
I like to roll out waxed paper or do this on a large baking sheet so I don’t have such a hassle with the counter top.
Most folks just use the counter top though.
Be generous with the flour, you’re going to need it.
Preparing the Dough
Dump out your dough onto the floured surface and sprinkle more flour on top of it.
Brush some flour on your hands and then wipe down your rolling pin really well. This is a family heirloom. My great grandmother bought it with green stamps for my mother when she was twelve. Once you have flour on your dough and on your hands, knead the dough with your hands two or three times. Don’t over knead your dough!
How do you knead your biscuit dough?
If you’ve never done this before. Just place your dough ball on a flat surface and then press down on it with the heel of your hand. Then fold it over into a bit of a ball again and repeat with the heel of your hand once more. You’ve just kneaded your dough twice. Stop there because we really don’t want to over knead and that is the most common mistake I’ve encountered in people’s biscuits turning out flat.
The second most common mistake I’ve encountered when biscuits turn out flat is someone who has accidentally followed the recipe for self rising flour biscuits using all purpose flour.
Roll it out until it is about 3/4 of an inch. Then lightly square it off with your hands. It should be about 9×5 inches at this point. You are going to have to stop after rolling it the first time and wipe down your rolling pin with flour again, as well as sprinkle some more on the dough to keep it from sticking.
Here is where these little suckers take on a bit of arrogance in my book. Normally, you would just roll it out and cut them, but in this recipe we want tender little pillowy biscuits, so we’re going to put a little more effort in them. Take one side of your dough and roll it over to the middle. Repeat with the next side until you have something like this.
The Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe Makes Dough That’s Wetter Than Other Biscuit Recipes
Now pat or roll that out with your hands back to the original 3/4 inch and gently shape it back into a rectangle.
Repeat this process of folding over and patting out two more times. Don’t be afraid to dust your surface and your dough with a little more flour if need be. Oh, and you didn’t really have to use the rolling pin, you could have just patted it out all along with your hands, but I wanted to show you my heirloom rolling pin!
How To Cut The Biscuits:
Now we’re ready to cut our biscuits. Most folks would use a biscuit cutter for this, but diehard southerners know one of the best way to do it is to use a swanky swig! Tin can is also acceptable as is a drinking glass. I used a smaller mouthed swanky swig because I prefer a bit smaller biscuits. I have small people in my house. 🙂
What is a swanky swig?
Typically, it is a jelly jar which was decorated by the company to add charm and flair, thereby making it “swanky”.
Cut out your biscuits by pushing straight down with your glass, don’t twist it. I didn’t really waste all of this dough but I was trying to make it look a little more uniform for the picture. Normally, we cut them suckers one right on top of the other, then wad up the leftovers, pat it out, and cut again.
A lot of readers have said that they cut their biscuits with pizza cutters and just do a grid pattern. This ends up with square biscuits but no wasted dough! I do this every now and then myself.
Place these on a well greased baking sheet and make sure the sides touch, This helps them rise evenly and higher.
Bake at 450 for thirteen to fifteen minutes.
Until they look like this.
While still hot, brush with melted butter.
Alrighty then. Now you’re done!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
- 2 1/4 c self rising soft wheat flour *
- 1 1/4 c buttermilk or whole milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice added
- flour for dusting
- melted butter for brushing baked biscuits
Instructions
- Cut butter with a into 1/4-inch-thick slices.Put butter slices on top of flour in a large bowl. Cut butter into flour with a long tined fork until crumbly. Cover and chill 10 minutes. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times, gradually adding additional flour as needed. With floured hands, press or pat dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). Sprinkle top of dough with additional flour. Fold dough over into itself, like you are folding a piece of paper into a letter, in three sections. Repeat entire process 2 more times, beginning with pressing into a 3/4-inch-thick dough rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches).
- Press or pat dough to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 2-inch round cutter, and place, side by side, on a parchment paper-lined or lightly greased cookie sheet. Try to make sure they touch because this will help them rise higher.
- Bake at 450° for 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; brush with 2 Tbsp. melted butter.
Nutrition
You may also like these biscuit recipes:
Southern Biscuits Recipe A Classic With Only 3 Ingredients
Featherlight Chocolate Biscuits
Garlic Cream Biscuits with Bacon Gravy
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I’ve made these twice now (and I can bake) but have had problems both times. The first time I used self-rising flour and they were so salty we could barely eat them. The second time I made me own. And both times the mixture was like SOUP! I had to add so much flour when “rolling” them out. I thought I had just mismeasured the first time. I’m willing to give them another go. Can I just add more flour to the mixture before the “rolling” phase?
Read the post about the White Lily flour and what a disappointment. That is all our family along with everyone else I know has ever used. I am intrigued about the biscuits using the butter instead of solid shortening. I can’t wait to make my next batch this week and am going to try it. Got tickled when I saw how you use the waxed paper and pat the biscuits out. This is exactly what I do. My mom (80 yrs old) and one sister have the talent of pinch and roll which I am in the processing of trying to master. I would just end up with too much flour and goo on my fingers. I love your idea on another post about using the pizza cutter to make the square biscuits. My grandkids would get a kick out of that. I use a round pan and work my way around the pan and end up with 5 baby biscuits for the grandkids. They love to roll and pat their biscuits. Flour all over the place, but what fun. Butter them babies the minute they come out of the oven to go with the soghum syrup, honey, or jelly. As kids in the 50’s we used to pour the syrup in our plates and mix the butter with the syrup and just sop it up with hot buttered biscuits. Ummm, nothing better. I also baste the biscuit tops with melted butter. You go girl!
Hi Christy!
Self rising is available here, but we’ve been snowed in for about a week now so I couldn’t go to the market and get it, unfortunately. Should I just wait until I can dig out and buy the self rising before trying again?
Can you tell I’m using my cabin fever time to practice my cooking?
Mine turned out hard hockey pucks again! I used the all-purpose flour and added the baking powder and salt, but they still did not rise. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong? When I initially poured the dough onto the wax paper, it seemed too wet and I couldn’t knead it or fold it, so I added more flour to make it all stick together. Is there a trick that I’m missing or should I just chalk this up to one more thing that is Southern that I am not capable of cooking? =(
Hey Coco,
Is self rising flour available where you are?
We’ll figure this out 🙂
Gratefully,
Christy
I had these in the oven and saw a post about checking the date on the flour. My self rising flour is out of date 🙁
(check date at store before buying)
BUT that is ok…even though they did not rise they still have that slight crunchy bottom that my Grannies had and they browned wonderfully. I am excited to go get self rising and make them again. I may be able to make biscuits after all. Of course I am not going anywhere till the snow is done 🙂
Thanks Christy!
Christy, this is exactly how I use to make biscuits. But, a few years ago, I was introduced to “Southern Biscuit Flour Mix” which I now keep and use when homemade biscuits are needed (and wanted) at our house. Sometimes it is hard to find this brand which also makes regular and self rising flour. The biscuit mix has little pieces of yellow shortening in the mix which looks like the butter and all you add is the buttermilk which I “make” either by adding the lemon juice or vinegar. In fact, they are “needed” at our house today to go along with our New Year’s day meal…..consisting of blackeyed peas, turnip greens, rice, scalloped tomatoes, and country ham….can’t have country ham without a biscuit! And, there is going to be a skillet of cornbread, too! Happy New Year!
Where are you located in the South? Thought the “Southern Biscuit Flour Mix” may be regional only to your area.
A lot has happened since May 4, 2009 hasn’t it, Christy! We couldn’t be happier or prouder of you! Thank you for being who you are and for Southern Plate with its wonderful recipes and great stories!! Can’t wait to see what’s in store for you and us in this new year!!!