These do-it-yourself biscuits are comfortable and buttery with dozens of flaky layers. This biscuit recipe requires simply 7 substances and so they’re prepared in about 35 minutes.
I initially printed this recipe in 2017 and have since added new pictures, a video tutorial, and extra useful success ideas.
One reader, Marcia, commented: “Lastly, a biscuit recipe that labored for me. I particularly appreciated the notes which, in reality, had me change some issues I had been doing. The element in any respect ranges, each visible and written, could be very useful. ★★★★★“
One other reader, Maggie, commented: “Considered one of my favourite biscuit recipes! They’re so constantly flaky and scrumptious, each single time! ★★★★★“
It’s fairly serendipitous that this “aspect dish” could style much more exceptional than the principle occasion. No, no… it WILL style extra exceptional. Simply take a look at the massive buttery layers! Nothing can compete.
What are Biscuits?
The time period “biscuits” has totally different meanings relying the place you reside on the planet. Within the U.S., biscuits are just like a dinner roll, however are denser and flakier as a result of they aren’t (sometimes) made with yeast. Since there’s normally no yeast and the rising agent is both baking soda, baking powder, or each—biscuits are thought-about a fast bread, like banana bread and no yeast bread. In different elements of the world, “biscuits” are extra like cookies or scones.
7 Key Components in Do-it-yourself Biscuits
You want simply 7 primary substances for my do-it-yourself biscuits recipe:
- All-purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Chilly Butter
- Chilly Buttermilk
- Honey
With so few substances, it’s necessary to succeed in for high quality substances and keep away from any substitutions.
Baking Powder AND Baking Soda
Till just lately, this biscuits recipe known as for simply baking powder because the leavening agent. In recent times, I’ve discovered that the feel, shade, and taste excels when utilizing a mixture of each baking powder AND baking soda. In the event you’ve all the time made this recipe utilizing 2 Tablespoons of baking powder, you possibly can actually proceed to take action! Nonetheless, by decreasing the baking powder to 1 Tablespoon and including 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, the biscuits brown extra, have a flakier texture, crispier edge, and also you don’t danger a bitter chemical aftertaste.
Success Suggestions for the Greatest Do-it-yourself Biscuits
After perfecting this recipe for 8 years and growing handfuls of different biscuit recipes, let me share what I’ve discovered alongside the way in which. I’ve made loads of errors so that you don’t should. These tried-and-true tips will flip your flat, dry biscuits into the most effective biscuits ever. And that’s a assure.
- Chilly Fats: For flaky layers and pockets, use chilly butter. When little items of butter soften because the biscuits bake, they launch steam and create little pockets of air–this makes the biscuits ethereal and flaky on the within whereas remaining crisp on the surface. It’s the identical factor that occurs when making these ham & cheese scones.
- Buttermilk & Honey for Taste: Buttermilk and a teeny drizzle of honey stability out the salt. Buttermilk creates essentially the most tender biscuit! I’ve a lot extra on this subject in my Baking with Buttermilk put up (together with a buttermilk substitute recipe).
- Don’t Over Combine: By no means overwork biscuit dough. Overworking and over-handling biscuit dough will end in powerful, arduous, and flat biscuits. Combine the substances collectively *simply* till mixed. Dough might be crumbly; that’s regular.
- Flatten & Fold Methodology: An important step of all is folding the dough collectively. Flip the scrappy dough out onto a piece floor and flatten it together with your arms. Fold, flatten, flip, and repeat.
- Don’t Twist the Biscuit Cutter: When slicing the dough with a biscuit cutter, don’t twist the cutter. Press the cutter down into the dough firmly. Twisting it can seal off the biscuit edges, stopping the biscuits from rising.
- Bake Shut Collectively: Biscuits stand up good and tall when they’re touching, pressed snuggly in opposition to each other within the oven.
Tips on how to Make Your Do-it-yourself Biscuits
Whisk the dry substances collectively, then add the cubed butter. Lower the butter into the dry substances with a pastry cutter, like when making pie crust, or use a meals processor. Lower within the butter till you’ve got coarse crumbles, like this:
Add the buttermilk and honey. Combine the whole lot collectively till you’ve got a shaggy dough, like this:
Pour it out onto a piece floor and convey the dough collectively together with your arms. It is going to be dry and shaggy with some moist spots. That’s all completely regular:
Fold & Flatten The Dough
Flattening and folding biscuit dough creates a number of flaky layers, simply because it does after we make do-it-yourself croissants, tough puff pastry, mille-feuille, and croissant bread. This step will take you not more than 2 minutes and also you’ll be rewarded with the flakiest biscuits on the planet. First, form dough right into a 3/4-inch thick rectangle:
Then fold one aspect into the middle:
Then the opposite aspect:
Flip the folded dough horizontal, gently flatten, and start that folding course of 2 extra occasions.
After you’ve folded and flattened thrice, flatten right into a 3/4-inch rectangle as soon as once more, then use a biscuit cutter to form into rounds. In the event you don’t have a biscuit cutter, you possibly can lower into 8 to 10 squares.
Prepare shut collectively in a forged iron skillet, no have to preheat it, or on a lined baking sheet. Once more, make certain the biscuits are touching so they assist one another rise good and tall.
Earlier than baking, brush the biscuits with buttermilk to assist the tops brown evenly.
Honey Butter Topping
The honey butter topping is non-obligatory, however will set your biscuits aside from the remaining. When the biscuits come out of the oven, brush with melted butter + honey. You employ each substances within the biscuit dough, conserving the rely at 7 substances complete.
Serve your do-it-yourself biscuits with jam or do-it-yourself raspberry sauce, cinnamon butter, or biscuits and gravy—I like this specific recipe. Or a swipe of do-it-yourself honey butter actually kicks it up a notch!
So Many Variations
I bake biscuits typically, and use the identical course of and success ideas when making all of my favourite variations together with cheddar biscuits, the whole lot bagel biscuits, and zucchini biscuits. I additionally make biscuit-topped vegetable pot pie and biscuit breakfast casserole. And you may completely flip these into dessert with my recipes for biscuit-topped berry cobbler and do-it-yourself strawberry shortcake.
I make these biscuits on nearly a weekly foundation, and what makes them successful each single time is the mixture of very chilly butter and buttermilk. Moreover, the cautious folding and flattening technique helps produce dozens and dozens of flaky layers. Comply with the recipe under intently.
Bake the biscuits in a forged iron skillet, which helps the perimeters crisp up fantastically. Moreover, use a pastry brush to coat the tops of the biscuits with a little bit buttermilk earlier than baking.
You need to use a meals processor to chop the chilly butter into the dry substances, but when you don’t personal one, you should utilize a pastry cutter as an alternative. A pastry cutter is an especially useful baking device.
Description
These do-it-yourself biscuits are comfortable and buttery with a whole bunch of flaky layers! This biscuit recipe solely requires 7 easy substances and so they’re prepared in about 35 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Make the biscuits: Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt collectively in a big bowl or in a giant meals processor. Whisk or pulse till mixed. Add the cubed butter and lower into the dry substances with a pastry cutter or by pulsing a number of occasions within the processor. Lower/pulse till coarse crumbs type.
- In the event you used a meals processor, pour the combination into a big bowl. Make a nicely within the heart. Pour 1 cup (240ml/g) buttermilk and drizzle honey on prime. Fold the whole lot along with a big spoon or spatula till it begins to come back collectively. Don’t overwork the dough. The dough might be shaggy and crumbly with some moist spots.
- Pour the dough and any dough crumbles onto a floured work floor and gently deliver along with generously floured arms. The dough will develop into sticky as you deliver it collectively. Have further flour close by and use it typically to flour your arms and work floor as wanted on this step. Utilizing floured arms, flatten right into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle as finest you possibly can. Fold one aspect into the middle, then the opposite aspect on prime. Flip the dough horizontally. Gently flatten right into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle once more. Repeat the folding once more. Flip the dough horizontally another time. Gently flatten right into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle. Repeat the folding one final time. Flatten into the ultimate 3/4-inch-thick rectangle.
- Lower into 2.5 or 3-inch circles with a biscuit cutter. (Tip: Don’t twist the biscuit cutter when urgent down into the dough as a result of this seals off the perimeters of the biscuit which prevents them from absolutely rising.) Re-roll scraps till all of the dough is used. You need to have about 8–11 biscuits. Prepare in a 10-inch forged iron skillet (see notice) or shut collectively on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Be certain that the biscuits are touching.
- Brush the tops with remaining buttermilk. Bake for 20–21 minutes or till tops are golden brown.
- Take away from the oven. If including the non-obligatory topping, whisk the melted butter and honey collectively. Utilizing a pastry cutter, brush the nice and cozy biscuits with honey butter topping. Serve heat.
- Cowl leftovers tightly and retailer at room temperature or within the fridge for as much as 5 days.
Notes
- Make Forward & Freezing Directions: Baked biscuits freeze nicely for as much as 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or within the fridge, then heat as much as your liking earlier than serving. You too can freeze the biscuit dough. Put together the dough in steps 2 by means of 4. Wrap up tightly in plastic wrap (plastic wrap is finest for freshness) and freeze for as much as 3 months. Thaw in a single day within the fridge, then proceed with step 5. Additionally, after step 4, you possibly can wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for as much as 2 days earlier than persevering with with step 5.
- Particular Instruments (affiliate hyperlinks): Pastry Cutter or Meals Processor | 2.5- or 3-inch Biscuit Cutter | 10-inch Solid Iron Skillet (or Baking Sheet with Parchment Paper) | Pastry Brush
- Baking Powder: In 2025, I up to date this recipe to make use of each baking powder and baking soda. I’ve discovered that the feel, shade, and taste excels when utilizing a mixture of each. In the event you’ve all the time made this recipe utilizing 2 Tablespoons of baking powder, you possibly can actually proceed to take action! Nonetheless, by decreasing the baking powder to 1 Tablespoon and including 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, the biscuits brown extra, have a flakier texture, crispier edge, and also you don’t danger a bitter chemical aftertaste.
- Butter: Lower into 1/2-inch cubes. Hold butter as chilly as potential till you want it. I like to recommend putting the cubed butter within the freezer for about quarter-hour earlier than you start.
- Buttermilk: You’ll be able to substitute entire milk for buttermilk if desired. Nonetheless if you happen to’d just like the tangy taste, which I extremely advocate, you may make your personal DIY buttermilk substitute. Add 2 teaspoons of recent lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Add sufficient milk to make 1 cup. (You want 1 cup within the recipe, plus 2 Tbsp for brushing–you should utilize common milk to brush on prime.) Whisk collectively, then let sit for five minutes earlier than utilizing within the recipe. Entire milk is finest for the DIY bitter milk substitute, although decrease fats or nondairy milks work in a pinch. (In my testing, the biscuits don’t style as wealthy or rise fairly as tall utilizing lower-fat or nondairy milks.)
- Solid Iron Skillet: In case your forged iron skillet isn’t nicely seasoned, I like to recommend greasing it with a little bit vegetable oil or melted butter. Brush a skinny layer of both on the underside and across the sides. No have to warmth the forged iron skillet earlier than utilizing, although you actually can. Place within the preheated oven for quarter-hour earlier than arranging the formed biscuits in it.
- Flavors: Strive my flavorful biscuit variations: cheddar biscuits, zucchini biscuits, and the whole lot bagel biscuits.
Diet
- Serving Dimension: 1 biscuit
- Energy: 212
- Sugar: 2.4 g
- Sodium: 283.5 mg
- Fats: 9.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.5 g
- Protein: 4.1 g
- Ldl cholesterol: 25.4 mg
