These homemade buttermilk biscuits are soft and buttery with hundreds of flaky layers. This biscuit recipe only requires 6 simple ingredients and they’re ready in about 35 minutes. I originally published this recipe in 2017, and it’s been a consistent reader (& personal!) favorite since.
One reader, Marcia, commented: “Finally, a biscuit recipe that worked for me. I especially appreciated the notes which, in fact, had me change some things I had been doing. The detail at all levels, both visual and written, is very helpful. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Maggie, commented: “One of my favorite biscuit recipes! They are so consistently flaky and delicious, every single time! ★★★★★“
Biscuits. Let’s do it BIG. Big as in mega flaky, mega fluffy, mega layers, mega golden brown, and mega buttery. It’s quite serendipitous that this “side dish” may taste even more remarkable than the main event. No, no… it WILL taste more remarkable. Just look at these buttery layers! Nothing can compete.
What are Biscuits?
The term “biscuits” has different meanings depending where you live in the world. In the U.S., biscuits are similar to a dinner roll, but are denser and flakier because they aren’t (typically) made with yeast. Since there’s usually no yeast involved and the rising agent is either baking soda, baking powder, or both—biscuits are considered a quick bread, like banana bread and no yeast bread. In other parts of the world, “biscuits” are more like cookies or scones.
6 Key Ingredients in Buttermilk Biscuits
You need just 6 basic ingredients for my homemade biscuits recipe:
- All-purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Cold Butter
- Cold Buttermilk
- Honey
With so few ingredients, it’s important to reach for quality ingredients and avoid any substitutions. Notice the emphasis on cold? See tip #1 below.
Success Tips for the Best Homemade Biscuits
Let me share what I’ve learned in the world of homemade buttermilk biscuit recipes. I’ve made plenty of mistakes so you don’t have to. These tried-and-true tricks will turn your flat, dry biscuits into the best biscuits ever. And that’s a guarantee.
- Cold Fat: For flaky layers and pockets, use cold butter. When little pieces of butter melt as the biscuits bake, they release steam and create little pockets of air–this makes the biscuits airy and flaky on the inside while remaining crisp on the outside. It’s the same thing that happens when making these ham & cheese scones.
- Buttermilk & Honey for Flavor: Real buttermilk and teeny drizzle of honey balance out the salt. Buttermilk creates the most tender biscuit!
- Don’t Over Mix: Never overwork biscuit dough. Overworking and over-handling biscuit dough will result in tough, hard, and flat biscuits. Mix the ingredients together *just* until combined. Dough will be crumbly; that’s normal.
- Flatten & Fold Method: The most important step of all is folding the dough together. Turn the scrappy dough out onto a work surface and flatten it with your hands. Form into a rectangle. More below.
- Don’t Twist the Biscuit Cutter: When cutting the dough with a biscuit cutter, do not twist the cutter. Press the cutter down into the dough firmly. Twisting it will seal off the biscuit edges, preventing the biscuits from rising.
- Bake Close Together: Biscuits rise up nice and tall when they are touching, pressed snuggly against one another in the oven.
How to Fold Biscuit Dough
Flattening and folding biscuit dough creates multiple flaky layers, just as it does when we make homemade croissants, rough puff pastry, mille-feuille, and croissant bread. This step will take you no more than 2 minutes and you’ll be rewarded with the flakiest biscuits in the world. First, shape dough into a rectangle:
Then fold one side into the center:
Then the other side:
Turn the folded dough horizontal, gently flatten, and begin that folding process 2 more times.
The dough should be about 3/4 inch thick and the biscuits will rise as they bake.
Honey Butter Topping
The honey butter topping is optional, but it will set your biscuits apart from the rest. When the biscuits come out of the oven, brush with a mix of melted butter + honey. You use both ingredients in the biscuit dough, keeping the count at 6 ingredients total.
Serve your homemade biscuits with jam or homemade raspberry sauce, or biscuits and gravy—I love this particular recipe!
Biscuit Variations
I bake biscuits often, and use the same process and success tips when making all of my favorite variations including cheddar biscuits and everything bagel biscuits. I also make biscuit-topped vegetable pot pie and biscuit breakfast casserole. And you can absolutely turn these into dessert with my recipes for biscuit-topped berry cobbler and homemade strawberry shortcake!
I make these biscuits on almost a weekly basis, and what makes them a hit every single time, is the combination of very cold butter and buttermilk. Also, be sure to use the amount of baking powder in the recipe below, or try the baking powder and baking soda combination I explain in the recipe Note.
Bake the biscuits in a cast iron skillet, which helps the edges crisp up beautifully. Additionally, use a pastry brush to coat the tops of the biscuits with a little buttermilk before baking.
You can use a food processor to cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients, but if you do not own one, you can use a pastry cutter instead. A pastry cutter is an extremely helpful baking tool!
If you enjoy biscuits, try homemade ham & cheese scones and/or my easy no yeast cinnamon rolls.
Even More Biscuits
Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits (Popular Recipe!)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 biscuits
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These homemade buttermilk biscuits are soft and buttery with hundreds of flaky layers! This biscuit recipe only requires 6 simple ingredients and they’re ready in about 35 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for hands and work surface
- 2 Tablespoons aluminum free baking powder (yes, Tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, cubed and very cold (see note)
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (270ml) cold buttermilk, divided
- 2 teaspoons (14g) honey
- optional honey butter topping: 2 Tablespoons melted butter mixed with 1 Tablespoon honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Make the biscuits: Place the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl or in a large food processor. Whisk or pulse until combined. Add the cubed butter and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or by pulsing several times in the processor. Cut/pulse until coarse crumbs form. See photo above for a visual. If you used a food processor, pour the mixture into a large bowl.
- Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk and drizzle honey on top. Fold everything together with a large spoon or spatula until it begins to come together. Do not overwork the dough. The dough will be shaggy and crumbly with some wet spots. See photo above for a visual.
- Pour the dough and any dough crumbles onto a floured work surface and gently bring together with generously floured hands. The dough will become sticky as you bring it together. Have extra flour nearby and use it often to flour your hands and work surface in this step. Using floured hands, flatten into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle as best you can. Fold one side into the center, then the other side on top. Turn the dough horizontally. Gently flatten into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle again. Repeat the folding again. Turn the dough horizontally one more time. Gently flatten into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle. Repeat the folding one last time. Flatten into the final 3/4 inch thick rectangle.
- Cut into 2.5 or 3-inch circles with a biscuit cutter. (Tip: Do not twist the biscuit cutter when pressing down into the dough because this seals off the edges of the biscuit which prevents them from fully rising.) Re-roll scraps until all the dough is used. You should have about 8-10 biscuits. Arrange in a 10-inch cast iron skillet (see note) or close together on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Make sure the biscuits are touching.
- Brush the tops with remaining buttermilk. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, and then brush warm tops with optional honey butter, and serve warm.
- Cover leftovers tightly and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked biscuits freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator, then warm up to your liking before serving. You can also freeze the biscuit dough. Prepare the dough in steps 2 through 4. Wrap up tightly in plastic wrap (plastic wrap is best for freshness) and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 5. Also, after step 4, you can wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days before continuing with step 5.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Pastry Cutter or Food Processor | 2.5- or 3-inch Biscuit Cutter | 10-inch Cast Iron Skillet (or Baking Sheet with Parchment Paper) | Pastry Brush
- Baking Powder: To avoid a chemical aftertaste, make sure your baking powder is labeled aluminum free. I usually use Clabber Girl brand and though the ingredients state aluminum, I’ve never noticed an aluminum aftertaste. Alternatively, you can reduce the baking powder down to 1 Tablespoon and add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.
- Butter: Cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Keep butter as cold as possible until you need it. I recommend placing the cubed butter in the freezer for about 15 minutes before you begin.
- Buttermilk: You can substitute whole milk for buttermilk if desired. However if you’d like the tangy flavor, which I highly recommend, you can make your own sour milk substitute. Add 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1 cup. (You need 1 cup in the recipe, plus 2 Tbsp for brushing–you can use regular milk to brush on top.) Whisk together, then let sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe. Whole milk is best for the DIY sour milk substitute, though lower fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch. (In my testing, the biscuits don’t taste as rich or rise quite as tall using lower fat or nondairy milks.)
- Cast Iron Skillet: If your cast iron skillet isn’t well seasoned, I recommend greasing it with a little vegetable oil or melted butter. Brush a thin layer of either on the bottom and around the sides. No need to heat the cast iron skillet before using, though you certainly can. Place in the preheated oven for 15 minutes before arranging the shaped biscuits in it.
- Flavors: Try my flavorful biscuit variations: cheddar biscuits and everything bagel biscuits.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 biscuit
- Calories: 212
- Sugar: 2.4 g
- Sodium: 283.5 mg
- Fat: 9.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.5 g
- Protein: 4.1 g
- Cholesterol: 25.4 mg
These are the best biscuits I’ve ever made. My whole family loves them. I was using another recipe and it was trash compared to these. They’re so addictive my family counts out how many we each eat just so it’s fair. They taste best with strawberry preserves. This is the recipe I’ve been looking for thank you.
These were DELICIOUS. And also foolproof for a mediocre baker like me. I added maple syrup as I didn’t have honey. I can’t make these again because i can’t keep them in the house for longer than a day
Delicious !!! Thanks for people like you who share!!! I love love love these biscuits
Was a little nervous to make biscuits from scratch, as I’ve heard they can be tricky. This recipe was super easy to follow and they turned out perfect!
Had buttermilk that was about to expire, so I made 3 batches of dough and put it in the freezer. This is the first time for make ahead overnight option. Wonderful way to start my weekend morning!
I used a soft wheat, self rising flour (the brand that is popular in the South) because I have a lot of it on hand and I don’t want it to expire. I did not add any baking powder or salt and used a round cake pan lined with parchment paper on the bottom. However I DID follow the rest of your instructions to the letter. Cold butter from the freezer, cold buttermilk (reconstituted from powder) and I handled the dough exactly as you instructed. My goodness, they turned out to be the best biscuits I have ever tasted! Soft, fluffy and raised much higher then previous attempts. Before, using the same recipe and ingredients but without your instructions for the dough, my biscuits ended up hard, dry & flat! The only difference was your instructions. Thank you so much!
Thanks so much for all of your recipes! My daughter is allergic to dairy – what can I use instead of chilled butter? We don’t like using vegan butters because they tend to give off a certain flavour that changes the overall taste of things. Would a oil that is light in flavouring work? Thank you!
Hi Swati! (Very) cold, cubed butter is key for these flaky biscuits, and we’re unaware of any other substitute that would yield the same results. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a biscuit recipe that is specifically formulated without butter in the dough. Let us know if you find one that works!
Delicious recipe. My newfound favorite ingredient, Buttermilk Powder performed exceptional here. I rolled the biscuits into an oval that fit the top of the pan I used to make a chicken pot pie. I cut the biscuits 3/4 of the way and laid the whole slab of rolled biscuit dough over the filling. It came out fantastic. Thanks for the great recipe
Okay so I have been a biscuit maker for quite some time and never use buttermilk. After wanting to find a great recipe for buttermilk biscuits I tried this one. I thought I had a big mess on my hands and pan but after baking they came out the best biscuits I have ever eaten! They say don’t over mix or handle so I didn’t, they were quite the mess they would not take shape and were falling apart. After forming and putting close together it all was magic in the pan. These came out the best! I would highly recommend this recipe.
These biscuits are amazing! They were so easy to make, too. Thank you for all your great recipes!
This is the best biscuit recipe! Every other recipe I’ve tried, my biscuits always came out like a hockey puck, and tasting like chalk. These turned out perfect. It’s now my go-to recipe for biscuits. I did substitute the buttermilk for 1 scant cup milk plus 1 tbsp of vinegar. I used clabber girl baking powder and had no weird tastes.
I made a double batch of these this morning… That produced 9 square biscuits (I didn’t have a biscuit cutter so I just maintained the rectangle shape while folding, and cut with a butcher knife, 3×3). They were flaky and wonderful, and I didn’t notice any chemical taste from the high amount of baking powder. I didn’t have honey on hand, but they still were delicious. This recipe is a keeper!
Could I substitute maple syrup for the honey? I’m out of honey.
Hi B, you can simply omit the honey if you don’t have any on hand. Enjoy!
My family and I go crazy for these biscuits. They are THE BEST! I’ve made them so many times… delicious every time! I was wondering if you can cut the biscuits and then freeze them, instead of freezing the folded dough? Also, can I cut them into square biscuits instead of circles?
Ovation!
Best recipe I’ve found. Made a different one last week which had less butter, less baking powder and less buttermilk. They were horrible! Didn’t rise. Tested my baking powder and it was not the problem. The only thing other than the recipe, could have been because I used whole wheat flour. And yours do not taste like baking powder of you pay attention and use aluminum-free, like you advise on the instructions. Thank you.
Applause!
I’m 14 and this was my first try with pastry dough! So so good, thank you!
Fantastic recipe! Just a quick tip… I saved time by using a pizza cutter to simply cut the dough into squares after it’s rolled out the last time. Just as delicious and a little edgy! 😉
Hi Sally,
Should I refrigerate the butter before cutting it into the flour? I know that’s what you did in the scones recipe, so I’m just asking whether I should freeze the butter. Thanks in advance!
Hi Bowen! Yes, cold butter makes all the difference in these biscuits, just like in scones. See recipe notes for details on keeping the butter cold!
These are without a doubt the best biscuits I have ever made!
Just wondering how to get them a little bigger in height? The taste is perfect. Am I rolling them too low???
Hi Victoria! A few suggestions for you…make sure not to overmix the dough. Overmixing can cause flat, hard biscuits rather than tall and fluffy. Also, be sure not to twist your biscuit cutter. Twisting it seals off the edges and prevents them from rising. Finally, bake the biscuits with their sides touching. This helps them to rise nice and tall!
I baked these for Easter 2021 and they turned out perfect. I made 3 batches since we really have a reason to celebrate. Our whole family will be attending mass and then more family members are coming over for Easter brunch. Just like my biscuits Praise Jesus he is risen.
This is a great recipe! I’ve used several of your recipes for work and at home. Simple and easy to follow directions, and the end product is always amazing, with great info. Thank you for sharing!
Good recipe! I grate the butter in the dry ingredients. Toss the butter lightly in the flour a few tablespoons at a time.
I just finished baking these….soooo good right out of the oven with a slathering of butter. They remind me of when our family would head south to visit my Grandma, she baked hers in a wood stove.
Once I committed to making this, I realized that I was low on flour. So I decided to 3/4 the recipe. Then, I forgot. So, once I got to the buttermilk step, I used a full cup. I only realized my mistake when my dough was soooo sticky (like, too sticky) and hard to handle. I ended up literally scraping balls of dough together and crossed my fingers. They’re SO DELICIOUS. They baked perfectly (although with my error, probably could have done with a slightly lower temperature and and longer bake time). I can’t even imagine how good they’d be had I made them the right way!!!
Made these biscuits the other night. We are still talking about how good they were!! Best biscuits I have ever made!! I made them in the morning up to step 4 as recommended, then baked them for supper. Lovely layered inside and a amazing crunchy top and bottom. Perfectly paired with stew. Will definitely be making them again.
You’re baking blog is the best. These boscuits were delicious
I used 2 tablespoons of aluminium-free BP and they were so bitter we had to throw them away. I don’t know why the recipe requires so much, I should have known something was off and reduced the amount but I wasn’t thinking.
I discovered this recipe about 3 months ago and have been making biscuits with it at least once every week.The only thing I do differently is take very cold or frozen butter and grate it into the dry ingredients. Make sure you keep everything cold and do the folding of the dough about 4 times. Don’t twist your biscuit cutter when cutting them out and you will have the best biscuits you could ever have imagined.Very high and delicious with buttery layers.