Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Biscuits

A white bowl filled with baked biscuits.

4.23 from 112 votes

Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Biscuits

Skip the store-bought mixes and make this homemade biscuit mix with simple pantry ingredients for fluffy, flaky biscuits anytime. Perfect for quick breakfasts, dinners, and freezer meals, this old-fashioned mix saves money and gives you from-scratch flavor in minutes.

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: buttermilk biscuits, flaky buttermilk biscuits from scratch, old-fashioned buttermilk biscuits

Servings:

Calories: 240kcal

Author: Melissa Norris

Cost: Varies

Equipment

Mixing Bowl
Pastry Cutter
Metal Biscuit Cutter
Baking Sheet

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt I love Redmond Real Salt. Use code “Pioneering” for 15% off.
1/2 cup butter one stick
2 teaspoons honey
1 cup buttermilk Learn how easy it is to make your own cultured buttermilk.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Mix up your dry ingredients and then bring your butter out from the fridge. Cut it lengthwise in half, then in half again, and then cube it on up.
Use a pastry cutter and work in the butter until it looks like itty bitty pea size clumps with the dry ingredients.
Add the honey and 3/4 cup of buttermilk till it sticks together on itself. If you need to add the rest of the 1/4 cup, go ahead, but it should be a shaggy type dough, not smooth.
Lightly dust the counter top with flour and dump your dough out. Gently pat it into a 1/2 inch rectangle. It should be slightly tacky, if it sticks to your fingers, lightly (and I mean lightly) dust the top with flour.
Fold into thirds, turn it vertical, and pat back out into a rectangle, fold into thirds and repeat once more (a total of 3 times patting and folding).
On the final 3rd pat out, cut out your biscuits. You'll get six biscuits and then push the scraps back together for the last two biscuits.
Place biscuits in cast iron skillet (or a baking sheet) and bake for 15 minutes or until golden on top.

Notes

Recipe Tips:

Thou must use buttermilk. The higher acid content does wonderful things to the texture of baked goods, especially in no-knead baked goods like pie crust and biscuits. Buttermilk is your secret to flakiness.
Thou shalt only use cold butter. I’ve tried frozen butter and didn’t like the texture as well as using cold butter. Nor did I like the little flakes from grating it. Cut into cubes and cold from the fridge is a must.
Thou shalt not overhandle the dough. Over-handling the dough creates tough hockey puck biscuits.
Thou shalt only use a metal biscuit cutter! I know you’ve been told you can use a cup turned upside down, but that results in short, squatty biscuits; no one wants a squatty biscuit. It pinches the edges of the biscuit down so it can’t rise. You, my friend, deserve mile-high biscuits. Use a metal cutter.
Thou shalt not be a biscuit twister. When you push the biscuit cutter down, don’t twist! Twisting pinches the sides, push straight down and lift straight up. Boom! Ya got this.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve warm with homemade butter, strawberry jam with no pectin, or honey.
Make a hearty breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy or serve with eggs and bacon.
For a quick hand-held breakfast, use biscuits to make breakfast sandwiches.
Serve with this chocolate gravy recipe for a sweet treat.
In place of quick dinner rolls, serve biscuits as a side.
Use biscuits as a topping for fruit cobblers and pot pies.

Storage Instructions:

Store leftover biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerate for up to 5 days. To freeze, cut the biscuits, place them on a baking sheet, freeze for 15 minutes, then transfer to a freezer container. Bake from frozen, adding 3 to 4 minutes to the baking time.

Nutrition