These flaky buttermilk biscuits are a southern classic! They're tender and buttery on the inside with a slightly crispy exterior and hundreds of perfectly flaky layers! They're delicious spread with butter and jam, or smothered in homemade sausage gravy!
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What are Biscuits?
Depending on where you live, the word "biscuit" means completely different things. In the southern US, biscuits are a dense but flaky pastry that use baking powder as the leavened. However, in other parts of the world biscuits are more similar to what we think of as scones, and in the UK "biscuits" are actually cookies.
This recipe is for classic flaky southern buttermilk biscuits!
You might also like these brown butter cornbread muffins or these sourdough biscuits!
Ingredient Notes
You just need 6 ingredients to make the flakiest buttermilk biscuits!
Pastry Flour - I always use pastry flour or cake flour when making biscuits so that they have a super light, tender texture. However, all purpose flour will still work great if that's all you have!
Buttermilk - If you don't have buttermilk you can make your own "buttermilk" by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to every 1 cup of whole milk!
Butter - I like using frozen grated butter for the flakiest buttermilk biscuits!
Sugar - I know these are savory biscuits, but just a little bit of sugar is still necessary for the best flavor.
Flaky Sea Salt - I always had flaky sea salt to the tops of these buttermilk biscuits for both flavor and looks! I love using Maldon Flaky Sea Salt because it has the best flavor and texture.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Super Flaky Biscuits
Place the butter in the freezer for at least 20-30 minutes before grating. Use a box grater to carefully grate the butter into small pieces. Keep the grated butter in the freezer until you're ready to use it.
If you don't want to use grated butter, just cut the butter into small chunks and keep chilled until ready to use.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Add in the frozen grated butter and toss gently in until it's fully coated in the flour.
Then slowly drizzle the buttermilk over top, combining as you go. Knead a few times in the bowl until you have a very dry, shaggy dough.
Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and gently pat the dough into a large 1 inch thick square.
Using a bench knife, cut the dough into 4 equal squares and then stack them on top of each other, making sure to sandwich any loose dry bits of dough between the layers.
Then flatten the stack of dough back into a large 1 inch thick rectangle. [This method of cutting and stacking the dough is what helps give the biscuits those super flaky layers!]
Use 2 ½ inch round biscuit cutters to cut out the biscuits, then reshape the dough scraps to cut out more biscuits. You should get 10-12 biscuits.
Transfer the biscuits to a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Tip: Place the biscuits close together on the baking sheet so that the sides are nearly touching. This helps them rise even higher!
While the biscuits are freezing, preheat the oven to 425°F.
Remove the biscuits from the freezer and lightly brush the tops with buttermilk and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Bake at 425°F for 18-22 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Remove from the oven and enjoy the flaky buttermilk biscuits while warm!
Tips for Flaky Pastries
Use cold ingredients! For most baked goods you want to use room temperature ingredients, but for flaky pastries (like scones, biscuits, or pie crust) the ingredients need to be very cold! Keep any butter, eggs, milk, etc. in the fridge until right before you need to use them!
Chill before baking! Chilling the dough for at least 15-20 minutes before baking helps ensure the butter in the dough is nice and cold and helps the pastries hold their shape. Cold dough + hot oven = perfect flaky pastry!
Don't overwork the dough! You want to mix the ingredients until just combined so that there are still distinct pieces of butter in the dough. This is what gives you those buttery, flaky, air pockets!
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping certain baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature. Some ovens also take longer than the standard "preheat" time to actually come up to the proper temperature.
Recipe FAQ's
These flaky buttermilk biscuits are best eaten the same day, but they'll keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also reheat biscuits in the oven at 350°F for 5-10 minutes.
Yes! After cutting the dough into circles, place on a baking sheet and flash freeze them for 1 hour. Once firm, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months (I love using vacuum seal bags for this). Brush with cream and sprinkle with flaky salt before baking. You may need to increase the baking time to 22-25 minutes.
Yes! To make sweet buttermilk biscuits, increase the sugar in the dough to 2 tablespoons and reduce the salt to ½ teaspoon. After brushing the biscuits with cream sprinkle with sugar instead of flaky sea salt! You can also brush them with a little bit of melted honey butter after baking.
I love keeping things simple by eating biscuits with butter, honey, jam, or apple butter. But they're also delicious with eggs and bacon or smothered in gravy!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Recipes You Might Like!
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Recipe Card
Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups pastry flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, frozen
- 1 cup buttermilk, substitute whole milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Place the butter in the freezer for at least 20-30 minutes before grating. Use a box grater to carefully grate the butter into small pieces. Keep the grated butter in the freezer until you're ready to use it. [If you don't want to use grated butter, just cut the butter into small chunks and keep chilled until ready to use.]
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Add in the frozen grated butter and toss gently in until it's fully coated in the flour.
- Then slowly drizzle the buttermilk over top, combining as you go. Knead a few times in the bowl until you have a very dry, shaggy dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and gently pat the dough into a large 1 inch thick square.
- Using a bench knife, cut the dough into 4 equal squares and then stack them on top of each other, making sure to sandwich any loose dry bits of dough between the layers.
- Then flatten the stack of dough back into a large 1 inch thick rectangle. [This method of cutting and stacking the dough is what helps give the biscuits those super flaky layers!]
- Use 2 ½ inch round biscuit cutters to cut out the biscuits, then reshape the dough scraps to cut out more biscuits. You should get 10-12 biscuits.
- Transfer the biscuits to a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before baking. Tip: Place the biscuits close together on the baking sheet so that the sides are nearly touching. This helps them rise even higher!
- While the biscuits are freezing, preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Remove the biscuits from the freezer and lightly brush the tops with buttermilk and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- Bake at 425°F for 18-22 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and enjoy the flaky buttermilk biscuits while warm!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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