(recipe) The Actual, Literal BEST Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe

by · Published · Updated

Pin12

In this carb-deprived 2018 dystopian landscape, there is one bread product I can’t live without – a tall, flaky, buttery biscuit. Do you know how many bad biscuit recipes are out there? I do because I’ve tried like 100 of them. I tried duck fat and lard and butter and milk and buttermilk and no buttermilk and everything in between.

After all of this testing, I actually found the best recipe. Behold: the one recipe to rule them all, the best, I mean the actual, literal, BEST buttermilk biscuit recipe. I was inspired by this recipe from Cooking Maniac but have made some tweaks and changes based on my own experimentation.

I think it’s important to use good quality butter here, like Kerrygold or Plugra, because of the buttery taste. You can do these in the food processor or by hand with a pastry cutter – I’ve given instructions for  both. And if you want to use them for strawberry shortcakes, just add 2 or 3 teaspoons of sugar to the dough and sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar before baking.

Buttermilk Biscuits 
makes 12-18 depending on size of biscuit cutter

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour (plus more for dusting)
  • 2 Tblsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 8 Tblsp (1 cube) cold butter, cut into 20-30 small cubes
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 Tblsp melted butter

METHOD:

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare a sheet pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  • Make the dough:
    • Food processor method: Put flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.  Add cold butter cubes and pulse about 6-8 times until crumbly. The butter pieces should be about the size of a lentil or a flat cornflake. Transfer the dough into a mixing bowl. Add buttermilk and stir gently with a wooden spoon until it comes together. If it’s too dry, add a splash more buttermilk. Dough may be a little sticky.
    • Pastry cutter method: Put flour, baking powder, and salt in large mixing bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.  Add cold butter cubes and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter in. The butter pieces should be about the size of a lentil or a flat cornflake. Add buttermilk and stir gently with a wooden spoon until it comes together. If it’s too dry, add a splash more buttermilk. Dough may be a little sticky.
  • Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat it into a rough rectangle, about an inch thick. Fold it over and gently pat it down into a rectangle again. Repeat 3 times.
  • Gently pat out the dough once more, so that it forms a rectangle. Gently cut dough into biscuits using a floured glass or biscuit cutter. Do not twist the cutter when cutting; this will crimp the edges of the biscuit causing it not to rise. If you have scraps you can reform them to cut additional biscuits.
  • Place biscuits on prepared baking sheet and bake until golden, about 10-15 minutes. When they come out of the oven, immediately brush on the melted butter on top.
Pin12

You may also like...

2 Responses

  1. bill says:
    August 15, 2018 at 5:09 pm

    You say SALE in your ingredient list (1/2 tsp sale) but clearly you meant to say SALT. Just wanted to point it out. Looking forward to trying this recipe.