Breakfast / Brunch
Buttermilk Biscuits
Biscuits are universally loved, but making them from scratch can cause a person to go into a tizzy. But have no fear, creating fresh biscuits is actually quite simple. And if you’re looking to throw a party centered around biscuits, homemade are best.
The key to a good biscuit starts with a reliable recipe, and this one fits the bill. For the perfect balance of structure and tenderness we found that a combination of all-purpose and cake flours worked the best. And using butter provides maximum flavor. Plus, a little TK tip — shredding the butter while it’s frozen minimizes overmixing and warming the dough. Also, a bit of sugar helps with browning and elevates all the flavors, while tangy buttermilk brings the dough together. These biscuits have it all — they’re crisp, tender, flaky, and delicious.
Ingredients
WHISK:
STIR IN:
Test Kitchen Tips
For ease, you can also make these biscuits in your food processor. Just pulse cubed (not shredded) butter into the dry ingredients until pea-sized, add the buttermilk, then pulse just until a dough forms; pat out and cut biscuits as usual.
KEEP YOUR TOOLS COLD
To ensure the butter in the dough doesn’t melt before it gets to the oven (leading to flat biscuits), pop all your tools (box grater, bowl, fork, and biscuit cutter) into the freezer for a few minutes before you get started.
DON’T OVERWORK THE DOUGH
Overworking causes excess gluten to develop, leading to tough, not tender, biscuits. Additionally, it can warm and potentially melt the butter, leading to squatty biscuits.
PAT, DON’T ROLL
Patting biscuit dough to the specified thickness creates a loftier biscuit. Don’t use a rolling pin to roll out the dough — a pin can compress it unnecessarily.
CUTTER CUES
Use a sharp cutter and press straight down. Dull cutters, or other blunt-edged tools compress the dough and seal the biscuit edges, reducing rise.m Twisting the cutter causes biscuits to rise unevenly.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425° with rack in upper third. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Whisk together all-purpose flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
Stir in butter, then stir in buttermilk with a fork just until a dough forms.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead just until it comes together; pat dough to ¾-inch thick and cut with a 2½-inch-round cutter, dipping in flour before making each cut.
Reshape dough scraps and cut remaining biscuits.
Place biscuits 3×3 on prepared baking sheet, barely touching one another.
Bake biscuits until golden, 17 minutes, brushing tops with melted butter in last 2 minutes.
Nutritional Facts
Nutritional Facts
Per biscuit
Calories: 291
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 14g 21%
Saturated Fat 8g 40%
Cholesterol 36mg 12%
Sodium 596mg 24%
Carbs 36g 12%
Protein 6g
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.