Skip the store-bought biscuits and preheat your oven for this quick-fix recipe for Easy Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits with Honey Butter. No buttermilk? No prob! Check out all the dairy and non-dairy substitutes you can use in our Buttermilk Substitutions Guide.
Six simple ingredients is all the separates you from that buttery tower of Easy Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits above. Just look at all those layers!
Buttermilk biscuits and I go way back to my elementary school days. My siblings and I would lunge for the tube of Pillsbury biscuits to see who could pop open the can with a single tug of the wrapper.
While the store-bought buttermilk biscuits were a childhood staple, it took me decades to realize how much additional buttery, flaky flavor I was missing out on by not making the biscuits from scratch.
But if baking anything from scratch makes you nervous, then this is the recipe for you.
Six ingredients and a rolling pin bring these golden brown beauties to life.
There are four important tips that will guarantee homemade biscuit success:
- Be Grate: Grating the butter and then incorporating it into the flour ensures the fat is well distributed.
- Fold, Roll, Repeat: Folding, rolling and re-folding the dough as directed is what will allow all the layers to form, so don’t skip that step!
- Don’t Do the Twist: When using the cookie cutter, press down but do not twist, as twisting seals the biscuit edges and prevents them from puffing up properly in the oven.
- Chill Out: After cutting out the biscuits, it’s important to return them to the freezer so the butter gets a chance to re-solidify.
Of course no homemade buttermilk biscuit is complete with a hearty slathering of honey butter. A touch of fresh orange zest and chopped fresh chives take this ordinary butter to the next level.
So grab a few pantry staples, skip the refrigerated tubes-o-dough and bake your way to the best-ever buttermilk biscuits.
(P.S. If buttermilk isn’t a staple in your fridge, check out our Buttermilk Substitutions Guide for several dairy and non-dairy alternatives!)
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Ingredients
For the biscuits:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons baking powder
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, cold
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, cold, plus additional for brushing biscuits
For the butter:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh chives
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons honey
- Zest of one orange
Instructions
Make the biscuits:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
- Using a box grater, grate the cold butter into the flour mixture and gently use your hands to mix it together, working the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers.
- Stir in the buttermilk, mixing just until combined.
- Lightly flour your work surface. Transfer the dough to your work surface then gently knead it just until it comes together.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is 1/2-inch thick. Fold it in half and then in half again (to form layers) then roll out the dough again until it is 3/4-inch thick.
- Using a 3-inch circular cookie cutter, cut the dough into biscuits then transfer them to the prepared baking sheet. (Scraps can be rerolled one time; See Notes)
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk then place the baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes. (See Note.)
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Bake the biscuits on the center rack for about 15 minutes or until they have risen and are golden brown. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool slightly before serving with Honey Butter (recipe follows).
Make the butter:
- Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
Notes:
- Prior to baking, the biscuits can be wrapped securely in plastic wrap and frozen for up to three months. There is no need to thaw them before baking. Simply arrange them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake them in a 425°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until they have risen and are golden brown.
- When cutting out the biscuits with a cookie cutter, simply press the cookie cutter down into the dough to form the biscuits. Do not twist it. Twisting the cookie cutter seals the edges of each biscuit and prevents them from properly rising while baking.
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Recipe by Just a Taste. Please do not reprint this recipe without my permission. If you'd like to feature this recipe on your site, please rewrite the method of preparation and link to this post as the original source.
My teenager requested biscuits and gravy. I’d had this recipe since early in the pandemic but had never made it as I was worried it’d be harder than it seemed. I decided to make them last night so I could just pop them in the oven today. Other than realizing I didn’t have enough baking powder and going on a late search for it (three attempts) these were as easy as you made them seem. Mine weren’t as thick, something to work on next time. Teen said they are so much better than those from the store-thank goodness. So good.
Yay! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Heather!
I made these biscuits a couple of times! First time I followed the recipe and they were really good. However, I realized that this recipe was a modified Puff Pastry recipe where the Baking Powder replaced the extra butter needed in Puff pastry: Puff pastry is basically 1 weight of flour to 1 weight of butter to half a weight of water + salt. One can see that that is a LOT of butter!! . . the butter is the leavening. So the second time I made the recipe I made it like I made puff pastry – I did not grate the butter, I simply chopped it up and incorporated CHUNKS of frozen (or very cold butter) into the flour and DID NOT “work the butter in to the flour mixture” – I left the pieces up to a half inch square – they can be easily seen as the dough is rolled out. I folded it and chilled it as instructed but the biscuits puffed up significantly more – you might want to try this. The butter sort of boils in between the layers making the biscuit puffy! The recipe is not different just the procedure. Either way, a great recipe! Thanks. PS – they (either procedure) really work well baked (at least 425) right out of the freezer. The high baking temp is critical.
Awesome! Thanks so much for your notes, David! I’m thrilled you’ve been enjoying the recipe.
My husband made these this morning and they are perfection! They’re buttery and flaky; I told my husband he should make them every week for us!
I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe!
Currently trying this receipe, however my dough came out soft after adding buttermilk.
I put the dough in the freezer should i add more flour?
Followed the measurements and use milk and vinegar as substitute for buttermilk
Hi there! You can just add more flour.
Kelly as a biscut maker from a young age, you have given me the biscut of my dreams. My father was always a good sport about what he called my sinkers. I think he’d really have loved my current biscuts. Thank you doesn’t seem enough. Jane
You are so welcome, Jane! I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe :)
This is hands down the easiest and best recipe for biscuits! And I learned what I’ve been doing wrong my whole life – the twist! I had no idea that’s why my biscuits never turned out. These were so good we had to go back to the store for more flour so that we could make more!!
Love this! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Jen!
Love these. Soo good even from frozen.
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe!
I can’t wait to try some of these and my 11 year old grandson is keen to help, its going to be a great weekend. Thaankyou for taking the time to put these receipes online.
You are so welcome, Jane! Enjoy baking with your grandson!
WOW. They really look Amazing. Like they could melt right in your mouth.
Making me hungry for some of these homemade biscuits and sausage gravy
Thanks so much, Colleen! I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Kelly, these biscuits look amazing!!!
Thank you so much, Sheenam!