Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Who doesn’t love a homemade buttermilk biscuit slathered in butter, topped with fresh jam? Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits are the perfect complement to any meal–not just breakfast! Use this biscuit as a perfect “shortcake” for strawberries with whipped cream, or as a “bun” for a sausage sandwich. However you serve it, your family will love it!

Homemaking Notes

We have overnight guests fairly often. Whether it’s family from Kentucky or friends from visiting churches, hosting company for the weekend is a tradition I’ve enjoyed since I was a child. I can remember my mother, bustling about, putting food in the freezer, cleaning–just making things special for our guests. As a child, it was so exciting to think about having friends stay overnight. When I became a homemaker, it just felt natural to continue that tradition. Looking back, I think my children would say it was some of the most meaningful times of their lives.

So, what does all this have to do with Homemade Buttermilk biscuits? Well, breakfast was such a big part of hosting company! The breakfast table was, and is, this special place where everyone gathered, a stone or a cast iron skillet of biscuits was the centerpiece, a blessing was asked, food was enjoyed, and love was felt. Whether it’s overnight guests, or just your own crew, let biscuits be the centerpiece of wonderful meals served around your table! Biscuits with Sausage Gravy is a favorite in our house (RECIPE HERE).

A Little Science about Biscuits

Whenever I teach a class at the Flour Barn, whether it’s pie class, biscuit and jam class, or bread class, I always try to include a little bit of science. I have always loved understanding the “why” in baking. Why is my pie crust not flaky? My bread so dense? My biscuits so heavy? All these questions can be understood with a little bit of science.

The Positive side of Gluten Development

When we combine flour with water, a chemical process immediately begins. The proteins in flour (all-purpose, whole wheat, bread flour) begin to form gluten strands. Additionally, if we manipulate the dough, by kneading or mixing, or stretching and folding, these elastic gluten strands are developed even further. These gluten strands are very desirable in things like whole wheat sandwich bread, sourdough pizza dough, or focaccia. In fact, when well developed, gluten strands are responsible for the beautiful rise that we want in bread, the chewy texture we want in pizza crust, and the structure we need in brioche.

The Negative side of Gluten Development

On the other hand, in things like biscuits, scones, or pie crust, we do not want a lot of gluten development. We need a little, or our pie crust and biscuits would just fall apart, but we want to MINIMIZE gluten development in these particular baked goods. How do we do that? Let’s get started!

• Using the right flour: When making biscuits, this is not the time to break out the bread flour. Bread flour is by definition, high gluten. Obviously, that is not what we want when trying to minimize gluten development. All purpose, which is sort of “middle of the road” when it comes to protein content, is perfectly suitable for biscuits. It’s generally what you have in your pantry, and it’s the flour I’ve used my whole life for biscuits. Whole wheat flour can also be added to your all-purpose if you want a heartier biscuit, but I’d advise you add no more than one quarter of the total flour as whole wheat. Too much whole wheat in a biscuit can be a little heavy. You can also use a “low protein” flour like White Lily if you like. Feel free to experiment with different flours to see what you like best.
• Minimize mixing: When you add your buttermilk to your dry ingredients, only stir until you have just a few dry bits of flour left. Then dump it to a lightly floured surface and knead 10 times, no more. This short kneading period will give you a bit of structure, but not too much gluten development. I’ve included a video to show you how I knead my biscuits.
• Gently pat your dough to the desired thickness, before cutting out your biscuits. No need for a rolling pin at this point.

The Ingredients for Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

• We’ve already talked about flour, but all purpose is my “go-to” because it’s always in my pantry.
• Fat: Which kind of fat you use is a topic of great debate. My mother made our biscuits strictly with all-vegetable shortening. We always loved them and she continues with that recipe to this day. Shortening has some advantages. For instance, it’s melting point is higher than butter so you don’t have to be in such a hurry making biscuits in a hot summer kitchen. Butter, on the other hand, is a little temperamental when it comes to higher kitchen temperatures. It will melt quickly and we do like our butter to be cold when we put our biscuits in the oven. Shortening also lends a bit of tenderness to biscuits.
• Butter has some advantages too. Butter gives biscuits a delicious flavor. Who doesn’t love the taste of butter?
• So what is a woman to do? Use both–that’s my solution. My recipe calls for half shortening and half butter. I like to get the advantages of both. However, if you’d like to use all of one or the other, that will work just fine.
• Buttermilk, any fat percentage, will work well in these biscuits.
• To sweeten this biscuit ever so slightly, and to balance the tang of the buttermilk, I use two teaspoons of sugar. You could also use two teaspoons of maple syrup or honey.
• Baking soda and baking powder are used in this recipe. You may wonder, “Do I need both?” Well, you could probably get by with just baking powder, but the baking soda adds more lift, and it contributes to nice browning on the biscuits. When you’re baking with an acid like buttermilk, the baking soda will augment the rising. However, if we only used baking soda, it would essentially drown out that tangy taste that we want in our biscuits. So, my solution is mainly baking powder with a little bit of baking soda.

The Method for Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

The method for making these Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits starts out a lot like my pastry cutter pie crust. First, you sift together the dry ingredients. Second, you cut in the fats with a pastry cutter until all the pieces of fat are about the size of peas. With biscuits, I stop a little earlier than I do with pie, allowing for some almond size pieces as well. If, at any point, I feel like my butter is starting to get too warm, I just put my bowl in the refrigerator or freezer until it’s cold again and then continue.

Once you’ve adequately cut in the fats, make a well in the center of my flour mixture. To that well, add all the buttermilk. Using a fork, stir until most of the flour is moistened, but a few flour bits remain. Next, dump the biscuit dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead by folding the dough in half, turning a quarter turn, and repeating ten times. Ten times–no more, because we need some structure for our Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits, but not too much structure.

Pat the dough with your hands until you have a rectangle approximately 3/4 inch to 1 inch thick, depending on how tall you want your biscuits to be. Using a three-inch biscuit cutter, cut out your biscuits and place them on a stone, a cast iron skillet, or even a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. When you cut them out, try not to twist the biscuit cutter, as this can prevent a good rise in the biscuits.

Once you’ve cut out as many as you can, “re-form” the biscuit scraps without working them together too much. Simply push them back together to form a shape you can get another couple biscuits from. I can usually get eight three-inch biscuits from this recipe. The last two biscuits usually look a little different than the first six, but they are equally delicious and I wouldn’t want to waste any good dough! Make sure to keep them snugged together on the pan as this will encourage them to rise upward rather than flatten outward.

At this point, you can brush the tops of the biscuits with butter, buttermilk, or just leave them plain and brush them with butter after they come out of the oven. In a 425 degree oven, bake the biscuits for 15 minutes, or until 200 degrees internally. I have always checked my biscuits for doneness by lifting the top of the center biscuit and checking for a doughy appearance. If it looks done, I take them out. Enjoy! They pair amazingly with my simple Strawberry Freezer jam (RECIPE HERE)!

Special Tools

• A kitchen scale is just one of those tools I use almost everyday. It enhances accuracy and makes cleanup a breeze, because you measure everything into the bowl by weight–one bowl, one dish to wash!
• A pastry blender is handy for biscuits as well as pie crusts.

Making Ahead and Freezing

Biscuits are perfect for making ahead and freezing. You can do this a couple of ways.

• Freeze unbaked: Once you’ve cut out your biscuits, arrange them on a parchment lined sheet pan and place in the freezer until biscuits are firmly frozen. Remove from pan and place in freezer bag. Bake them all at once for a crowd, or one at a time when you just want a fresh biscuit! Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until 200 degrees internally. I have done this many times when expecting overnight guests, and they are an awesome way to be prepared for breakfast. Your guests will be impressed!
• Freeze baked: After completely cool, place biscuits in airtight container, and freeze for up to 3 months. Simply remove from freezer the night before you want to enjoy them and eat them room temp the next morning or place in 300 degree oven and warm to desired temp.