These easy homemade buttermilk biscuits are super soft, buttery, and sweet! Honey adds an extra hint of sweetness and depth to make these the perfect biscuits! They also rise into the most beautiful layered stacks.
I almost always prefer biscuits to dinner rolls in the evening and toast in the morning. There is something that is just so much more special about a biscuit.
KEY INGREDIENTS:
Biscuits have just a few ingredients, so you want to make sure you are using the best ones possible.
Butter: butter is incredibly important in a biscuit. It provides flavor and is responsible for creating the show-stopping layers. A high-fat European-style butter will give you the best homemade biscuits you've ever tasted. My favorite is Kerry Gold. I use salted Kerry Gold butter because it just tastes so good.
Buttermilk: Buttermilk is also key to a good biscuit. Buttermilk contains acid, which, when combined with the baking powder and baking soda, helps the dough to rise. Buttermilk also helps to keep the dough tender and soft.
Honey: most biscuits contain a little sugar for flavor and sweetness. Switching out honey for granulated sugar gives these biscuits a deeper and more earthy sweetness that really sets this biscuit recipe apart.
How to make this recipe:
For these biscuits, I used a technique that I read about, and it's how Carla Hall makes her biscuits. Instead of pressing the cold butter into the flour, she grates it with her food processor. This creates smaller and uniform butter pieces that are evenly distributed through the dough. This method ensures a hydrated and consistent dough.
Time needed: 40 minutes
- Whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Using a grater or the grating attachment on a food processor, grate the frozen butter. Add the butter to the flour and toss until it’s evenly mixed.
- Add the buttermilk and honey and stir until a loose dough forms.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until the dough all comes together. - Press or roll the dough into a ¼ inch rectangle and fold the dough onto its self in thirds. Like you would fold a sheet of paper. Press or roll the dough out to ¼ inch again and repeat the fold.
- Using a floured biscuit cutter, cut out your biscuits and place them right next to each other on a lined baking sheet.
- Freeze the biscuits on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before baking for 20 minutes at 450 degrees.
Tips for this recipe:
- Freeze your butter and chill your buttermilk for 10- 20 minutes before starting this recipe.
- Use a food processor with the grating attachment instead of cutting the butter into the flour mixture.
- Place a tiny bit of flour in the food processor to help the butter not to stick.
- For supper tender biscuits you can use White Lily self-rising flour. If you do this just omit the salt, baking powder, and baking soda. You may need to add an extra cup of flour as well. Make sure your dough is shaggy and not overly wet.
- Handle the dough a little as possible. This recipe calls for folding the dough multiple times, but you still want a springy and soft dough. Overhandled dough will result in tough and gummy biscuits.
- Place the biscuits right next to each other on the lined baking sheet. This will help them to rise.
- Use an egg wash for a crunchy biscuit top or brush the baked biscuits with melted butter.
- Serve with homemade bourbon honey butter from this recipe for a real treat.
FAQ's
In this recipe, I freeze my cut but unwashed biscuits for 15 minutes. Freezing helps the biscuits to keep their shape and helps them rise into beautiful flakey layers
I almost always prefer an undiluted egg wash on everything. An egg wash will give a nice dark finish with a crunchy top. If a soft biscuit top is your jam, then a butter wash would be ideal for you, and if you want extra tangy biscuits, brush yours with buttermilk. You really can't make a wrong decision here.
These are best made the same day, but they will keep in an airtight container for two days
OTHER BREAD RECIPES:
Rosemary and Roasted Garlic Bread
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Buttermilk and Honey Biscuits
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 12 biscuits 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Southern
Description
These easy homemade buttermilk biscuits are super soft, buttery, and sweet! Honey adds an extra hint of sweetness and depth to make these the perfect biscuits! They also rise into the most beautiful layered stacks.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup salted butter
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 egg for the egg wash or 4 tablespoons of melted butter to brush on finished biscuits.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Using a grater or the grating attachment on a food processor, grate the butter. Once grated, if it's no longer cold, freeze for a few minutes before adding it to the flour.
- Add the butter to the flour and toss until it's evenly mixed.
- Add the buttermilk and honey and stir until a loose dough forms.
- Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead until the dough all comes together.
- Press or roll the dough into a ¼ inch rectangle and fold the dough onto its self in thirds. Like you would fold a sheet of paper. Press or roll the dough out to ¼ inch again and repeat the fold. Press or roll out the dough out again to a ¼ inch rectangle.
- Using a floured cutter cut out your biscuits and place them right next to each other on a lined baking sheet. Having all your biscuits touching will help them to rise.
- Freeze the biscuits on the baking sheet for 15 minutes. Once chilled, whisk the egg and brush it over your biscuits.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and the tops are golden.
Notes
- Freeze your butter and chill your buttermilk for 10- 20 minutes before starting this recipe.
- Use a food processor with the grating attachment instead of cutting the butter into the flour mixture.
- Place a tiny bit of flour in the food processor to help the butter not to stick.
- Handle the dough a little as possible. This recipe calls for folding the dough multiple times, but you still want a springy and soft dough. Overhandled dough will result in tough and gummy biscuits.
- Place the biscuits right next to each other on the lined baking sheet. This will help them to rise.
- Use an egg wash for a crunchy biscuit top or brush the baked biscuits with melted butter.
- Serve with homemade bourbon honey butter from this recipe for a real treat.
Robin says
These are the best biscuits I’ve ever had or made! I have looked at so many recipes and have found that many have too much baking powder and I can taste it. Putting these in the freezer before baking causes the layers to separate more, making lighter, fluffier biscuits. A bit of a crispy top, even without the egg wash made them perfect. They actually tasted a bit like a croissant. Highly recommend and cannot figure out why others haven’t reviewed it.