Rich and Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

Updated July 22, 2024

Rich and Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits are soft, buttery, and delicately flaky. A perfect choice to serve along side your favourite meal. Not only are these versatile biscuits great to accompany savoury dishes, my all time favourite way to serve these is layered with fruit and cream for the ultimate rustic strawberry shortcake!

Buttermilk Biscuits are a real time saver. If you have ever found yourself without enough bread to serve with a meal and you don’t have hours to make a new loaf of bread, these buttermilk biscuits whip up in about 30 minutes!

Biscuits can also be used in place of pie crust in casseroles like, chicken pot pie!

What makes a great biscuit?

When I make biscuits they have to be beautifully golden on the outside have a soft, buttery inside, with a ton of flaky layers that pull apart and melt in your mouth! These biscuits are just that!

You can use biscuits any place you would normally use bread. As a side for soup, in a sandwich, even with your eggs in the morning for breakfast!

What if I don’t have buttermilk?

Buttermilk isn’t a staple in ever kitchen. If you are in the mood for these biscuits and find yourself without buttermilk, never fear! I have a few options you can try. I have used all of these options and no one has ever noticed a difference.

Milk and vinegar to replace buttermilk

• Add some vinegar to your milk. This recipe calls for 2 cups of buttermilk. So you would get out your 2 cup glass measuring cup (or whatever you normally use to measure liquids). Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar (I have used white vinegar as well as apple cider vinegar and both work equally well.).
• Fill the rest of your glass measuring cup up to the 2 cup mark.
• Stir the mixture to make sure it is evenly distributed.
• Let is sit for 5 mins. That’s it! It is now ready to use in your recipe!

Lemon juice to replace buttermilk

• Add lemon (or lime) juice to your milk. This option uses citric acid to sour the milk
• Add 1 tablespoon per 1 cup of milk.
• Stir together.
• Let sit 5 minutes for the milk to sour.

Yogurt to replace buttermilk

• Use runny plain yogurt in place of milk.
• If your yogurt is thick, thin it down to a pourable consistency with regular milk. That is it! it is ready to use in your recipe!

Tips for making amazing buttermilk biscuits

Don’t overmix the dough

An overworked dough will be tough and chewy. The least amount of time you handle the dough, the more tender the biscuits will be!

Laminating the dough

You usually think of puff pastry when it comes to laminating dough. For biscuits, gently fold the dough over on itself a few times to make sure you will have some layers of butter laminated inside the dough. This will give your biscuits lots of tender flaky layers!

Keep things cold

When making biscuits the butter should be fridge cold. When making the dough, if you have a warm kitchen or find that it is getting warm, pop it in the fridge for a few minutes.

Variations for buttermilk biscuits

These buttermilk biscuits have a lovely flavour a delicious tang, which is perfect for adding sweet and savoury accompaniments to!

Savoury

To this base recipe of buttermilk biscuits adding herbs, like rosemary. Adding cheese can really elevate your biscuits and give them a deliciously rich taste and texture!

This buttermilk biscuit recipe is the perfect dough for casseroles. Chicken pot pie, taco casseroles, thick stews or chili, and chicken and dumpling casseroles to name a few.

Sweet

Fruit cobblers, topped with cream and jam, or my favourite Strawberry Shortcake.

Strawberry Shortcake

My grandmother would add extra sugar to the original Rich and Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits recipe. She would then served them open faced, with mounds of cut strawberries she had soaked overnight in a little sugar water. To finish it off, a dollop of whipping cream! Strawberry shortcake! So easy and tastes like the dream dessert of summer!

If you want to check out my favourite strawberry shortcake recipe hop over here!

How to make buttermilk biscuits

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour 600 g

1 teaspoon baking soda 5 ml

1 teaspoon salt 5 ml

4 teaspoons baking powder 12 g

1 teaspoon white sugar 5 ml

1 cup fridge cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes 225 g

2 cups buttermilk 500 ml

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 375ºF (190ºC).
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
3. Cut the cold butter into small 1-2 cm cubes.
4. Sprinkle the butter into the flour. I add a little bit at a time. Then mix the cubs around into the flour. That way the cubes don’t stick back together again.
5. Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender, or rub the butter and dry mixture between your finder tips until it resemble a course meal.

6. Mix in the buttermilk, until it just comes together. Do not overmix.

7. Tip out onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat out with your hands until it is about 1 inch (2½ cm) thick.

8. With a biscuit cutter, a large round cookie cutter, or an upside-down mug, cut into biscuits.

9. Place biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden.

10. Remove from oven, cool slightly. Serve warm!

Craving some more quick and easy biscuit recipes? Check these out! Easiest Baking Soda Biscuits | Vintage Kitchen, Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Biscuits, Old-Fashioned Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

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