These are the BEST homemade biscuits! Homemade buttermilk biscuits are the perfect addition to any breakfast or main meal. This biscuit recipe uses 6-ingredients and yields soft, flaky, layers of goodness that are ready in less than 30 minutes!
Homemade biscuits, made completely from scratch are so much better than store-bought and easy to make! Be sure and save this recipe for later!
Homemade biscuits are delicious, straight from the oven, slathered with mixed berry jam, topped with sausage gravy or on top of chicken pot pie. We also use them for biscuit breakfast sandwiches (make them the night before and wrap with aluminum foil.)
Similar to my pie crust recipe, the goal was to create a buttermilk biscuit recipe that was easy to make, but so delicious. Making buttermilk biscuits from scratch is easier than you may think. See below for tips on making homemade biscuits.
The secret ingredient to light and flaky biscuits is using a combination of lard and butter. One of the other secrets is baking biscuits in cast iron. That’s key!
Why this recipe works
- Uses pantry ingredients – Uses ingredients that are readily available at most grocery stores and likely already in your pantry.
- Gives you fluffy, extra flaky biscuits – Layers and layers of soft, fluffy and flaky biscuits.
- Foolproof biscuit recipe – Any level of baker can make this biscuit recipe and have great success!
What you’ll need
- All-purpose flour – Be sure and use a good-quality all-purpose flour brand, such as Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour. It really makes a difference in baking recipes.
- Salt –
- Butter – Using a high-quality butter is key in making incredible homemade biscuits. (My favorite butter is Kerry Gold!)
- Lard or vegetable shortening – Lard is my personal preference, but you can also use vegetable shortening (Crisco) for this recipe.
- Baking powder – Be sure your baking powder is fresh. This leavening agent helps biscuits rise.
- Buttermilk – Not only does it help create tender biscuits, the acidity of buttermilk reacts to the baking powder and helps them rise. For best results, we highly recommend using real buttermilk.
How to make Buttermilk Biscuits
The key to making flaky buttermilk biscuits is keeping ingredients cold and not overworking the dough!
- Mix dry ingredients – In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder.
- Cut in fat – Use a pastry blender to cut in lard and butter into the dry ingredients.
- Add the buttermilk – Add cold buttermilk and incorporate with a rubber spatula just until the dough starts to come together. Dough will be slightly crumbly.
- Work the dough – On a lightly floured surface, press the dough together with your hands into a rectangle shape. (This biscuit dough will be sticky!)
- Fold the dough – This makes the layers. Gently fold the dough over itself into layers.
- Cut the biscuits – Use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut biscuits. Do NOT twist the cutter!
- Place into baking pan – Place biscuits close together in buttered cast iron pan or baking dish. This helps them rise properly.
- Bake – Bake in a preheated 475 degree oven for 15 minutes or until tops of biscuits are golden brown.
Tips on making homemade Buttermilk biscuits
- Cold fat – Cold butter and lard help create pockets of air while they bake. It’s similar to making homemade pie crust.
- Using lard and butter – Using both of these ingredients helps to achieve the flakiest and fluffy biscuits.
- Real buttermilk and quality ingredients – Using high-quality flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour and real, full-fat buttermilk creates tender biscuits.
- Don’t overmix – Mix ingredients just until combined. Overworking biscuit dough will result in hard and flat biscuits.
- Don’t use too much flour – Lightly flour the work surface. Using too much flour can make your dough tough.
- Flatten and fold – Use your hands or a rolling pin to gently flatten dough, form into a rectangle shape and fold over to create layers. (I prefer to use my hands very little, as your body temperature can heat up the biscuit dough.)
- Don’t twist the biscuit cutter – Press the biscuit cutter down firmly, in a stamping motion into the dough. Twisting seals off the edges and prevents biscuits from rising properly.
- Bake close together – Biscuits rise best when pressed up against each other in a baking dish.
- Bake in cast iron – One of the best methods for baking biscuits. Cast iron helps distribute heat more evenly, helps biscuits rise well and outer edges have a good crust. Our favorite is the 9×13-inch cast iron baking pan from Lodge.
Recipe FAQs
Using really cold butter and lard creates pockets of air that rise as they bake. Heating the oven to 475 degrees F. High heat creates maximum steam that helps biscuits rise as they can. Baking in cast iron helps distribute the heat more evenly and biscuits rise better.
Lard in combination with butter, truly does make the best pie crust and biscuits.
Buttermilk gives biscuits a tangy flavor and keeps the dough tender. For best results, make sure it’s full-fat and super cold when added to the dry ingredients.
More breakfast and brunch recipes
- Apple fritters
- Apple hand pies
- Banana bread
- Banana muffins
- Beginners Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread
- Blueberry muffins
- Spinach Quiche Recipe
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Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
Buttermilk Biscuits
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter cold
- ½ cup lard or vegetable shortening cold
- 1 ¼-1 ½ cups buttermilk cold
Instructions
Buttermilk Biscuits
- In a large mixing bowl, gently combine flour with salt and baking powder with a spoon.
- Cut in the lard and butter until you have coarse crumbs. Incorporate the buttermilk and gently bring it together into a dough with your hands or a rubber spatula.
- Start with 1 ¼ cups buttermilk and add more buttermilk as needed, if necessary. The biscuit dough will be sticky!!
- Pat down on a lightly floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to gently roll into a rectangle shape. Fold several times. Roll out into rectangle about 1-inch thick.
- Use a rubber bench scraper to help work with the dough.
- Be careful NOT to add too much flour or overwork the dough. Cut biscuits with a 3-inch cutter, using a stamping motion, do not twist it.
- Pick up scraps of biscuit dough and shake off excess flour. Press back together. Carefully refold the dough and roll out to a rectangle. Cut out the remaining biscuits. Be careful not to add too much flour or handle the dough too much!
- Place biscuits closely together into a buttered cast iron baking pan or baking dish.
- Bake in a preheated 475 degree F oven for about 15 minutes or until the biscuit tops are lightly browned. Immediately brush with melted butter.
Video
Recipe Notes
Tips on making flaky biscuits
Make sure butter, lard and buttermilk are super cold to ensure flaky layers Use high-quality ingredients, such as flour and butter. Higher quality butter has a higher fat content and will yield better results. Cut butter into small pieces with a sharp knife or grate frozen butter with a cheese grater before incorporating into the flour mixture. Don’t have buttermilk? Make your own with 1 cup whole milk and 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice. Combine and let sit for 5 minutes before adding to the dry ingredients. Do NOT twist the cutter when cutting out biscuits! Twisting motion will seal edges of biscuits and prevent them from rising properly. Bake in cast iron skillet or baking pan. This helps biscuits bake better and more evenly. Rotate your baking pan 180 degrees about half way through the baking process.Nutrition
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Seanna Borrows says
Delicious homemade biscuits made easy with your recipe!! Love the frozen grated butter idea! Yummm!
Jessica Robinson says
Thank you so much!! It was so neat to develop a perfect, homemade biscuit with tons of flaky layers.
Becky says
one of my all-time favorite biscuits. I cook them in my cast-iron pan. This is a never failing recipe 😋
Jessica Robinson says
Hey Becky,
So happy to hear you enjoyed the biscuits!!
Suzanne Sutton says
How best to reheat biscuits I made yesterday for tonight’s dinner ? I stored them in paper bag w a paper towel over night THANKS!
Jessica Robinson says
Biscuits can be reheated in the oven for a few minutes.
Suzanne Sutton says
Did everything by the book ( except deleting salt bcz I’m using self rising flour) and I used salted butter but they are dense and almost soggy
What can I change?
Jessica Robinson says
Hello Suzanne,
Sorry to hear you had issues making biscuits.
We like to use all-purpose flour (a high-quality brand) along with the rest of ingredients. Self-rising flour has salt AND baking powder in it. You likely had too much baking powder in the mixture, and it’s possible you overworked the dough. Dense and soggy sounds like the dough was definitely overworked. Try the recipe exactly as written. Please let us know if you need anything further.
Linda Deal says
Use self-rising White Lily or Hudson Cream Flour. Best flours around and makes the best biscuits, Many years experience using these two self-rising flour. White Lily is sold most grocery stores.
Jessica Robinson says
Many people are trying to use flours that have higher protein and are unbleached. Plus, while self-rising flour is readily available in the South, that’s not necessarily the case in Northern states or in other areas of the USA.
Not everyone even uses “self-rising” flour. Therefore, we created the recipe to be universal. For example, in New England, it was not readily available. When creating a recipe, we want everyone to be able to make it, no matter what state or even country they are located. I don’t personally use it, ever. We use high-quality, unbleached all-purpose flour. Because for many recipes, it calls for all-purpose, NOT self-rising. It’s just not an ingredient that myself, nor others who bake on a regular basis even keep in their kitchen.
You can certainly substitute self-rising flour in our recipe, because it was formulated with the same amount of salt & baking powder that is in that product. You would just need to eliminate the salt & baking powder from our recipe.
Carrie Abercrombie says
Made breakfast for supper last night using Jessica’s recipe for homemade biscuits! They came out perfect and everyone loved them. I’ve never made homemade biscuits before. Her recipes and tips are amazing. Thank you Jessica so much for sharing your recipes and your wealth of knowledge.
Jessica Robinson says
Carrie,
Thank you so very much for your kind words and continued love and support!!
Christi says
I used my grandma’s recipe handed down for the past 30 years until I had these. So delicious. I make them all the time now. I have tried grating cold butter in as well as cutting cold butter in. Both work well. Bigger chunks actually were better IMO. Definitely don’t scrimp on buttermilk or the cast iron pan. They are game changers. I don’t roll my dough, I gently fold and turn the dough a few times (to get those flakey layers) and gently push out with my hands and then cut with a biscuit cutter. Definitely have thick dough and you will have the fluffiest, big, flakey, buttery biscuits that will wow your family and guests. Yummm
Jessica Robinson says
YES!! that’s incredible. I believe you are correct with slightly bigger chunks of butter, because it expands as they bake and creates air pockets, making biscuits light and fluffy.
That’s why I prefer them a little more sticky with plenty of buttermilk and GOOD butter, like Kerry Gold makes a huge difference.
Suzanne says
What is needed to freeze the biscuits?
Jessica Robinson says
Just make them as usual, freeze on a half sheet pan lined with wax paper or parchment. Then after frozen, place into a large zip-style freezer bag. This way they aren’t stuck together.
Allison says
First time ever making biscuits from scratch so I’m a real new at this. I used Crisco, next time I’ll use cold Crisco. Also will grate the butter next time. My husband was the one who rolled out the dough and I think it was handled too much. Make sure you make them nice and thick. Cant wait to keep trying to perfect this recipe!!!
Jessica Robinson says
Hello Allison!
Thanks for letting us know you had success with the biscuits!
Definitely try LARD, rather than Crisco. Believe me, it will make a much better biscuit! It doesn’t need to be cold, though you could make your dough and plop the bowl into the fridge for a bit. Butter is great if it’s cold. Grating it is also a great idea, especially if you don’t have a pastry blender. Get yourself a plastic bench scraper too (if you don’t have one!) it helps to fold the dough without having fingers get too sticky with dough.
Lauralee says
Can you use self-rising flour instead of all-purpose and baking powder?
Jessica Robinson says
Yes, that should work well. I developed the recipe based on self-rising flour ingredients. But it’s primarily readily available only in the South. Northern states do not carry it a lot. That’s why we used all-purpose flour with baking powder. (remember self-rising flour also has salt, so you’d not add additional salt!!)
Patti Griffin says
Turned out perfect!! My family loves them!
Jackie Tuler says
These biscuits by far are the best I have ever made. They are so easy. Most people have the ingredients on hand.
I used Crisco instead of lard, I froze my butter first and then grated it in. So easy, so delicious!!!!! I ended up baking for 20 min. in a round cast iron skillet. Follow her directions and handle the dough as little as possible.
I’d give these 10 stars if I could.
Jessica Robinson says
Jackie,
Thank you so much for such a beautiful review!! I’m beyond thrilled you had success with these.
Julie Stafford says
Delicious. I’ve tried many other biscuit recipes lately and have found that lard is absolutely necessary! Thank you for the great instructions about not over handling and using too much flour.
Tracy Edgar says
Oh My Lord!! These biscuits are so easy and delicious!! Like biscuits my g’ma used to make! You won’t be sorry you tried this recipe..promise
Sandy Wilkinson says
Foolproof! We made them and they are so incredibly good Jessica. Flaky, light and perfect. Thanks for sharing your family recipe.