Traditional buttermilk biscuits are a household mainstay in my home. You can serve them for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, and even dessert because they are simple, quick, and light. The method is straightforward (hint: use frozen butter and a gentle touch), but the results are spectacular. So, how long do biscuits take to bake?
This simple biscuit recipe, which is buttery, tender, and made from scratch, deserves a permanent position in your recipe collection. This recipe contains only butter and no shortening!
Time
- Preparation Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total time: 27 minutes
- Servings: 10
- Yield: 10 biscuits
Ingredients
- 3 ounces (6 teaspoons) of cold unsalted butter
- 2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour plus additional flour for sprinkling
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
- 3/4 cup chilled buttermilk, plus more buttermilk for brushing
Equipment
- Food processor or mixing bowl
- A chef’s knife or a bench scraper
- Rolling pin
- Brush
Instructions
- Before commencing this recipe, chill the butter in the freezer for 10 to 20 min for optimal results. The butter should be excellent for biscuits that are light, flaky, and buttery.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking paper with nonstick parchment paper. Put away.
- Stir flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large basin. Put away.
- Remove the butter from the refrigerator and either use a pastry cutter to cut it into the flour mixture or (preferred) use a box grater to pulverize the butter into small pieces before adding to the flour mixture and stirring.
- Cut or combine the butter or butter gratings until the mixture resembles coarse fragments.
- Add milk and combine with a wooden utensil or spatula (do not overwork the dough).
- Move the biscuit dough to a well-floured surface and gently knead it with your palms. Until the dough is manageable, add flour if it is too glutinous.
- Once the dough is cohesive, fold it in half over itself and delicately press the layers together with your hands. Rotate the dough by 90 degrees and fold it in half again five or six times, taking care not to overwork it.
- Use your hands (not a rolling pin) to smooth the dough to a thickness of 1 inch and gently flour a 2 34-inch round biscuit cutter.
- Press the biscuit cutter directly into the dough, making close cuts, and place the biscuits on the prepared baking paper.
- Repeat until you have gotten as many biscuits as possible, and position less than ½” apart on the baking sheet.
- Once you have extracted as many biscuits as possible from the dough, delicately rework it to remove at least two more biscuits, bringing the total to at least six.
- Bake at 425°F for 12 min or until the crowns are just beginning to turn golden.
- When removing from the oven, brush with salted melted butter if desired. Serve hot and savor.
Tips For Making Homemade Biscuits
The butter and milk for this recipe must be as relaxed as possible for the best biscuits. I recommend storing the milk in the refrigerator until it is time to add it to the dry ingredients and freezing the butter before use.
Do not knead the dough too much! When preparing these biscuits, remember that you want the butter to remain as cold as possible, and the more you handle the dough, the softer the butter will become. Avoid using an electric mixer with this recipe.
There will be a small amount of laminating. It involves flipping the dough over itself multiple times (five to six times in this case) to create layers in our biscuits. You can view the video below to see exactly how this is done.
Instead of using a rolling pin, delicately shape the dough into a rectangle before cutting out the biscuits.
Don’t be afraid to add flour to the dough if it becomes too sticky to handle (and work on a gently floured surface).
What To Serve With Biscuits?
You can top your biscuits with homemade sausage gravy, jelly, honey butter, or your preferred spread. You can also pair them with breakfast meats such as bacon, sausage, or chicken or offer them alongside a hearty soup or stew (beef stew is a safe bet).
How To Store Biscuits?
Store homemade biscuits for up to two days at room temperature in an airtight container (or, if you want to go the additional mile, individually wrapped in aluminum foil). To keep them fresh for up to a week, refrigerate them covered or in an opaque container.
Can You Freeze Biscuits?
Yes! The ability to preserve homemade biscuits. Place them in a freezer bag, strain out any excess air, seal the bag, and store them for up to three months in the freezer. Biscuits can be defrosted in the refrigerator, microwave, or oven.
Tips For Freezing Biscuits
Whenever I make biscuits, I frequently make a double quantity of dough. One portion is baked for consumption, and the other is frozen. Follow the recipe until you reach the step of cutting the biscuits. Freeze each dough round individually wrapped in plastic wrap. I position all of my frozen biscuits in a large freezer bag to prevent them from dispersing and to keep them organized.
Even defrosting the dough before baking is unnecessary. Unwrap as many biscuits as desired and place them on a baking sheet coated with foil and cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
The biscuits will take approximately 20 minutes to bake thoroughly. They will rise less but will still be flaky and delectable. Once upon a time, the bases of the biscuits would burn before fully baked them.
You can freeze-baked biscuits in the same manner. Wrap each cookie separately in plastic wrap. You will need to defrost the biscuit beforehand. Then, place in an oven preheated to 350° for roughly 5 minutes or until heated.
Biscuits are typically baked for 10 to 15 minutes at 425°F (220 degrees Celsius). However, biscuit size and specific recipes can affect baking time. Maintaining vigilance to accomplish the desired golden-brown color and light texture ensures delectable results.
Thank you for reading….