Soft Buttermilk Biscuits Flaky (Printable)

Fluffy, golden biscuits with tender layers, perfect for breakfast spreads or savory sides.

# What You'll Need:

→ Dry Ingredients

01 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1 tablespoon baking powder
03 - ½ teaspoon baking soda
04 - 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
05 - 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

→ Fats

06 - ½ cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed

→ Liquids

07 - ¾ cup cold buttermilk, plus extra for brushing

# How To:

01 - Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
02 - In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar until evenly distributed.
03 - Add cold cubed butter to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter or fingertips to work the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces.
04 - Create a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the cold buttermilk. Stir gently with a fork until just combined, avoiding overmixing.
05 - Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently pat into a ½-inch thick rectangle. Fold in half, then pat out again. Repeat folding and patting two more times to create layers.
06 - Pat dough to a final thickness of 1 inch. Using a 2½-inch round cutter, press straight down to cut out biscuits. Gather scraps and repeat as necessary.
07 - Place biscuits close together on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops with extra buttermilk.
08 - Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until biscuits are tall and golden brown.
09 - Allow biscuits to cool briefly before serving warm.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • They rise tall and fluffy in just 15 minutes, making you look like a baking genius with almost no effort.
  • The butter stays cold just long enough to create those gorgeous, shattering layers that make people close their eyes when they bite in.
  • One batch disappears faster than you'd expect, so the yield of 10 feels both generous and sneakily small.
02 -
  • Cold butter is non-negotiable; if yours starts getting soft, pop it back in the freezer for a few minutes because melted butter bakes into a dense, tough crumb instead of flaky layers.
  • Do not twist the cutter when cutting biscuits because you're sealing the edges and preventing the rise; press straight down like you mean it, then lift straight up.
  • Overmixing the dough even a little bit develops gluten and turns biscuits into hockey pucks, so gentle is the only speed that works here.
03 -
  • Use a bench scraper or dough cutter instead of your hands when folding the dough because your warm palms will start melting the butter the moment you touch it, and that changes everything about the texture.
  • Biscuits baked close together on the pan rise taller and fluffier than ones spread apart because they gently support each other as the steam pushes them up.
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