These buttermilk biscuits are among my all-time favorites. Originally from Alton Brown, they have a little bit less fat than other biscuits, but are still rich, tender and very satisfying.
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Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe Tips
It took me a while to get them just right because in the past I was always afraid of overworking biscuit dough and avoided the folding technique. These days I'd rather work the dough a little more and fold it over and over on itself to get nice layers. Plus, if you use a softer flour (e.g. White Lily) with less protein, you can be a little rougher with the dough and still get tender buttermilk biscuits.
The original recipe makes 12 buttermilk biscuits, but I cut it in half to make 6 small (or 4 large) biscuits).
Buttermilk Biscuit Dough Scones
I also added a little sugar to the recipe just because I like a very, very small amount of sweetness to balance the salt. Still, these biscuits aren't exactly sweet. If you want something sweet, make chocolate chip biscuits or turn this dough into scones! The dough works perfectly for slightly reduced fat scones. I put instructions for turning the dough into scones in the notes section.
Recipe
Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour plus more for work surface (4.5 oz oz or 128 grams)
- 1 ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
- 1 tablespoon shortening
- ½ cup cold buttermilk full fat if you can find it!
- Melted butter for brushing tops
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and stir very well. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture is coarse.
- Add half of the buttermilk and stir with a heavy duty scraper until dough is moistened, then gradually add remaining buttermilk until dough comes together in a nice ball. It should be slightly sticky, but will become dryer as it picks up flour from the work surface.
- Turn dough onto a well floured surface. Dust top with flour and gently press the dough down until it is about ¼ inch thick. Fold it over on itself about 3 times and press down again to make a slab that's about 1 inch thick. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter.
- Re-shape the scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. Arrange biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake until biscuits are golden-- 15 to 20 minutes.
- Brush tops with melted butter if desired.
Notes
Here's an old picture.
Anna says
Hi Katherine,
Thanks for writing a review. Strawberry shortcake is such a great last minute dessert.
Katherine says
Thanks for this recipe. Came in handy tonight for a quick strawberry shortcake. I made it into 3 big biscuits which was perfect for a for us.
Anna says
Good for you for hiring a designer! I am hiring someone to help me with the paint.
Shannon says
Oh my goodness, furniture shopping is sooo hard for me too. I had a designer come in this year and he totally rearranged everything and told me what I should buy. Your little girl is beautiful...how blessed we are to have healthy kids!!!
melissa says
Wow, congratulations to Emma! She looks so grown up and pretty in her recital dress too. 🙂
Hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend!
Tracy says
Fuzz looks so pretty in that dress! The biscuits look great -- I'd probably add a little sugar, too.
Mackenzie@The Caramel Cookie says
Fuzz looks so pretty in her dress! I love how quick biscits are to make!
bakingblonde says
I am not a huge fan of biscuits but lately i have been trying many different recipes trying to find a flakey yet soft biscuit. UGH, no luck yet.
Yours look like they would be great with fresh berries and cream for a dessert.
Barbara says
She is adorable and look lovely and grown up in that dress!
Cakelaw says
Fuzz looks gorgeous in her black and white dress! Glad the recital went well.
Karen says
Love the picture of Fuzz! My daughter had her 10th(!) piano recital May 2. One more year to go and then college. Yikes!
Janice says
Anna,
That picture is precious!
vanillasugar says
anna- i'm so glad you tried this. i love my alton brown, but have you ever tried his blueberry muffin recipe? i have 3 times and it never comes out right. this never happens to me.
Louise says
Oh my gosh. Fuzz looks so grown up in her new dress. I'm glad she did well with her performance of "Memory". I took piano lessons all the way through high school, but my teacher came to our house and I never as much as met another of his students, let alone give a performance.
I made this biscuit recipe a couple of months ago when I needed something to go with beef stew. They were very tasty.
Anna says
Fuzz says thanks for the compliments.
Dave, I think biscuits are a bit lighter textured with shortening, but butter would probably be just fine.
Sue, thanks for noticing Fuzz's shoes. They're her first pair of heels.
Sue says
Fuzz looks so grown up and lady like in her black and white dress, and black shoes! Her hair looks really nice too! I hope she felt really special that day!
The next time I make biscuits I hope I remember this recipe. They sound wonderful. I kind of wanted to make biscuits for dinner last night but that didn't happen.
Dave Mulder says
Would substituting butter for the shortening impact the texture too much?
Elizabete says
Bom dia! Suas fotos são lindas as receitas dá vontade de fazer !Convido você a me seguir no blog: http://apressados.blogspot.com/
Tenha um lindo dia!!!
Katrina says
Wow, she looks great! Love the dress. Oh, how would it be to buy really cute girly clothes! Sigh. 😉
Carol A, says
She is so pretty! And growing up fast. That dress is sensational on her.
Bev says
OMG! Fuzz is absolutely adorable!!! What a pretty dress!