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Our homemade Buttermilk Biscuits are perfectly soft, flaky, and buttery, made completely from scratch with simple pantry ingredients.
Buttermilk Biscuits bliss, and they're easier than you think.
Buttermilk Biscuits bliss, and they're easier than you think.There’s nothing better than a warm, flaky buttermilk biscuit straight from the oven, These are the best buttermilk biscuits that bake up perfect every time. Folding the dough creates those beautiful layers, giving the biscuits a crisp, golden top and a soft, tender inside. Instead of sugar, I sweeten the dough with a touch of honey, which adds the most subtle sweetness and makes them even softer. These biscuits are incredibly versatile, whether you’re slathering them with butter and homemade strawberry jam, pairing them with soup or eggs, or piling on sausage gravy, they always feel like comfort food done right.
Try my other bread recipes, like Cinnamon Roll Biscuits, Buttermilk Cornbread, Cinnamon Rolls, and Garlic Rolls.
How to make Biscuits:
Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Grate in frozen butter, then use a pastry blender or two forks to cut it into the flour. until there are no large pieces of butter. Place the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes (keeping the ingredients cold helps create those signature flaky layers).
Add Wet Ingredients: In a measuring cup combine buttermilk and honey (or use a buttermilk substitute if needed). Pour into the chilled flour mixture and stir just until combined. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and gently form it into a ball.
Shape Dough and Cut Out Biscuits: With your hands, press the dough into a ½-inch thick rectangle. Fold it into thirds like a brochure, then repeat the folding once more – this step builds layers for that soft, flaky texture. Roll the dough to about ¾ inch thick and cut with biscuit cutters.
Bake and Serve: Place biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 10-12 minutes, until golden. Enjoy warm with butter and jam, sausage gravy, alongside soup, or even topped with strawberries and cream for a quick shortcake.
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Recipe
Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons butter , frozen
- 3/4 cup buttermilk*
- 3 Tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture and then use a pastry blender or fork to incorporate it until mixture resembles coarse meal. Chill in refrigerator for 10 minutes.2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 5 Tablespoons butter
- Stir honey into buttermilk until well blended.¾ cup buttermilk*, 3 Tablespoons honey
- Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and stir just until moist. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form gently into a ball. Roll or pat the dough into a rectangle ½ inch thick.
- Fold the dough into thirds (as if folding a piece of paper to fit into an envelope). Gently re-roll dough into a rectangle, ½ inch thick. Fold dough into thirds one more time. Gently roll to a 3/4-inch thickness.
- Cut dough with a biscuit or cookie cutter to form 10-12 biscuits. Place them 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Remove from pan and cool on wire racks.
- Store biscuits at room temperature for 1-2 days, or for best results, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze leftover biscuits in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
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*I originally shared this recipe April 2013. Updated December 2018 and March 2022, November 2023 and November 2025.
Best biscuits I’ve ever made or eaten! Although grading the butter was a challenge it’s worth it for these light fluffy decadent biscuits.
Best biscuits I’ve ever made and/or eaten! Light and fluffy and YUMMY!!
Best buttermilk recipe. Doubles easily. Freezes and reheats easily too. Literally foolproof.
Edits I’ve made and tried repeatedly:
I make it vegan by using plant milk (any kind) and adding 2T of vinegar to the milk, and agitating before mixing into the dry ingredients. (as noted in the recipe as an option)
I use syrup instead of honey.
Not really an edit, just how I do it because I don’t have a pastry cutter. I use a cheese grater on the largest holes to “cut the butter in” to the dry ingredients.
I don’t know what year I started using this recipe…but let’s just say, I have made this recipe since there were only 13 reviews on this…there are now 201…so a while!
Thank you for this recipe and feeding my family. <3
Use a fork! I don’t have a pastry cutter. It won’t fit in the drawer!
I followed the recipe, have new baking powder and still didn’t quite get the rise, and my bottoms burned. Rack was in the middle of the oven and preheated to 400°, I only baked them for ten minutes because of the bottoms being way over done. What could I do to fix that? Flavor wise they are delicious, but saddened by the lack of rise, and toasty bottoms.
Make sure your butter is ice cold and double-check your oven temp with a thermometer—sometimes ovens run hotter than they say!
-Stacy
I was so nervous because bread scares me. This was so easy and came out delicious! A family favorite now.
Thank you for making this biscuit recipe! We are so glad it worked out well for you! Nothing beats a warm, homemade biscuit! 🙂
Awesome recipe. These turned out perfect. 1st attempt at making biscuits from scratch. Very fluffy and way better than the ready made stuff.
I couldn’t agree more! Homemade biscuits are always worth it, thank you for trying our recipe!
No one else thought these biscuits were completely unworkable whatsoever? I swear I added about an extra cup of flour and they were still way too sticky to do anything with. What is the problem?
Was your butter frozen? Do you live somewhere humid? The temperature and humidity level can influence the texture of dough, it could be different day to day.
The number of days the dough (before baking) can be refrigerated is “missing” from the recipe reflected in my TBFS email. Please advise this info… Thanks so much!
We are sorry for that incomplete information! It has been fixed. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days before baking! I hope you enjoy them!!
Thanksso much for your response!! Can’t wait to try this recipe!! 🙂
My biscuits didnt rise!! Why? I had all the ingredients mixed in as per recipe. Taste was good, but biscuits were only 3/4 inch high!!
Mine didn’t rise much either. Also 3/4 cup buttermilk wasn’t close to enough to get the dough to come together. I had to put it back in the bowl and work tiny additions of buttermilk to get a dough.
Personally, I think they’d rise better with addition of Baking soda??
Do you happen to live at a high altitude? If so, to achieve that beautiful rise, a good rule of thumb (around 5,000 ft above sea level) is to add 1 tablespoon of flour per 2 cups of flour, reduce the baking powder by about ¼ teaspoon, and add 2–3 teaspoons of extra liquid (in this case, buttermilk). Also, make sure to spoon and level the flour rather than scooping — it keeps you from packing in too much, which can make the dough dry and heavy.
Excellent recipe!! So fluffy, so delicious!