Classic Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

I don’t remember ever going to my grandma’s house when she didn’t have a plate of southern buttermilk biscuits sitting around.

They were an every morning staple at her house.

Sadly, I did not ask her to teach me her recipe.

A basket of golden brown southern buttermilk biscuits.

Classic Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Several months ago I was thinking about those biscuits and decided it was time for me to perfect my southern buttermilk biscuit recipe. After all I’m the grandmother now!

Y’all, I have tried SO many different methods and made SO many pans of biscuits. But I’ve finally found the one that works every time.

These biscuits rise up so light and fluffy and flaky. They never fail me.

They aren’t quite as easy as some others that I’ve tried, but they are delicious! In my opinion they are the perfect mix of tender and flaky.

A blue plate with a split biscuit with butter, and a basket with a red cloth with whole biscuits. This is a recipe for southern buttermilk biscuits.

Ingredients Needed for these Perfect Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

  • Buttermilk: Keep your buttermilk really cold for this recipe.
  • All-purpose flour: I have always used White Lily brand flour for biscuits. HOWEVER, I did a test and discovered that a regular all-purpose flour worked just as well, and, honestly, maybe even better. (I feel so disloyal, almost sacrilegious, saying this!)
  • Stick of frozen butter: I have tried using non-frozen butter and the results are simply not as good. These days I always keep a couple of sticks of butter in the freezer. Salted vs unsalted: I typically use unsalted butter. But, if you use salted just be sure and leave the salt out of the recipe!
  • Baking Powder: It is SO important to make sure that your baking powder isn’t past its prime! Be sure and check the date.
  • Baking Soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • Crisco Shortening
A photo with ingredients in clear bowls on a black surface. Each ingredient is labeled. The ingredients are for southern buttermilk biscuits.

Utensils you Will Need

  • A cast iron skillet: The only thing that I have used to make these biscuits is a 10-inch cast iron skillet. A smaller skillet would probably work, too, but I don’t have one! I do think that these biscuits could be cooked in a pie plate or something similar. Let me know if you try it!
  • Bowl
  • Surface for patting out your dough (My counter isn’t smooth so I use a large cutting board, but a smooth counter top is fine.)
  • Pastry Scraper
  • 2.5 inch round biscuit cutter

To Grease or not to Grease the Skillet: That is the Question

Many biscuit recipes tell you not to grease your skillet for biscuits or to grease it with butter.

I found that the butter tends to scorch because you want to cook biscuits at a high temperature.

However, when I used no grease at all the bottoms of the biscuits were a little harder than I wanted.

What worked best for me was to lightly coat my skillet with a thin layer of Crisco shortening. It gives the biscuits a nice crispy bottom.

A cast iron skillet.

The Process for Making Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

  1. Heat your oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Lightly grease your iron skillet with Crisco shortening.
  3. Stir up your dry ingredients in a bowl. This is the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. If you are using salted butter then do not salt your flour.
Flour and other ingredients in a pink bowl.
  1. Grate the frozen stick of butter. I use a box grater. It’s not easy! I usually hold the end of the stick of butter with the paper it came in or you could also use a clean kitchen towel to keep it from melting and slipping through your fingers. When you get to the end of the stick of butter just chop up that last little bit to save your fingers.
A stick of butter and a box grater.
  1. Gently toss the grated butter into the flour mixture, breaking up any larger clumps where the butter has stuck together.
Butter mixed into a flour mixture.
  1. Add the buttermilk to the flour and butter and mix gently, just until everything is barely moistened.
  2. Sprinkle some flour onto your flat surface, turn the dough out onto it, sprinkle a little more flour on top. It will look pretty shaggy at this point. Pull it together with your hands and pat the dough gently into a rough rectangle about 1/2 to 1 inch thick.
biscuit dough patted out on a white surface. This is the dough for a southern buttermilk biscuit.
  1. Fold the dough in thirds and gently pat down again. Fold into thirds the other direction and pat down again. Repeat two more times for a total of four. You are not kneading this dough and you do NOT want the butter to be fully incorporated. You want to still see it in little pieces in the dough.
Biscuit Dough folded on a white surface.
  1. After the last fold, pat the dough to a 1 inch rectangle and use your biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can. I usually get 4 or 5 from this first cut.
  2. Gently put the remaining dough gently back together and pat it back out and then cut the remaining biscuits. I am usually able to get 1 or 2 more biscuits from this recipe for a total of 6 – 7.
  3. Put the biscuits in the skillet so that they touch each other.
Raw biscuits in a cast iron skillet.
  1. Brush the tops with a little bit of the buttermilk.
  2. Bake at 450 degrees for about 18 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
  3. Remove immediately, and eat while warm.
Southern buttermilk biscuits in a cast iron skillet.

TIP: Push the cutter straight in and pull it straight up without twisting.

TIP: The biscuits from your second cut might not be as pretty as the first ones, but they will still taste great.

I hope that these turn out as well for you as they do for me! Have fun making these classic southern buttermilk biscuits!

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Tender and flaky buttermilk biscuits
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Course Bread, Breakfast, Side Dish
Cuisine Southern
Servings 6 biscuits

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups All Purpose Flour plus extra flour for dusting
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 stick Unsalted butter, frozen
  • 1 cup cold buttermilk

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 450
  • Mix dry ingredients: Flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, stir to combine
  • Grate one stick of frozen butter
  • Add butter to dry ingredients and toss to coat, breaking up any clumps
  • Pour in the buttermilk.
  • Stir gently until just moistened. The dough will be wet and shaggy.
  • Turn dough out onto a flat service that has been dusted with flour
  • Dust the top of the dough with more flour. Gently pat dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Do NOT roll with a rolling pin.
  • Fold the dough into thirds and flatten again
  • Repeat this 3 more times using more flour as needed. The last time pat the dough to about 1 inch thick.
  • Cut dough with a 2.5 inch cookie cutter. Do not twist the cookie cutter as you bring it out of the dough.
  • Gently pat together the leftover dough and cut one or two more biscuit from that
  • Place dough into a greased 10 inch iron skillet.
  • Put in the oven and bake for 18 minutes or until the tops are nice and golden brown.
  • Remove from skillet and Enjoy!
Keyword biscuits, bread