How To Make Buttermilk Biscuits
(Originally published July 1, 2008) I told my mother I was going to do a web tutorial on how to make buttermilk biscuits, a staple in the south. She said “Oh, you HAVE to do that new recipe!”. Now, admittedly, these are awfully good. So good, in fact, that my mother has abandoned the long taught family method in lieu of this one. The finished product is lighter and more tender than our usual biscuit and it is worth the effort. If you have had problems in the past with your biscuits turning out to be more like hockey pucks than our beloved southern staple, this recipe is the one for you.
The cast! Featuring milk from Piggly Wiggly, butter or margarine, a tablespoon of lemon juice added (because I rarely have buttermilk in the house so this is a homemade concoction), and self rising flour. That’s it! (The actual recipe is at the bottom of this page)
For those of you who have no idea what self rising flour is….
You’ll also need salt and baking powder to make your biscuits rise 
.
This is only IF you don’t have self rising flour available where you live.
Put your flour in a bowl (With the salt and baking powder stirred into it if you don’t have self rising) and toss in the margarine. Now you need a pastry cutter or just fork with long tines , which is what I use.
Reckon I’m just not fancy enough for the pastry cutter.
I actually own three of the dern things. They’re floating around here somewhere…
Begin by simply cutting the butter into the flour.
Sit down and turn on the tv, this will take a few minutes (make sure your butter is cold).
When it looks like this and you can’t find any lumps of butter, you’re good to go . Stick this bowl in the fridge for ten to fifteen minutes. If this is your first time making biscuits with this method, I recommend fifteen. The colder it is, the easier the next step is going to be.
Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to your milk before you go get your bowl out of the fridge.
Stir it around and let it sit a minute or two.
Pour milk into flour mixture and stir until just moistened.
This is gonna be much looser than your typical biscuit dough, but it should look something like this.
Flour a surface.
I like to roll out waxed paper or do this on a large baking sheet so I don’t have such a hassle with the counter top.
Most folks just use the counter top though.
Be generous with the flour, you’re going to need it.
Dump out your dough onto the floured surface and sprinkle more flour on top of it.
Brush some flour on your hands and then wipe down your rolling pin really well. This is a family heirloom. My great grandmother bought it with green stamps for my mother when she was twelve. Once you have flour on your dough and on your hands, knead the dough with your hands two or three times. Don’t over knead your dough!
I always say: In dough, as in relationships, it is never good to be too (k)needy.
How do you knead your biscuit dough? If you’ve never done this before. Just place your dough ball (or wad as I call it. Attractive term, huh?) on a flat surface and then press down on it with the heel of your hand. Then fold it over into a bit of a ball again and repeat with the heel of your hand once more. You’ve just kneaded your dough twice. Stop there because we really don’t want to over knead and that is the most common mistake I’ve encountered in people’s biscuits turning out flat.
The second most common mistake I’ve encountered when biscuits turn out flat is someone who has accidentally followed the recipe for self rising flour biscuits using all purpose flour.
Roll it out until it is about 3/4 of an inch. Then lightly square it off with your hands. It should be about 9×5 inches at this point. You are going to have to stop after rolling it the first time and wipe down your rolling pin with flour again, as well as sprinkle some more on the dough to keep it from sticking.
Here is where these little suckers take on a bit of arrogance in my book. Normally, you would just roll it out and cut them, but in this recipe we want tender little pillowy biscuits, so we’re going to put a little more effort in them. Take one side of your dough and roll it over to the middle. Repeat with the next side until you have something like this.
I know this is awfully wet but go with me here……
Now pat or roll that out with your hands back to the original 3/4 inch and gently shape it back into a rectangle.
Repeat this process of folding over and patting out two more times. Don’t be afraid to dust your surface and your dough with a little more flour if need be. Oh, and you didn’t really have to use the rolling pin, you could have just patted it out all along with your hands, but I wanted to show you my heirloom rolling pin!
Now we’re ready to cut our biscuits. Most folks would use a biscuit cutter for this, but diehard southerners know one of the best way to do it is to use a swanky swig! Tin can is also acceptable as is a drinking glass. I used a smaller mouthed swanky swig because I prefer a bit smaller biscuits. I have small people in my house.
What is a swanky swig? Typically, it is a jelly jar which was decorated by the company to add charm and flair, thereby making it “swanky”.
Cut out your biscuits by pushing straight down with your glass, don’t twist it. I didn’t really waste all of this dough but I was trying to make it look a little more uniform for the picture. Normally, we cut them suckers one right on top of the other, then wad up the leftovers, pat it out, and cut again.
A lot of readers have said that they cut their biscuits with pizza cutters and just do a grid pattern. This ends up with square biscuits but no wasted dough! I do this every now and then myself.
Place these on a well greased baking sheet and make sure the sides touch, This helps them rise evenly and higher.
Bake at 450 for thirteen to fifteen minutes.
Until they look like this.
While still hot, brush with melted butter.
Now you’re done!
Alrighty, here is the actual recipe and I promise I will put an easier one up on my blog eventually but after doing all of this work to get the tutorial posted, I’m thinking these aren’t that pretentious after all.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
- 2 1/4 c self rising soft wheat flour *
- 1 1/4 c buttermilk (or whole milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice added)
- flour for dusting
- melted butter for brushing baked biscuits
Instructions
- Cut butter with a into 1/4-inch-thick slices.Put butter slices on top of flour in a large bowl. Cut butter into flour with a long tined fork until crumbly. Cover and chill 10 minutes. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times, gradually adding additional flour as needed. With floured hands, press or pat dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). Sprinkle top of dough with additional flour. Fold dough over into itself, like you are folding a piece of paper into a letter, in three sections. Repeat entire process 2 more times, beginning with pressing into a 3/4-inch-thick dough rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches).
- Press or pat dough to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 2-inch round cutter, and place, side by side, on a parchment paper-lined or lightly greased cookie sheet. Try to make sure they touch because this will help them rise higher.
- Bake at 450° for 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; brush with 2 Tbsp. melted butter.
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VOILA!! I’m done!!!!
*Current note on White Lily Flour- For generations, this has been “The South’s Flour” and loved by all. However, last summer J.M.Smucker’s bought out White Lily and moved all production of our precious flour out of the south. Many people have said the quality and performance of the flour is no longer the same although J.M. Smucker’s states that it is. I suppose at this point it is a matter of personal preference and whether or not you can see a difference. I’ll always remember the White Lily from my grandmother’s and mother’s pantry fondly, but you’ll notice that I’ve strayed to other brands since the buyout.
“Friends will come and go. But your Family will always be there. Make your family your best friends.” ~Submitted by Southern Plate Reader, Janice. To submit your quote, click here.
Posted by Christy Jordan
on May 4 2009. Filed under Breads, FEATURED Southern Favorites!, Southern Classics.
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so good makes your tongue wanna slap your brains out ! thank you so much
LOL, I just love you Judy~!
@ Judy…I have not heard that saying since my MoM died. You really brought back memories.
@ Christy…I have never been able to make biscuits from scratch, just hockey pucks! This is what my MoM used to make before “store-bought” biscuits. Gonna hafta give these a try. Many thanks.
Lol they are not as pretty as yours….. But oh how they taste just like moma’s!
Regarding your comment about White Lily flour…
I too have loved using White Lily for many years (taught to me by my mother). However when Smucker’s bought the company I began to notice a decline in the taste and quality of my biscuits. I read an article in a Knoxville TN paper and it turns out that when Smucker’s moved the plant away from the south, they no longer use “SOFT RED WHEAT” to make the flour. Apparently, soft red wheat is the KEY to great biscuits! I now use Southern Biscuit flour or flour from a mill in Virginia called A No. 1 biscuit flour and now my biscuits are tasting and looking great again!
I was just heart-broken when they did that. Thanks for the tips!!
Very well written, and I would loved to have found out how good they really are. However, you failed to include how much salt and baking powder is suppose to be used with all-purpose flour.
Usually, the bag has a recipe on it. I use Gold Medal Unbleached Flour. It makes the biscuits fluffy with a crisp crust. ( It is plain flour.)
I would also like to know the answer to Roberts question as well.
I’m not at my computer and afraid I can only see your comment so I’ll have to look up to see what the question is and answer when I get back to a regular work schedule where I have all my devices
Christy,
Can you freeze these? I try to keep frozen ‘store bought’ biscuits in the freezer, but I am sure these are better and probably less $$
Well I’ll be darned! These here buiscuts may be the very best out there.:) However, I made a mess when making them and I was in more trouble then a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! But still, they were mighty fine worth it!
~giggles~ I am glad you liked them Tina!! Even with the mess you made.
I was checking out this recipe, because your recipe on “how to make chocolate cobbler” said to look here for how to make self-rising flour. I see that I need to add baking soda and salt, but I have no idea how much. Could you please add that information? thanks,
Saddest thing about the buy out of White Lily, we no longer eat strawberry muffins. White Lily made the best blueberry and strawberry muffin nuxes, Jiffy ones are edible, Martha White ones are probably the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted. It’s been 2 years and I’m still sad about my White Lily muffins.
mixes not nuxes and how in the world did I miss that typo!?!
I don’t have self-rising flour in the house, and I see that you can use regular flour and add salt and baking powder, but I can’t find the measurements. Can someone help?
Brandy you can find the directions to make your own self rising flour in the FAQ section at the top of the web page, but copying what Christy wrote there for you here: *To make your own self rising flour, simply add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt for EACH cup of all purpose flour.
Sift ingredients well to make sure it is uniform.
These are so so wonderful! Some of the best biscuits I’ve ever eaten. Thank you for another awesome recipe Christy!!!
As White Lily flour has definitely chagned since the buyout, i’ve started using 1/2 regular AP flour and 1/2 cake flour instead…it is very close to the original “white lily”
Just a tip, y’all 
Hi! I love your site. What is your favorite Movie?
love this recipe
I am so glad to hear you like it Janet!!
Hi Christi…Remember me…Anita from Catawba smile
I told you that you would make it. Next stop Food Network. I am so happy and proud for you and makes me proud to work in assisting authors with their cookbooks, books, etc.
okay, i have everything except lemon juice do i really need????
Ok.. I tried to make these this morning, following recipe to a tee…and ended up with a literal soupy mix/mess! so.. I added another handful of flour-enough that I could at least work with the dough, and they turned out mouth watering good! I used a vienna sausage can to cut them, usually I use a tuna can so that they turn out like cat-head bisquits ..like my mamaw used to make
…Oh. And @Rosie, if you dont have lemon juice, vinegar works the same way. I use that a lot too.
I am so glad you figured out how to make them work for you Joyce!!
Success! These were GREAT! My last attempt, using a different recipe, were awful so am glad to find this recipe!! Just like I remember from when I was growing up in south Georgia!! YUMMY! Thanks for sharing!
(I made a mess, too, but SO worth it!)
I’m dying to try these, but I have an event I’d like to bring them to on a Sunday. If I make them Friday night will they still be tasty two days later?
These biscuits are to die for, my 3 boys shared no mercy tonight on these mouthwatering biscuits. Thanks Christy!!!!
Because many of our wonderful Southern products, namely our flours, are being gobbled up by large corporations.Then being transformed from what once was a tried and true quality product (not to mention the priceless memories associated with these products) to a less quality product has prompted me to make all efforts to support the remaining Southern family owned mills. I order my flour and other products, they are shipped to my home and I have the GOOD products that are no longer available locally. I hope others will do the same to help save what few U.S. home owned companies we have left.