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These tall, flaky, Ridiculously Easy Buttermilk Biscuits take less than 10 minutes to throw together. They're also ridiculously delicious!
"Brilliant, simply brilliant!" That’s what I said, right out loud, when I read the unbelievably easy directions for preparing these buttermilk biscuits.
The technique was created by the super-smart folks over at Cook's Illustrated. When I read their method for making drop biscuits, I figured it was too good to be true. But being a curious cat when it comes to all things culinary, I couldn't resist giving it a try.
You would have probably laughed if you saw me just after I read the article. I ran to the kitchen, turned on the oven and pulled out a bowl, along with measuring tools and the necessary ingredients. All super basic ingredients that I had in my pantry and fridge (you probably do too!). The simple cast of characters includes flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, buttermilk and butter, that's it!
Classic Technique
Why did this sound too good to be true? Well, buttermilk biscuits can be a bit tricky. The technique usually calls for combining the dry ingredients, then “cutting” in cold butter with a knife, a pastry cutter or between your fingers. The liquid is then added and everything is gently combined.
If done correctly, the tiny pieces of butter, evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture, are what give classic buttermilk biscuits their lightness, flakiness and layers of peelable, buttery deliciousness. It’s not a difficult technique, just a bit time-consuming, and the results are not always consistent. The Cook's Illustrated technique is totally different... and ridiculously easy!
Ridiculously Easy Technique
How does it work? Well, I'm glad you asked... start by placing a cup of buttermilk in the freezer for a few minutes while you melt the butter in the microwave. Let the melted butter sit while you prep the other ingredients. Then, it's just a matter of combining all the dry ingredients in a bowl and giving them a good stir. The melted butter is then combined with the super-cold buttermilk. And this, my people, is when the magic begins!
When the warm butter hits the cold liquid, small, buttery globules form as you can see in the picture below.
Do you see where this is going? When this buttermilk mixture is added to the dry flour mixture and it's all stirred together, you'll notice tiny pieces of pale yellow butter dotting the simple dough. Yep, it will look just as if you spent the time to cut them in!
Would this technique work for traditional, rolled biscuits?
The Cook's Illustrated recipe is for simple drop biscuits, meaning you just drop spoonfuls onto a sheet pan, then bake. Would this technique work for a more classic, cut-out style biscuit, I wondered? You never know until you try, so I decided to give it a whirl!
I turned out the dough onto a floured work surface, kneaded it a few times, then patted it into a small, square. Dipping a round biscuit cutter in flour, I cut four circles, then rerolled the scraps and cut two more for a total of six. (Since then, I've also used a smaller cutter, yielding 8 biscuits.)
It was easy enough; actually ridiculously easy! The biscuits rolled out of the oven tall and golden brown with a heavenly aroma. But you're probably wondering how this version tastes and how they stack up to traditional buttermilk biscuits, right?
The results?
When Scott and I took the first bite, we looked at each other incredulously. The biscuits were light, tender, buttery, flaky and crazy-delicious. "Wow, these are amazing!" Scott said. I agreed.
In fact, we ate far too many that day, smothered with melted butter and strawberry jam. You'd probably frown on us if I told you these biscuits also ended up being dinner that night, so I won't share that bit of information. I guess I'll just say, it wouldn't have been a good day for counting calories!
I've had quite a few happy taste-testers since then, and everyone is shocked when they hear how easy these wonderful buttermilk biscuits are to make. In fact check out the video below, to see for yourself!
Try it! You'll be shocked (and delighted) too... you might even have the inclination to exclaim "Brilliant, simply brilliant!"
Bon Appétit!
Café Tips for making Buttermilk Biscuits
- If you don't have buttermilk, make your own. Place 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or vinegar in a measuring cup. Fill to 1 cup level with milk and stir well. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes or until slightly thickened. The mixture may curdle a bit, that's okay! Use in recipes in lieu of buttermilk.
- Don't skip chilling the buttermilk (step 2). It will definitely make a difference. If the buttermilk isn't really cold, the little butter globules won't form.
- I made these biscuits when I was in London visiting my daughter. I learned that all-purpose flour (Plain flour) is a bit different there and it seemed like I needed more, probably closer to 2 ¼ cups.
- These biscuits freeze well, both unbaked and baked. To freeze them unbaked or baked, place biscuits on a sheet pan or a plate spaced at least a half-inch from each other. Freeze till frozen, then transfer biscuits to a ziplock bag or air-tight storage container. If you've frozen them unbaked, bake them as directed in the recipe right from the freezer. Give them a couple extra minutes in the oven to compensate for the fact that they were frozen.
- If you freeze these buttermilk biscuits after baking, allow them to thaw when you're ready to use them and then warm in the oven for 5-8 minutes at 300˚F.
- If I'm feeling a bit pinched for time or just lazy, I'll pat the dough into a 6-inch circle and use a bench scraper to cut the dough into wedges. I either put these wedges on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or in a 9-inch cake pan lined with parchment.
- Another shortcut is to simply scoop up the dough, right from the bowl onto a sheet pan and bake as directed.
- We love to serve these biscuits with our Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam or this Overnight Raspberry Freezer Jam.
Love these biscuits? Then you'll also go crazy over these Ridiculously Easy Cheddar Chive Biscuits, made with the same easy technique!
Thought for the day:
Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
Psalm 25:4&5
What we're listening to for inspiration:
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 9 tablespoons butter divided
- 2 cups all purpose flour more for counter
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
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Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or spray a sheet pan with cooking spray.
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Measure 1 cup of buttermilk and place in the freezer for 10 minutes while prepping other ingredients.
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Place butter in a microwave-safe bowl, cover and heat on high for 30 seconds. If not completely melted, return to microwave for 10-second intervals till melted. Set aside while prepping other ingredients.
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Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar,and salt in large bowl.
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After buttermilk has been chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes, combine it with 8 tablespoons of the melted butter. (Reserve the last tablespoon for brushing on the baked biscuits.) Stir with a fork until butter forms small clumps or globules. (See picture in the post.)
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Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula just until all flour is incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of the bowl. The dough should be stiff and not super wet. If the dough is wet, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring to combine, until fairly stiff.
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Generously flour a work surface. Dump biscuit dough from bowl onto prepared work surface and turn to coat all surfaces with flour. Knead on counter 5-6 times (about 30 seconds). Flip over on the work surface to coat with flour then pat into a 6-inch square. It should be a 1½-2-inches in height.
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Cut four biscuits with a 2 ½-inch biscuit cutter. Place biscuits on the prepared sheet pan. Knead scraps a few times till they hold together, then pat into a small rectangle and cut two more biscuits. Transfer last two biscuits to the sheet pan, spacing about 1 ½ inches apart. (See Café Tips in the post for an even easier cutting technique).
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Place in oven and bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 8 to 18 minutes. (start checking them after 8 minutes as ovens vary. You want them to be a nice golden brown, but not too brown - check the pictures above for correct color.)
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Re-melt remaining tablespoon of butter in the microwave, if necessary and brush tops of hot biscuits with melted butter. Serve and enjoy!
Amaya says
Just made these and they came out wonderful. I’ve never made biscuits before because baking always seems so precise. I had leftover buttermilk and came across this recipe. Your SEO is top notch! I love Cook’s Illustrated and Test Kitchen as well and as another reviewer said the science makes so much sense you wonder why no one ever thought of it before. Next time I will definitely use parchment paper because the bottoms started to brown a little too fast on the sprayed baking sheet, and like someone else commented, I had to add a bit more flour to make sure the dough wasn’t wet. Thankfully your description about wet dough was helpful and I realized I needed more dry ingredients. All in all a fun easy recipe that made me feel like a real grownup cook!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for sharing your review, Amaya!
Gina says
Hi! You should seriously think about publishing a cook book…one for your Ridiculously Easy Recipes and one for the rest. Your recipes always turn out just as you say and very delicious! I don’t think a week passes where I am not making at least one of your recipes. Thank you for the great recipes and the amazing eats!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for the encouragement, Gina! So glad you are enjoying the recipes!
Sparki Beltran says
I made these buttermilk biscuits this morning. OMG! Try were solo good. I can't wait to try the other recipes.
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! Thanks for letting us know, Sparki!
Phyllis says
Okay Chris, my first recipe review ever. I consider myself a fairly good cook and have not had problems with baking and making hard candies, meringue, pie crusts and even scones. The exception has always been biscuits, that is until I tried these. I am glad I did not give up. They were delicious and your buttermilk/butter technique is genius. I have tried many of your other recipes and have never been disappointed. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! Thanks so for letting us know, Phyllis!
Kaydubb says
Delicious and easy, thank you! It took me a few tries to get the consistency of the batter right but, by George, I think I’ve got it! I wasn’t letting the butter cool enough before adding buttermilk for the proper globules to form. My batter was too sticky — biscuits tasted fine, just not fluffy. I also found that a bit more flour (235 gr) gives better results. Next I’ll try reducing butter because while I love these, my waistline will not!! 😉
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for letting us know, Kaydubb!
Cathy says
These are amazing! Made these today because I had leftover buttermilk.. Fantastic! Couldn’t believe how perfect they came out even when I messed up the step of not mixing the butter with the buttermilk. I just added both separately and mixed it. Next time I will do it right, but they were still great! Husband loved them!
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks so much for letting us know, Cathy!
DLevy says
Hi. Can this recipe be doubled?
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, you can do that, Dlevy.
Melissa Richard says
I love these! I found this recipe awhile back. I usually buy store bought biscuits in a can but for some reason, I felt like trying to make some myself so we could have biscuits and gravy for whatever reason. This was SO easy and tastes great! I will never buy store bought biscuits again! I make these so much that I almost know the recipe by heart. I make them for breakfast, sometimes supper and sometimes just because I want some. Everyone in my house loves them! They even rave about them to our family and friends. I don't use buttermilk usually so I never keep it in my house. So, I put 1 tbsp of vinegar in the milk to make it. These are absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe!🥰
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks for your review, Melissa!
Tamara P Ehlin says
These, as well as the cheddar biscuits, come out flaky, light and utterly delicious every time. Thank you!
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks, Tamara!
Martha Collins says
This technique is genius. It makes biscuit making easy as can be. After trying this recipe and seeing that there is no reason not to serve delicious, home-made bread I'm looking so forward to trying all the varieties. Thank you, Chris.
Chris Scheuer says
Thank you for your review, Martha!
Caroline . Donnelly says
AMAZING !! Perfect every time !! I always use 4 Tbsp of butter per 1 c cold buttermilk so that is what we did with this recipe. It make perfect biscuits every single time !!! We also pat out the dough to a rectangle then letter fold gently pat out again and letter fold pat out and cut in 6 squares with a very sharp knife. We will never go back to cutting in the butter.
As an aside I got to thinking why can't this work for pie crust ??? So next time I am making it I am going to melt the lard that I use instead of butter and get the flour very cold and toss together. I also use buttermilk in my pie crust instead of water. Will let you know how it goes. Thank you for sharing this !! c
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for your review, Caroline!
Kathryn Gearheard says
My mother, who went to a job every day, still gave us biscuits for breakfast at least once a week. I’m always searching for a biscuits as good and as easy as hers. Bless you, I have found it. I no longer have a family to feed so I share with the neighbors who all proclaimed the results of this recipe to be top notch.
Chris Scheuer says
I'm so glad, Kathryn! Thanks for letting us know 🙂
Carrie says
Chris, I LOVE YOUR RECIPES I made these biscuits for my husband because he wanted sausage gravy and biscuits. Wonderful easy recipe and delicious!, While I was in the kitchen doing this I also made your pumpkin jam…….I think I am in biscuit jam heaven…… thanks for the time you put into doing this. You have made me a better cook and baker…I refer your site to my friends all the time when they ask where I get my recipes from.
Chris Scheuer says
Thank you for letting us know, Carrie! I'm so glad you enjoyed these recipes!
Stepha says
Really looking forward to making these! Just wondering if I should salted or unsalted butter?
Thx!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Stepha, I use salted, but either will work. Enjoy!
Lorna says
These biscuits were the absolutely most delicious and easy
biscuits I’ve ever made or eaten. I followed the recipe exactly
as written. The recipe was easy to follow. I shared them with three
children, aged seven, twelve and sixteen, and they all loved them. The youngest said that they were rated “1,000 out of 1,000.” Thank you for posting this recipe.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for letting us know, Lorna!
Shari Baird says
I had a lot of buttermilk left over from a recipe and my husband requested buttermilk biscuits. I had never made biscuits in my life -- it's too much of an art form -- you have to knead it just right -- not too much but not too little -- the butter needs to be cut into it just right -- not too much but not too little -- and if things aren't just right, they are heavy as lead and terrible. Too much pressure for me -- I'll just buy the frozen ones and call it good. But my husband doesn't ask for much -- he eats anything I put in front of him and never complains. So I decided to just try it and started looking for a recipe I thought I could manage. I ran across this one and as I read it, all I could think of was "this makes so much sense!" AND it looked easy! Plus Cook's Illustrated has provided me with so many tips and tricks, I just had to try them. So I made one batch as a test. Easy as can be and so good! You could see how the butter blended perfectly in the dough and the "feel" of the dough was like it was talking to me -- it was soft and pliant and you could SEE the butter in it and could FEEL it when the butter started melting so I knew I needed to get on with it before it melted too far. I ended up making a total of 5 batches! Lol! We have biscuits for months, but I'm just going to freeze them! Thank you! This recipe will be in my bag of tricks forever!
Chris Scheuer says
That's so awesome, Shari! You may get famous for your biscuits now!
Cindy says
Hello!
I like to substitute whole wheat pastry flour for AP flour in most recipes. Do you think that would work for this recipe?
Thanks!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Cindy, I would start with half WW and half AP and go from there.
Cindy says
Thank you so much! Can't wait to try these!!
Melissa Richard says
I want to try these but I used all of my real butter on a biscuit recipe that I tried this morning which I wasn't impressed with at all! I have Country Crock butter in a tub though. Can I use that?
Chris Scheuer says
No, wait till you get some real butter. You will not be impressed with Country Crock but will LOVE them with the real deal 🥰
Dee says
I will make these biscuits tomorrow. However I did make your freezer blackberry jam it’s terrific. Can you use the same portions with different fruits? Dee Philippe
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Dee, hope you enjoy the biscuits!
Regarding your question, you can't just sub other fruits for the blackberries as each fruit and sugar proportion is a little different when making jam. It's best to go with a recipe that is specifically designed for whatever type of fruit you have. If you check our jams and jellies category, you find lots of recipes but each is a little different. My goal, eventually is to have recipes for every commonly found fruit.
Joy says
Delicious! Ridiculously easy! Need I say more?
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Joy!
Sherry says
Can I use self rising flour?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Sherry, I would not use self-rising flour for this recipe as the proportions of flour to leavening agents would be off.
Jan says
So ridiculously easy!!! Tender, tasty, and quick. This made much like the scones that I make all the time. Both the scones and biscuits are keeper recipes. Thank you
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks so much for letting us know, Jan!
Kelsey K. says
I've used this recipe before and love it!! I was wondering if you think it would be possible to freeze raw, cut biscuits for later use? What would be the best procedure for doing that, and then how should they be baked from frozen?
Thank you!
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, you can do that, Kelsey! I would freeze them on a sheet pan and then once they were frozen transfer them to a freezer bag or container. Then just bake like normal, adding a few minutes.
Robin Prothro says
’ve had quite a few happy taste-testers since then, and everyone is shocked when they hear how easy these wonderful buttermilk biscuits are to make. In fact check out the video below, to see for yourself!
I don't see a video!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Robin, not sure why you can't see the video. I just checked and it is there. It might be your browser???
Julie says
After years of baking a variety of biscuits using many recipes, these biscuits are absolutely the very best ever! So tender, so flaky and incredibly delicious. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes which are so well presented and always taste amazing.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Julie, for sharing your results. That makes me happy that you've enjoyed our recipes 🥰