🧈 Buttermilk Biscuits: Flaky, Buttery, Golden & Impossible to Resist

The Southern-Style Homemade Biscuits That Turn Any Meal Into a Celebration

Some recipes are side dishes. These Buttermilk Biscuits are the reason everyone suddenly wants to know when dinner is ready. 🧈✨

There is something downright magical about pulling a basket of homemade biscuits from the oven. The tops are golden, the centers are tender, the edges are flaky, and that buttery aroma has a way of making everyone mysteriously appear in the kitchen. Funny how that happens!

These classic Buttermilk Biscuits are everything we want from a homemade biscuit: tall, tender, rich, flaky, and beautifully buttery. The secret isn’t complicated ingredients or some intimidating baking technique. It’s all about using cold butter and shortening, a light touch with the dough, plenty of layers, and a hot oven.

And let’s talk about that buttermilk! It brings a subtle tanginess that balances the richness of the butter while helping create that soft, tender texture inside. Add a brush of melted salted butter to those freshly baked tops and suddenly we’re questioning whether these should even be considered a side dish.

Spoiler alert: probably not. They’re practically a food group. 😂

These biscuits are fantastic alongside fried chicken, country gravy, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, soups, stews, chili, or a big Sunday dinner. They also make an excellent vehicle for butter and jam, honey, apple butter, or absolutely anything else you can convince yourself belongs between two warm biscuit halves.

The best part? You don’t need a fancy mixer, special biscuit cutter, or complicated equipment. A large bowl, pastry blender, baking sheet, and a little confidence are all you need.

So if you’ve ever thought homemade biscuits were too fussy, too difficult, or reserved for somebody’s Southern grandmother who has been making them since 1962, we’re here to tell you something:

YOU’VE GOT THIS.

And once you make these golden beauties yourself, don’t be surprised if the canned biscuits quietly disappear from your refrigerator forever.

🧈 WHY YOU’LL LOVE THESE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Flaky layers: The repeated folding and stacking creates beautiful layers without requiring complicated lamination.

Tender centers: Buttermilk keeps the inside soft and flavorful.

Golden tops: A hot 425°F oven gives the biscuits that gorgeous bakery-style finish.

Buttery flavor: Butter AND shortening bring the best of both worlds—rich flavor and tender texture.

Simple ingredients: No specialty products or hard-to-find ingredients required.

Freezer-friendly: Freeze the shaped biscuits before baking and you’ll have homemade biscuits ready whenever the craving strikes.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack: Honestly, these biscuits don’t believe in boundaries.

🥣 INGREDIENTS

For the Biscuits:

4 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
4 tablespoons cold shortening
1½ cups cold buttermilk

For Brushing:

2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

A Little Lou Lou Girls Tip:

Keep everything cold! Cold butter is one of the biggest secrets to flaky biscuits. When those little pieces of butter hit the hot oven, they create pockets of steam that help separate the layers.

Translation: cold butter = biscuit magic. ✨

👩‍🍳 HOW TO MAKE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

1. Get That Oven HOT

Preheat your oven to 425°F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

A properly preheated oven matters because biscuits need that immediate blast of heat to rise properly.

2. Mix the Dry Ingredients

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together:

Flour
Baking soda
Baking powder
Kosher salt
Sugar

Give everything a good whisk so the leavening agents are evenly distributed.

Nobody wants one biscuit to rise like a superstar while another sits there looking confused.

3. Cut in the Butter and Shortening

Add the cold cubed butter and cold shortening.

Using a pastry blender, cut the fats into the flour mixture until the butter pieces are about the size of large peas.

Don’t overwork it!

A few visible bits of butter are exactly what you want.

Reader reminder: If your kitchen is warm, pop the bowl into the refrigerator for a few minutes before continuing. Your biscuits will thank you.

4. Add the Buttermilk

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

Pour in the cold buttermilk.

Stir gently just until the dough comes together.

It may look a little shaggy.

That’s okay!

Do not keep stirring until the dough looks perfectly smooth. Overmixing develops gluten and can turn tender biscuits into little hockey pucks.

And nobody invited hockey pucks to breakfast.

5. Create Those Flaky Layers

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface.

Pat or roll it into a ½-inch-thick square.

Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 4 squares.

Stack the squares on top of each other.

Then roll or pat the dough back into a ½-inch-thick square.

Repeat the cutting, stacking, and rolling process two more times.

For the final round, roll the dough into a square approximately ¾-inch thick.

This simple stacking technique creates those gorgeous layers that make homemade biscuits so special.

6. Cut the Biscuits

Using a long, sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 square biscuits, approximately 2 inches each.

Place them onto your parchment-lined baking sheet about ½ inch apart.

Why squares instead of circles?

Because there’s no dough left behind from cutting circles—and therefore no need to reroll scraps.

Less handling = happier biscuits.

7. Freeze Before Baking

Place the tray of biscuits in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Don’t skip this step!

Chilling the biscuits helps firm up the butter and shortening before they enter the oven.

8. Bake Until Golden

Bake the chilled biscuits at 425°F for approximately 15–18 minutes, or until the tops are beautifully golden brown.

The smell will probably bring people running.

You have been warned.

9. Butter Those Beautiful Tops

As soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, brush the tops generously with the 2 tablespoons melted salted butter.

Now stand back and admire your work.

Or don’t.

Grab one immediately.

We won’t judge.

🧈 LOU LOU GIRLS COOKING TIPS

Keep the fat cold.

This is probably the most important biscuit rule. Warm butter melts into the dough before baking, which means fewer flaky pockets.

Don’t overmix.

Once the buttermilk is incorporated, stop stirring.

Handle the dough gently.

Think of biscuit dough as something to encourage—not wrestle into submission.

Use a sharp knife.

A sharp knife gives you clean cuts without compressing the dough.

Don’t skip the freezer.

That quick 15-minute chill helps create a better rise and flakier texture.

Bake immediately.

Once the biscuits are chilled, get them into the hot oven.

🍎 RECIPE VARIATIONS

Want to put your own spin on these classic biscuits? Go for it!

Cheddar Herb Biscuits

Add shredded sharp cheddar, chopped parsley, rosemary, or chives to the dough.

Honey Butter Biscuits

Brush the warm biscuits with a mixture of melted butter and honey.

Prepare yourself for people asking for the recipe.

Garlic Parmesan Biscuits

Add garlic powder and grated Parmesan to the dough, then brush the tops with garlic butter after baking.

Cinnamon Sugar Biscuits

Add a little cinnamon and sugar to the dough for a sweeter breakfast-style biscuit.

Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

Fold cooked crumbled bacon and shredded cheddar into the dough.

Because bacon has never once made a recipe worse.

👧 KID-FRIENDLY BISCUIT TIPS

Kids can absolutely help with these!

Let little helpers:

Whisk together the dry ingredients.
Measure the flour and sugar.
Help brush the baked biscuits with butter.
Split the biscuits and add honey or jam.
Build their own breakfast biscuit sandwiches.

For younger kids, keep the butter cutting and dough handling with an adult.

And let them choose their own toppings!

Honey? Jam? Butter? Cinnamon sugar?

This is one decision we’re happy to delegate.

🛒 GROCERY HACKS

Before heading to the store, check your refrigerator for buttermilk, butter, and shortening.

If you don’t regularly buy shortening, look for it near the baking oils and fats.

Buttermilk hack: Buy extra and freeze what you won’t use immediately in measured portions. Thaw it in the refrigerator before using.

Butter hack: Keep a few sticks of unsalted butter in the freezer. When biscuit day strikes, you’re ready.

Flour hack: Store flour in an airtight container in a cool, dry spot to keep it fresh.

And here’s our favorite grocery rule:

If you’re buying buttermilk for biscuits, buy bacon too.

You’re welcome.

🥓 WHAT TO SERVE WITH BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

These biscuits can make practically any meal better.

Try serving them with:

Sausage gravy
Fried chicken
Scrambled eggs
Bacon and eggs
Country ham
Chicken soup
Chili
Beef stew
Pot roast
Honey
Strawberry jam
Raspberry preserves
Apple butter
Sausage breakfast sandwiches

Or simply split one open while it’s warm and add an unreasonable amount of butter.

Sometimes simple wins.

🔥 READERS CHALLENGE

Okay, Lou Lou Girls community, here’s your mission:

Make these biscuits from scratch and DON’T buy refrigerated biscuits for your next breakfast.

Then tell us:

👉 Did you get tall, flaky layers?

👉 What did you serve them with?

👉 Butter or jam?

👉 Sweet or savory?

👉 Did your family immediately request another batch?

Tag someone who needs to stop buying canned biscuits and join the homemade biscuit club!

And please remember: If your first batch isn’t absolutely perfect, don’t give up.

Biscuits are one of those recipes where your hands learn the dough with practice.

♻️ LEFTOVER REMIX

If you somehow have leftover biscuits—first of all, congratulations on showing restraint.

Now let’s put them to work!

Breakfast Sandwiches

Slice a biscuit and fill it with eggs, cheese, bacon, ham, or sausage.

Strawberry Shortcake

Split a biscuit, add sweetened strawberries and whipped cream, and suddenly you’ve got dessert.

Chicken Pot Pie Biscuit Toppers

Cut leftover biscuits into pieces and use them as a topping for creamy chicken filling.

Biscuit Croutons

Cube biscuits and toast them until crisp. Toss them onto salads or soups.

Biscuit French Toast

Slice leftover biscuits in half, dip them in an egg-and-milk mixture, and cook them like French toast.

Leftover biscuits?

More like tomorrow’s breakfast upgrade.

🧮 ESTIMATED NUTRITION

Nutrition will vary depending on exact ingredients and portion size.

Approximate nutrition per biscuit:

Calories: 255
Carbohydrates: 29g
Protein: 4g
Fat: 14g
Saturated Fat: 8g
Cholesterol: 31mg
Sodium: 390mg
Sugar: 2g
Fiber: 1g

These are estimates and should be treated as a general guideline rather than laboratory-tested nutritional information.

❤️ FINAL THOUGHTS

There are recipes that are impressive because they require twenty ingredients and an entire afternoon.

Then there are recipes like these Buttermilk Biscuits that prove you don’t need complicated techniques to make something absolutely spectacular.

The magic is in the details: cold butter, cold shortening, tangy buttermilk, gentle handling, flaky layers, and a very hot oven.

That’s it.

And yet somehow, those simple ingredients turn into golden biscuits that feel like you’ve been baking all morning.

These are the biscuits you want next to a plate of crispy bacon on Saturday morning. They’re the biscuits you want with fried chicken for dinner. They’re the ones you want beside a steaming bowl of soup when the weather turns chilly.

They’re also the biscuits you make when someone says, “Homemade biscuits are too hard.”

Oh really?

Hand them one of these.

Problem solved.

🧈 THE BOTTOM LINE

A great homemade biscuit doesn’t need to be complicated. It needs to be cold, flaky, tender, buttery, and baked hot.

These Buttermilk Biscuits check every single box.

They’re wonderfully crisp around the edges, soft and tender inside, packed with buttery flavor, and layered enough to make you feel like a professional baker—even if your kitchen counter currently has three unrelated appliances sitting on it.

That’s the beauty of this recipe.

It’s approachable enough for a beginner but delicious enough that experienced bakers will keep coming back to it.

Make them for breakfast.

Serve them with dinner.

Turn them into sandwiches.

Slather them with honey.

Pile on the jam.

Or simply eat one warm from the oven with melted butter and enjoy the glorious simplicity of homemade baking.

Because sometimes the best recipes aren’t flashy.

They’re the ones that make everyone wander into the kitchen asking:

“WHAT smells so good?”

And when you get to answer, “I made biscuits,” well…