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    Home » Recipes » Breads & Biscuits » Buttermilk Biscuits

    Buttermilk Biscuits

    Published: Mar 20, 2018 · Modified: Feb 14, 2021 by Barbara Curry · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    A buttermilk biscuit with bacon slices

    Mile high buttermilk biscuits with caramelized onions and cheese are easier to make than you think. They’re the best for breakfast or brunch, all by themselves but even better with bacon! Check out my tips for PERFECT buttermilk biscuits every time.

    A biscuit with bacon on a napkin
    Buttermilk Biscuit

    While light and fluffy dinner rolls might be my favorite food, they take some time and planning.  A good buttermilk biscuit can be ready to bake before your oven preheats and no advanced notice required. You’ll need buttermilk but otherwise you probably have the ingredients for biscuits.

    Fruit and Nut Stuffeed Acorn Squash, Apple Pomegranate Cobbler Cheesy Muffins with almond flour. Cherry Streusel Pie

    What can you substitute for buttermilk

    Is your don’t have buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup and fill it with milk. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to thicken.

    It’s taken a bit of experimenting for me to find the best technique that makes beautiful light and fluffy biscuits that melt in your mouth. These are biscuits that any Southerner would be proud to serve.
    a biscuit with bacon on a napkin
    Buttermilk Biscuit

    While these buttermilk biscuits are fantastic without any additions, sometimes you need something over the top. Adding caramelized onions and gruyére is a heavenly combination. However, you can leave them out completely if you don’t have 30 minutes to caramelize your onions and substitute green onions and whatever cheese you like.

    What I’ve been doing lately is to make a large batch of caramelized onions and refrigerate them. Then they’re ready to add to a quiche or biscuits as needed. If you need to read up on how to caramelize onions, check out my technique for French Onion Rounds.

    Of course you can leave them plain and just serve them with butter and you can’t go wrong or try making blueberry muffins for a breakfast treat.

    A plain biscuit on a baking sheet
    Buttermilk Biscuits

    How to make buttermilk biscuits:

    You only need to keep a couple of things in mind to make perfect biscuits.  First start with cold butter and buttermilk. The colder the better.  Next try to use a good quality flour. I discovered that Bob’s Red Mill not only makes almond flour, which I use all the time, but they make an All Purpose Flour. Their flour is as light as air, whole grain and unbleached with no Bromates. When you start with quality products, it really makes a difference in something like biscuits.

    Step 1: Add the dry ingredients to a food processor and add COLD chunks of butter, processing until the butter is pea size.   You want the butter to still be in little chunks when you add the buttermilk.  If adding cheese and onions, add it now.

    Step 2: Add buttermilk and process just until the dough starts to come together.  It should look pretty messy. If you don’t have a food processor handy, you can use a pastry cutter, try to avoid using  your hands which will melt the butter.  If that happens, you don’t get the nice pockets of air that make a biscuit tall and flaky.

    Ingredients in the food processor

    Step 3: Next turn the dough out onto the counter and roughly form it into a rectangle trying to handle it as little as possible.  I cut the dough into three or four rectangles.

    Biscuit dough cut into rectangles

    Step 4: Stack them on top of each other gently rolling the stack into a rectangle.  Repeat this process three to four times. So first I tell you not to handle the dough and now I’m telling you to roll and cut it four times.  The reason this works is that you’re creating lots of layers by stacking and re-stacking your dough. The goal is to keep your butter cold while doing this.  So start with really cold butter and buttermilk and try to keep your warm hands off the dough as much as possible. 

    Biscuit dough stacked

    Step 5: Finally roll it into a rectangle and using a biscuit cutter, cut straight down, don’t twist it, this keeps the layers nice and tall. 

    Biscuit dough with biscuit cutter

    Step 6: Place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove and top with an egg wash and bake.

    Biscuits on a cooling rack
    Buttermilk Biscuits
    Now that you have the perfect biscuit fill them with bacon or my favorite is to serve them for game day with Smokey Pimento Cheese and Slow Cooker Carnitas. YUM!
    Biscuit with pimento cheese and pulled pork
    Buttermilk Biscuit with pimento cheese and pulled pork

    If you’re in the mood for a drop biscuit, it’s hard to beat a cheddar bay biscuit.

    More homemade bread recipes

    • Soda bread
    • Pull apart bread
    • Potato rolls
    • Challah rolls
    • Sour cream rolls
    • Onion yeast rolls
    • Cornbread biscuits
    • Pineapple rolls
    A biscuit with bacon on a napkin

    Buttermilk Biscuits

    Author: Barbara Curry
    Mile high buttermilk biscuits with caramelized onions and cheese are easier to make than you think. They’re the best for breakfast or brunch, all by themselves but even better with bacon! Check out my tips for PERFECT buttermilk biscuits every time.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin
    PREP: 45 minutes
    COOK: 15 minutes
    Servings: 15

    Ingredients
     

    • 3 ½ cups flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 16 tablespoons butter cut into ½ inch pieces
    • 4 ounces gruyere
    • ½ cup caramelized onions 1-2 onions
    • 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
    • 1 egg
    • 2 tablespoon cream
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 425º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
    • In a food processor, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Process until combined. Add cold butter and press until it resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl. Add cheese and onions and stir to combine.
    • Add buttermilk and mix lightly just until dough comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle. Cut into 4ths and stack each fourth on top of each other. Pat into a rectangle and repeat 3 more times.
    • Pat or roll dough to 1 inch thickness. Using a 21/2 inch round cutter, cut dough without twisting. Place on prepared pan and freeze for 10 minutes.
    • Remove from freezer. Beat egg and cream together in a small bowl. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with pepper.
    • Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 275kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 56mg | Sodium: 310mg | Potassium: 137mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 523IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 135mg | Iron: 1mg
    Follow Me On SocialDid you make this recipe? Mention @ButterandBaggage or tag #ButterandBaggage on Instagram!
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Rory says

      March 25, 2018 at 9:59 am

      Will gluten free flour work for this recipe?

      Reply
      • Barbara Curry says

        March 26, 2018 at 7:19 pm

        Roy, you will have to make a few adjustments but I think they taste pretty close to the ones with regular flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour. I added an additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 2 eggs. Whisk the eggs together before adding them with the buttermilk. The dough will be a bit stickier but it handles about the same. They seem to do a better texture if you let them sit for about 5 minutes before eating. Mine took about the same baking time. Let me know how yours turn out. I’ll write a post with photos in a few weeks.

        Reply
    2. Janie Foltz says

      December 18, 2018 at 11:46 am

      Oh Barbara, I just recently come upon your blog. We must get together in the New Year. I am your neighbor in Winston Salem, NC. I am a retired Foods and Nutrition Educator and my passion is food, cooking, entertaining, perusing cookbooks, gardening and living a beautiful life. This biscuit looks like a delicious Christmas Breakfast for me and my husband Michael ( we just may be soul sisters). please share what name brand bacon that you used in this photo. Looks wonderful. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I will follow up in 2019!

      Reply
      • Barbara Curry says

        December 18, 2018 at 9:24 pm

        I would love to connect.

        Reply

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    Barbara Curry is the culinary adventurer of Butter & Baggage. With a dedicated enthusiasm for real butter made from happy cows she is in constant pursuit of delicious recipes and tasty dishes. She shares her experiences, ventures, and occasional misadventures because let’s face it things can get messy in any kitchen.

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