Foolproof Flaky Biscuits + Video
The secret to Foolproof Flaky Biscuits is revealed! Find out how to get flaky, layered, buttery, tender biscuits you will swoon over!
One of my husband’s favorite breakfasts is biscuits and gravy. I don’t make it very often because I haven’t had the best luck and getting a tall, flaky biscuit worth making again and again. I have since learned the secret to flaky biscuits doesn’t necessarily lie in the recipe alone, but that the technique also helps get you those amazing, buttery layers! It really is foolproof!
I’m talking crisp exterior, peel apart layers, and a tender center! Did I mention these are oh so buttery?! Swoon! Slather on some apple butter, jelly or jam, butter and honey, whatever your pleasure, and enjoy these biscuits ASAP!
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Let me show you how to get the foolproof flaky layers… First off, it’s really important to have COLD butter when you make biscuits (or pie crust) because when the butter melts, it creates pockets of air to help make those flaky layers. Also, don’t crumble them all away. Pea size butter pieces are ideal.
After you add the buttermilk and the dough comes together, roll it out into roughly a 6×9-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Then cut that rectangle into thirds.
Here’s the trick! Stack each third on top of one another and roll the dough into a 6×9-inch rectangle again. This helps ensure you get those tall, flaky layers!
Using a 2 1/4 or 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut 9 (maybe 10) biscuits and place them on a silicone lined baking sheet. Do your best to piece together the scraps and use up all the dough with the layering technique, without overworking the dough or melting the butter with your warm hands.
If any of the edges kind of stick down, I stretch them before baking to help make sure they will grow tall and flaky. You can see in the picture below that they are pretty thick to start with, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2-inches tall, and you can see some chunks of butter and layering before they even go in the oven.
Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown on top and bottom. These are best enjoyed warm and crisp from the oven, but you can store leftovers in a zip-top bag for 3 or 4 days. I like to re-heat my leftover biscuits, one at a time, in the microwave for 10 to 12 seconds.
Foolproof Flaky Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour, (stir, spoon & level)
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into Tablespoons
- ¾ cup (177 ml) buttermilk, cold (or milk plus 1 tsp of lemon juice/white vinegar; allow to sit for 5 minutes before using)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until pea size pieces.
- Add the cold buttermilk all at once and form into a ball.
- Roll dough onto a lightly floured surface, into a 6×9-inch rectangle. Cut the rectangle into thirds.
- Stack each third on top of one another and roll the dough into a 6×9-inch rectangle again.
- Using a 2¼ or 2½-inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut 9 (maybe 10) biscuits and place them on a silicone lined baking sheet. Do your best to piece together the scraps and use up all the dough with the layering technique, without overworking the dough or melting the butter with your warm hands. (If any of the edges kind of stick down, I stretch them before baking to help make sure they will grow tall and flaky.)
- Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown on top and bottom.
Video
Notes
- Store any leftovers in a zip-top bag for 3 or 4 days. I like to re-heat my leftover biscuits, one at a time, in the microwave for 10 to 12 seconds.
Did you make this?
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Hi Amber, which pastry rolling pin are you using! looks very nifty and ive been trying for find a similar two ended one but have come up empty!
Hi Jeanime! It’s a Norpro Pastry & Pizza Roller. If you can’t find it in stores, they have it on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2fgAo0x (affiliate link)
Turned out great! Love the stacking method…I’ll be doing that from now on!
That’s wonderful news Lindsay! Thanks for your comment! Glad it worked out for you!
Amber – I made em today. Looking “pretty” good but….. the whole story is that the first 6 seem perfect, the next 4-5 less so. Now here’s my question. In you text above, you write “Using a 2 1/4 or 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut 9 (maybe 10) biscuits “, but looking at the photo there, I can see you’re not going to get 9-10 out of that first 6″x9” slab. I didn’t either. I got 6.
So I then grabbed remaining dough, baleed up, and rolled out and the got 3 – repeat and got 1 plus scraps to hand shape.
Sure enough, the first 6 are perfect, then next group of 3 less, and then last 1 and scrap even less.
So…can you clarify how you can result in 9-10 or more of the same tall fluffy result?
Sorry for not clarifying that well enough. When I put my scraps together, I never ball it up. I push them together and pinch the seams OR stack the scraps gently and re-roll them out (like the original method). But no matter what, they just aren’t going to be as perfect as those first six. If you want more perfect looking biscuits, you might want to double the recipe.
OK! That makes sense. So – just to be clear too – you can’t get 9-10 out of the first stack – right?
Right. You get 6 the first time. Then the other 3-4 after carefully piecing/stacking together the scraps.
Perfect Amber – Thanks! Following you now. (BTW lottsa folks find little musical videos really annoying – if you can remove – or mute – site would be way better!)
Thanks for following along! The video ads help keep my recipes free for everyone. If you drag the volume button down, it will stay down every time you return to my site. Thanks for your support!
I’ve made a video for these biscuits. It’s on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DessertNowDinnerLater/videos/1234537923276930/
Thank you for such detailed instructions – you explain the steps so clearly. Other recipe writers could learn from you 🙂
These sound very like scones to my English ears – Biscuits to us are crisp and dry and flat – the total opposite to yours!
I would love to try chaffing – the folding method – even though we were always taught to use the gentlest, quickest touch, with cool hands, raising the mix high above the bowl during rubbing-in the butter to incorporate more air. Eggs are often added, and sugar for sweet ones.
Also the scone-cutter is dipped in flour before each cut to stop it sticking and pulling.
It is very interesting to see that cooling them for an hour will make them fluffier: this is definitely worth a try instead of just leaving them a few minutes while the raising agents get to work.
A couple of queries: is the All-purpose flour, flour with no raising agent added? Here we call flour with no added raising agent, Plain Flour. If it has added raising agent, it is called Self Raising Flour.
Is Baking Soda, Bicarbonate of Soda?
You very kindly give a weight for the flour, could you possibly do the same for the butter?
Also, the buttermilk: what would that be in Litres?
Sorry for so many questions!
Hi Jenni,
I love to hear how others bake. So fun! As for your questions, I used all-purpose (plain) flour. Baking soda and bicarbonate of soda are indeed the same thing. 2 cups of flour is 480 grams. 1/2 cup of butter is 115 grams. 3/4 cup buttermilk is 180 grams or 0.18 litres. I find google very useful to help with conversions. 🙂 Good luck!
Thank you so much – will now go off and have a try!
Why are you even talking Baking Soda – your recipe calls for Baking Powder – right?
My bad! I answer a lot of comments/questions from the back end without pulling up my recipe. So Jenni, if you want to try 3/4 tsp (5-6 grams) of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) PLUS 1 1/2 tsp (5 grams) of cream of tartar, that would be best.
Baking soda is same as Bicarbonate of soda BUT recipe calls for baking powder which is not the same. Baking powder s baking soda plus an agent that reacts with it to make the dough rise.
Excellent recipe!! I tried it this morning! My family loved it!! Thank you! Greetings from Venezuela
That is wonderful news! Thanks for your comment Moraima! I’m glad to hear this recipe works in Venezuela too!
I just made these this morning. I was out of buttermilk and lemon juice, so I used Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar instead. I used my food processor because I do not have a cutter. I made sure I didn’t overwork the dough. They turned out great, very tender. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
That’s good to know! Thanks for sharing your review Lorie. So glad they turned out well for you!
Hello Amber: I made the recipe but they were not so soft and fluffy as they are in the recipe, I think I miss you egg to the recipe… I confirm please?
(Sorry for my English I am speaking… I am Colombian, I am also wife mother and Mormon… a hug)
I love you blog
Hello Maribel! So nice to hear from you! There is no egg in this recipe. The only thing I can think of is the flour was measured wrong or the altitude difference effected the recipe. Try 2 Tablespoons less butter (so only 6 Tablespoons or 85 grams – I hope I did the conversion right) and weigh your flour. 2 cups is 260 grams. I hope this helps!
ohw i cant wait to make it.. please reply asap.so that i can start making these biscuits..Thank u:-D
hi Amber, u have demonstrated very nicely..can u tel me how much time andat what degree celcius to preheat and bake
Preheat and bake at 232 degrees celcius. Check after 10 minutes.
Thank u Amber.. I have already made these biscuits.. it turned out awesome.. bookfold method i learnt from Vahchef, but ur tips are really awesome.. using curd and using chilled dough chilled butter really helped to make delicious cookies..Hats off.. Thank you..
Thanks for your feedback Mercy!
I moved to Germany two years ago, and while they have a huge assortment of delicious homemade breads here, biscuits are hard to come by! So… I really hate baking, but when I had a biscuit craving, I had no choice. I tried many recipes which ranged from being bland and totally tasteless to “just okay.” Then I found this. WOW! These biscuits are buttery, a little sweet, crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside.
They are not only the best I’ve ever personally made, but… dare I say it?… they’re best biscuits I’ve ever eaten!
I make a triple batch and freeze them. They take only a few extra minutes to bake after being frozen, and they’re still just as delicious. Thank you so much for this recipe!
What great news! I’m so happy you enjoy this recipe so much Sheri! Thanks for your coming back to share your experience!
Nice I was wondering if I could make it ahead of time and freeze. Thank you for this post!
Yes. I would freeze them on a tray with parchment paper. Then put them in a freezer bag up to 3 months. You will need to bake approximately 5 minutes longer when baking from frozen.