This morning I really wanted homemade buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy. I kept putting it off, thinking I probably shouldn’t, but you know, sometimes you just have to! You know, my Southern roots win over sometimes, and biscuits and gravy is something I grew up with. There probably isn’t a southern restaurant open for breakfast in Texas that doesn’t have biscuits and gravy on the menu.
I’ve posted my biscuits recipe before, but this recipe is worth posting over and over again and again. Honestly, I think they take me 5 minutes to throw together! To make these biscuits from scratch is probably as quick to make as it is to open a can or cook from a frozen state! If you haven’t made homemade before and you make these, you will probably never buy a can of biscuits again!
Always perfect for breakfast, they are equally good for dinner with southern fried chicken or chicken fried steak and a skillet of cream gravy!
My Easy Buttermilk Biscuits
I make these biscuits with cold butter that I always grate with a box grater. I grate the butter over the flour mixture and then I work into my dry ingredients. You can use a pastry cutter if you like. This is the pastry cutter I have and sometimes use. https://amzn.to/3g7TgeN.
The key to a flaky biscuit is to fold it several times. After you dump the scrappy dough onto a floured surface, bring it together, pat or roll it out into a rectangle and fold it like a piece of paper for an envelope. Turn it and do that at least 2 more times. Every time you fold it creates layers to your biscuit. I was much more careful to do this today when baking and they turned out to be the most tender delicious biscuits I’ve made!
In addition to the above, I chill my biscuits before baking. Here are the benefit of chilling:
- Tenderness. Chilling relaxes the gluten, resulting in more tender biscuits.
- Shape and rise.The butter hardens during chilling, so it takes longer to melt while baking, giving the biscuits more time to rise and keep their shape.
- Fat consistency. Chilling firms up the fat in the dough, which prevents the biscuits from spreading too much in the oven.
An additional tip is:
Ingredient temperature. It’s important to use cold butter and buttermilk, as warm ingredients can result in layer-less biscuits.
A good biscuit cutter is essential too. You want a cutter that you don’t have to twist when you are cutting them. You just want a cutter that cus and you can lift. Here’s the one I use https://amzn.to/31xvtz2.
Another item I use that I find essential is parchment paper. I line my pan with parchment paper for more even browsing on the bottom and to insure they don’t brow n too much. https://amzn.to/38jdyzy
Here’s the link for the Sausage Gravy: https://the2spoons.com/flaky-buttermilk-biscuits-with-sausage-gravy/. So delicious and I know your family will love this.
Here’s another recipe for biscuits and gravy with hash which is amazing too: https://the2spoons.com/potato-smoked-sausage-hash-biscuits-gravy/
Here’s the recipe! Enjoy!
Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 Cups All purpose flour (spoon and leveled)
- 1.5 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 baking soda
- 2 Tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 Cup Butter, cold and grated or shortening
- 1 Cup plus 2 tablespoons cold buttermilk
- 2 tsps honey or sugar
- melted butter for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to a large bowl. Grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients and with a pastry cutter, two forks or my favorite, your hands, cut the butter into the flour until coarse crumbs form. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the buttermilk and the honey. Stir just to combine. Do not overwork. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently mold it into a rough looking rectangle using your hands. Fold one side into the center, then the other side. Turn the dough so it’s long horizontally. Gently flatten. Repeat the folding again. Turn the dough so it’s long horizontally once more. Gently flatten. Repeat the folding one more time.Gently roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it’s 1 inch thick. Cut into 3-inch circles. Re-roll any scraps until you have 9-12 biscuits. Arrange in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or close together on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. (Make sure they’re touching.)Brush the tops with a little buttermilk. I place my biscuits in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or in the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking. This allows the butter to get very cold gain Bake for 15 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown on top.Brush the tops with butter. Enjoy warm! Place the leftover biscuits in a zip lock back or air tight container and store in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days.