Published: · Modified: by Pam
This recipe for easy buttermilk biscuits has just three ingredients and comes out flaky and perfect every time. Video instructions are included.
FEATURED COMMENT: "I made these today. Total time including baking, 20min. They are beautiful , light , flaky, and delicious !"
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- Basic buttermilk biscuits are a homemade southern staple
- It's true! This is a 3 ingredient biscuit recipe:
- How to make these flaky biscuits (be sure to watch the video):
- Why it's so important to keep the ingredients cold:
- 📖 Recipe
- Items you may need for making your easy buttermilk biscuits:
- More recipes you'll want to try:
Basic buttermilk biscuits are a homemade southern staple
We have some fun and unique biscuits here on our site. Sweet Potato Biscuits are a fall favorite, but really they're good any time of year.
Asiago Cheese and Black Pepper Biscuits are another super easy recipe with a twist. They go perfectly with lots of soups and stews. Cinnamon Biscuitsare made with a very similar recipe and are great with a little icing on top.
Mexican Style Biscuits will make you think of Mexican Cornbread, but in biscuit form. If you love a spicy kick you'll love them. And then there are Cajun Hush Puppies and Pimento Cheese Biscuits, oh my!
But, we thought it was high time we had a recipe here for basic but easy buttermilk biscuits. We worked a while perfecting the recipe because we want you to be sure your biscuits will come out just right every time.
It's true! This is a 3 ingredient biscuit recipe:
All you need to make them is self rising flour, buttermilk and butter.
If needed you can make a buttermilk substitute with plain milk and either lemon juice or white vinegar. Just put a Tablespoon of one of those acidics in a measuring cup and then fill it up with milk to make one cup. Stir and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before using.
You can easily make a self rising flour substitute too. For every cup of all purpose flour add two teaspoons of baking powder and one-half teaspoon of salt. Stir well and then re-measure before adding to your recipe. This works for all your recipes that call for this flour, like Brown Butter Pecan Cookies.
How to make these flaky biscuits (be sure to watch the video):
THE NUMBER ONE TIP FOR MAKING PERFECT BISCUITS EVERY TIME IS TO KEEP YOUR INGREDIENTS COLD!
Follow these steps
- Freeze the butter.
- Chill the buttermilk in the measuring cup.
- Measure the flour into a bowl and chill the bowl.
- Lightly flour a surface for rolling and cutting the biscuits.
- Grate the butter with a box grater on the side with the larger holes.
- Add the butter to the flour a little at a time tossing after each addition.
- Stir in the buttermilk just until blended.
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat down until it's about ½ inch thick.
- Fold the dough over in half and pat down, repeating this step four times.
- Roll with a rolling pin or pat down until about ½ inch thick and then cut with biscuit cutter in desired size. Use a straight down and up motion with the cutter - do not twist.
- Place biscuits nearly touching on parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter if desired.
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Why it's so important to keep the ingredients cold:
The little grated pieces of butter are what creates the flakes in your biscuits. If it starts to get warm the butter will just sort of "melt" into the flour.
Keeping everything cold means the butter will remain intact. When you pat down the dough you are flattening the butter bits. Your biscuits will then bake into flaky pillows of southern buttermilk goodness!
Even though we know there are times a freshly baked biscuit is what you want on your table, sometimes you just don't have the time to dedicate to them. That's why we recommend this Best Biscuit From a Mix.
Sliced open your biscuits are going to make a classic southern meal when topped with homemade sausage gravy, Cajun gravy, or old fashioned tomato gravy.
THIS RECIPE MADE OUR "BEST OF THE YEAR" LIST. ALL THE OTHERS CAN BE FOUND HERE.
📖 Recipe
Easy Buttermilk Biscuits: 3 Ingredients
Pam
Flaky buttermilk biscuits with just 3 ingredients come out perfectly every time.
4.11 from 270 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings 12 biscuits
Calories 106 kcal
Ingredients
- 2½ cups self-rising flour
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 stick butter 1 stick equals ½ cup
Instructions
Freeze the stick of butter. Chill the measured flour and buttermilk.
Grate the buttter, tossing it with the flour a little at a time.
Stir in the buttermilk just until the ingredients are blended. If dough feels dry 1-2 Tablespoons additional buttermilk can be stirred in.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface and pat down to about ½ inch thickness. Fold in half and pat to ½ inch again. Repeat the fold and pat down step 4 times.
Roll with a rolling pin or pat down with hands until about ½ inch thick.
Cut with a biscuit cutter using a straight down and up motion (do not twist). Place biscuits on parchment lined baking sheet nearly touching.
Bake at 450 degrees 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter if desired.
Video
Notes
Using a 2 and ½ inch biscuit cutter will yield approximately 12 biscuits. You can cut biscuits once and then re-roll the dough and cut again to get the most biscuits from the dough.
Nutrition
Serving: 1biscuitCalories: 106kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 4gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 22mgPotassium: 53mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 34IUCalcium: 27mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Items you may need for making your easy buttermilk biscuits:
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- Glass measuring cups
- Box grater for grating the butter
- Rolling pin (we love a traditional wooden one)
- Biscuit cutters
- Parchment paper
- Sweet Potato Butter for spreading on those biscuits
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