Angel Biscuits
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This easy angel biscuits recipe is like nothing else! Made with a combination of yeast & baking powder, they come out impossibly fluffy!
Have you ever heard of angel biscuits?
I have to admit that up until about 10 years ago I never had. But once I knew what they were all about, I couldn’t wait to give them a try!
They bake up so fluffy and flavorful! And they’re easy as can be to make. I promise, you can’t mess this angel biscuit recipe up!
They are kind of a cross between a yeast bread and a quick bread, so they have all that yummy yeasty flavor but with the added insurance of baking powder and baking soda.
There is nothing else quite like them! And I highly encourage you to eat them warm from the oven, drenched in sweet, melty honey butter!
I mean, you can’t go wrong with freshly baked bread, right? And we’ve got plenty of amazing bread recipes for you to try, once you’ve taken this one for a spin. Have a look at our homemade English muffins, our easy cruffin recipe, and our pita bread for more favorites.
Table of Contents
- What are angel biscuits?
- Why this is the best angel biscuit recipe
- What do homemade angel biscuits taste like?
- Ingredients
- Special equipment
- How to make old-fashioned angel biscuits
- How to serve angel biscuits
- Expert tips
- Frequently asked questions
- A few more of my best biscuit recipes
What are angel biscuits?
I don’t know of any other recipe quite like this one. The fact that it has both yeast and chemical leaveners puts it in a class all by itself!
It’s everything you love about buttermilk biscuits, but with yeast too.
So they have that unmistakably tangy flavor, and that slightly stretchy, elastic texture that makes bread so satisfying.
Why this is the best angel biscuit recipe
- Tastes amazing: Slightly sweet and so buttery!
- Few ingredients: This recipe is made entirely from pantry staples.
- Easy to make: Perfect for a novice baker.
- So fluffy: The combination of yeast and baking powder ensure that your biscuits will come out impossibly light and airy!
What do homemade angel biscuits taste like?
These taste like really good, fluffy, soft bread.
There’s a hint of sweetness and a little bit of tanginess from the yeast and buttermilk.
And they are so buttery!
Ingredients
Flour: All-purpose flour provides the structure for these biscuits. You could also try a whole-grain flour or gluten-free flour blend. As long as it swaps 1:1 it should work just fine.
Sugar: Regular granulated white sugar is good, or sub in another type of sweetener.
Salt: Balances and enhances all the flavors. I like kosher salt best because it’s cheap, easy to find, and doesn’t contain any bitter-tasting additives like iodine.
Leavening: We are going to use a combination of yeast, baking powder, and baking soda. These ingredients work together with time, heat, and the acid in the buttermilk to make the angel yeast biscuits rise sky-high!
Butter: I like unsalted butter best because then I can know exactly how much salt to add, no matter what brand of butter I use. The butter should be cold, straight from the fridge.
Buttermilk: Buttermilk is a leftover waste product from the butter-making process. It’s thick, rich, and tangy. Sometimes it can even be kinda lumpy but that’s ok. It doesn’t mean it’s gone bad! If you can get your hands on whole milk buttermilk do it! It’s so good. If you don’t want to buy buttermilk you can make a reasonable facsimile with just milk and lemon juice or white vinegar. Get more details here: How to Make Homemade Buttermilk.
Special equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons: Follow my guide on how to measure ingredients.
- Bowl: You’ll need a large bowl for mixing up the dough.
- Silicone spatula: For stirring things together and to make sure you get every last bit out of the bowl.
- Pastry blender: This tool makes really quick work of cutting the butter into the dry ingredients. It’s cheap and I think it’s worth having! You can also use it for pie crust, puff pastry, and croissants. But if you’re dead against it, just use 2 knives or just your clean fingers.
- Extra flour: Aka “bench flour” to keep things from sticking as you work.
- Cutter: A 2-inch diameter round cookie cutter creates the perfect shape.
- Parchment: Lines the pan so nothing sticks.
- Pan: We are baking our biscuits in a 9-inch round cake pan. I use metal. If you use glass or ceramic you may have to adjust the bake time slightly.
How to make old-fashioned angel biscuits
This easy recipe comes together in 5 simple steps.
Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients
Start by stirring the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Cut in the butter
Add the butter and cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
It’s fine to have pea-sized bits of butter running all throughout.
Step 3: Add buttermilk & rest
Next, pour in the buttermilk.
Stir everything together until you have a very stiff dough. It should not be sticky. You may have to “knead” the last bit of flour in with your hands to get it incorporated.
Cover the bowl lightly and chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Step 4: Shape the biscuits
After your dough is well-chilled, dust the work surface with flour and place the dough on top.
Pat it into a disc about 1-inch thick.
Then use your cutter to punch out the shapes.
Place the rounds into your parchment-lined cake pan.
Step 5: Proof & bake
Cover lightly, and allow the unbaked angel biscuits to rise in a warm place for about one hour.
Preheat the oven and slide in the pan. Your angel biscuits will bake until set and golden on the tops and around the sides.
How to serve angel biscuits
These are utterly spectacular when still warm from the oven!
You can enjoy them for breakfast or brunch, as a snack, or as a side dish along with a nice bowl of soup or a salad.
I love them slathered with honey butter, and you could also serve them with homemade jam, marmalade, or lemon curd. Or, for a savory spin, try them with pimento cheese!
You could even cut larger angel biscuits and sandwich them around fried chicken, for the crispy chicken sandwich of your dreams!
Expert tips
Check the dates: Make sure your yeast, baking powder, and baking soda aren’t expired! If they’re past the date your biscuits may not rise.
Cube the butter: I find it’s quicker and easier to incorporate the butter if it’s been cut into smaller pieces first.
Keep it cold: This recipe works best if both the butter and buttermilk are cold. And keep the dough cold too, until you’re ready to cut your shapes.
Overnight angel biscuits: Sometimes it’s easier to break up the prep over the course of a couple days. This dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 48 hours, or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Thaw it in the fridge, then cut into shapes, proof, and bake.
Frequently asked questions
Self-rising flour has the salt and baking powder already blended into it.
You probably can, but I don’t know exactly how much of these ingredients are typically added in, so I think it’s more precise if you use all-purpose flour and add your own salt and leavening.
I prefer active dry yeast but instant yeast will work in a pinch. You may just have to decrease the chilling and proofing times a bit.
Other than just working all the buttermilk in evenly, you really don’t have to knead this bread dough. In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t. The angel biscuits could become tough if the glutens are overworked.
Don’t worry too much if your dough doesn’t puff up a ton as it rests. This is an enriched dough, so it won’t bulk up as much as say, ciabatta bread.
The dough can be made up to 2 weeks in advance. See “Overnight Angel Biscuits” above for more info.
One biscuit is equal to a serving.
The nutritional info below is for 1 biscuit, or 1/12th of the batch. It does not include any type of topping; it’s just for the biscuits.
A few more of my best biscuit recipes
As an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Angel Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (312.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 ounce (7.09 g) active dry yeast, (1 packet or about 2 teaspoons)
- 3 tablespoons (36 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, cold, cubed
- 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk, (you may need slightly more or less)
Instructions
- Place the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl and stir to combine.
- Cut in the cold butter using a pastry blender, two knives, or your clean hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Stir in the buttermilk until a stiff dough forms (it should not be sticky).
- Cover the bowl lightly and allow the dough to chill in the refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours.
- Dust the dough, the work surface, and your hands with flour, then tip the dough out and flatten it to a thickness of approx. 1-inch.
- Use a 2-inch diameter cutter to cut out rounds, arranging them in a 9-inch diameter, parchment-lined cake pan.
- Cover the unbaked biscuits lightly and allow them to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Bake the angel biscuits until golden on the tops and sides (approx. 30 to 35 minutes).
What would happen if you let the dough proof at room temp instead of in the fridge?
Great question! The butter would become soft and you would lose all those delicious air pockets that make the biscuits light and fluffy. Also, you may have some trouble shaping the biscuits as the dough would be really too soft. But they do get proofed at room temperature after they’ve been shaped!
These are awesome!!! How is it that there is only 1 review? I was looking for a different biscuit recipe, tired of all the recipes I had. Saw this and had to try. Ate them as the base of homemade Chicken A La King. They didn’t get soggy and tasted sooo good! Because they are light and fluffy, hubby ate half the pan with butter, jam and honey on them for dessert. Only biscuits I will make
from now on. Thank you!!
My pleasure Jackie! Sounds delicious the way you prepared them! This is a brand new post on my site so you are the first to try it and give it a review. Thank you so much for the 5-stars!
This is the classic buttermilk biscuit that has been around for centuries. The only thing new is the name.
I don’t think the name is new either! Although this is a little different than a regular buttermilk biscuit because of the yeast.
I love angel biscuits. The difference is the yeast. Also, we wouldn’t dream of putting sugar in our every day buttermilk biscuits. Y’all would have my grandmother rolling in her grave.