Southern-Style Buttermilk Biscuits

This is a sponsored post, written by me and created in partnership with White Lily Flour.  All opinions expressed herein are straight from my heart.

Learn the secrets of making southern-style buttermilk biscuits that bake up tall, fluffy, and light as a cloud.  Made with just three simple ingredients!

I may not have been born in the south, but you’d never know it by the way I bake biscuits.

Much of the credit goes to my husband.  He’s not a southerner either, but he is truly a connoisseur of buttermilk biscuits.  Actually, he’s a lover of all kinds of southern comfort food, but biscuits are a top favorite for him.  And one he craves on a weekly basis.

Almost every Saturday, from the time we were first married, he’s begged me to make biscuits for his breakfast.  And since I love to bake, I always do it.

Honestly, it’s not just because I love to bake.  It’s also because biscuits are so quick and easy to make.  And the final product makes that little bit of time in the kitchen so incredibly worthwhile.  He loves to make breakfast sandwiches with them, but he’s also been known to slap a piece of fried chicken in there with some cole slaw.  For me, nothing beats a warm biscuit slathered with butter and homemade jam.

I can remember years ago, back in my architecture days, I had a client who was from South Carolina.  Whenever we would have project meetings, she would always put out freshly made biscuits and jam for all the designers and contractors to nibble on while we talked business.  I had already caught the baking bug way before then, so I loved that she had made it her tradition to bake like that every day.  It amazed me that she could put out bread, fresh from the oven, on such a frequent basis.  I told her so, and that’s when she shared the secret that so many southerners already know.  As it turns out, biscuits are one of the simplest things you could ever make.

I’m talking three ingredients simple.  So when I learned about my husband’s biscuit addiction, I didn’t think twice about diving in and giving it a go.  After a bit of practice, I can confidently boast that my biscuits are up there with the best of them.  And today I’m going to show you exactly how I make them!

When you’re talking about a recipe that only has three ingredients, it’s important that each of those is the best you can get your hands on.

Let’s start with ingredient number one: flour.  Self-rising flour is what every respectable southern baker keeps in her cupboard for biscuit baking, and White Lily Enriched Bleached Self-Rising Flour is the gold standard.  White Lily mills their flour from soft red winter wheat.  Soft winter wheat has a lower protein content, which makes it ideal for more delicate baked goods.  You can be sure that with White Lily, your biscuits will bake up light-textured, fluffy, and full of flavor.  This is the White Lily difference.  It’s like an insurance policy that your biscuits will be better than those made with any other kind of traditional flour.  Southern bakers have known this secret for generations.  That’s why White Lily flour has become known as “the light baking flour.”

Next comes butter.  I know a lot of bakers bake biscuits with shortening, but I like to use all butter because I prefer that richer flavor.  Now the key to a tall biscuit is cold butter, so don’t take it out of the fridge until you are ready to use it.  And once you do, you want to work fast.  When the cold butter hits the hot oven, it releases steam that makes the biscuits puff up.  Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender- it works really fast and I like it better than using my fingers because the butter stays colder this way.

You don’t need to go too crazy with the cutting in, in fact, it’s better to under-work it than to over-work it.  I stop just as soon as the pieces are no bigger than pea-sized.  Here’s a pic, so you can see what I mean:

See how there are some little nubs of butter still visible?  That’s what you want.

The final ingredient is buttermilk.  Again, it’s best if it’s cold.  I like to start by stirring it in with a wooden spoon, but you will see that after a little while it looks like there’s not going to be enough liquid for all that flour.  Don’t worry though- just get in there with your hands and knead it a few times.  It will come together, and be pretty sticky at that!  Just dust the work surface liberally with flour so the dough doesn’t stick to your counter.

Next, form the biscuits.  Flatten the dough to a thickness of about 3/4-inch, and then use a 2-inch diameter cutter to make rounds.  I find it’s really helpful to dip the cutter in flour before every cut, just to keep things from sticking.  Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet, and into the hot oven they go.

Here are a few more tips you may find useful:

• If at any point your flow gets interrupted (to answer a phone call, get the kids a juice box, whatever), pop your ingredients into the fridge to keep them nicely chilled while you do your thing.  If you’re worried that you’ve taken too long to make your biscuits and things have gotten too warm, put them into the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes, or the freezer for 5 to 10.  The colder they are when they hit the hot oven, the higher that steam will make them rise!
• The less you knead your dough, the better.  Overworked dough will produce a tough biscuit, so just a few turns, to make sure all the flour is incorporated.
• I always keep buttermilk on hand because I use it in so many things (from cakes to waffles to of course, biscuits).  But if it’s not a go-to ingredient for you, you can make it.  Just stir 2 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice or white vinegar into 3/4 cup regular milk.  Let that sit for 10 minutes or so, until the liquid gets thick and looks curdled.
• Another option, if you don’t have buttermilk, is to make cream biscuits.  You can find the best recipe for that here.
• Add a 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to every cup of all-purpose flour to make your own self-rising flour.  Or check out this recipe for All-Purpose Flour Biscuits.

Every time I post with White Lily, I inevitably get comments from readers wanting to know where to buy it.  For years, it was only available in the south, but the good news is, they’re rolling it out nationwide.  If you don’t already know it, I live in southeastern Pennsylvania, and I don’t have any trouble getting it at my regular supermarket.  But if it still hasn’t made it to your favorite market, there’s an easy solution: visit this page, click on the product you want, and you’ll find an option to locate it at a store near you OR order it online and have it shipped to you.

Happy biscuit baking!

Print Recipe

SAVE

Buttermilk Biscuits

Learn the secrets of making southern-style buttermilk biscuits that bake up tall, fluffy, and light as a cloud. Made with just three simple ingredients!

Yield: 8 to 12 two-inch diameter biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups White Lily Enriched Bleached Self-Rising Flour


• 1/4 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter, cold


• 3/4 cups buttermilk, cold

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and lightly mist a baking sheet with non-stick spray.


2. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl.  Cut the butter into half-inch cubes and add to the bowl.  Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the pieces of butter are no bigger than the size of a pea.  Stir in the buttermilk until combined.


3. Knead the dough with your hands a few times, to gather the dough into a ball and incorporate any flour that may be left in the bottom of the bowl.  Dust the work surface with flour, and flatten the dough to a thickness of 3/4 inch.  Dip a 2-inch diameter cutter into flour and cut rounds.  Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden.

©Baking a Moment