Bread & Dough Biscuits & Rolls
Buttermilk Biscuits by the Dozen
Tall, tender buttermilk biscuits with enough family yield and enough structure to split for breakfast, supper, or freezer use without baking up dense.
Meet Ruthann About Ruthann’s Baking
This recipe stays visible, but recipe rich markup stays off until a real finished-dish image is available.
If this is your kind of supper, breakfast, or bake, keepBig-Batch Chicken and Dumplings, Cornbread for Chili Night, and Soft Dinner Rolls for 12 nearby for the next pan.
If you want a cleaner fix or a little backup, these guides helpHow to Swap Buttermilk by Weight and How to Read Flour Strength Before You Ruin the Crumb.
If you want the household logic around this pan, keepAt 7:10, Breakfast Starts Too Fast — Here Is How We Hold It and By Wednesday, the Supper Plan Breaks — Here Is How We Catch It nearby too.
Biscuits are one of those things that can either steady a meal or disappoint a whole table fast. These are written to stay tender, rise high enough to split well, and make enough to matter to a family without turning into tiny boutique rounds.
That is why the dough stays soft and the handling stays light. Good biscuits need a calm hand more than fancy tricks.
Recipe Rescue
Need the fix fast?
Get the safe cooling, storage, reheating, and carryover logic for leftovers built around flour, buttermilk, and butter.
Recipe details
Timing & yield
- Prep
- 20 minutes
- Cook / bake
- 18 minutes
- Total
- 38 minutes
- Yield
- 12 biscuits
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 10 tablespoons cold butter, cut small
- 1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, plus more if needed
Finish
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
Method
- Step 1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet.
- Step 2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
- Step 3. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture has pea-size pieces and a few larger flat shards still visible.
- Step 4. Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently just until the dough gathers; if dry flour still sits in the bottom, add a tablespoon or two more buttermilk instead of stirring harder.
- Step 5. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, pat it into a rectangle, fold it over itself two or three times, then pat it to about 1 inch thick.
- Step 6. Cut 12 biscuits, pressing straight down instead of twisting the cutter so the sides can rise cleanly.
- Step 7. Set the biscuits close together on the baking sheet so they rise upward instead of spreading wide, then bake for 15 to 18 minutes until the tops are golden.
- Step 8. Brush with melted butter and rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- pastry cutter or fingertips
- biscuit cutter
Storage & safety
Keep cooled biscuits covered at room temperature for 1 day or refrigerate for up to 3 days. Freeze baked or unbaked biscuits for longer holding.
Troubleshooting
- The biscuits baked up dense
- The dough was likely overworked or too dry. Mix less, handle less, and add enough buttermilk for a soft shaggy dough next time.
- The biscuits spread wide instead of tall
- The butter may have warmed too much or the cutter was twisted. Chill the cut biscuits briefly if your kitchen runs warm.
Recipe rescue notes
- The tops browned before the centers finished
-
Likely cause: The oven runs hot or the biscuits were cut too thick for the pan position.
Fix: Tent loosely with foil for the final minutes and keep baking until the centers feel set.
Next time: Bake on a middle rack and keep the dough closer to 1 inch than 1 1/2 inches thick.
Substitutions
- Buttermilk
- Use the buttermilk substitution guide if you need a yogurt- or sour-cream-based replacement. — Thin milk-plus-acid swaps can work, but thicker substitutes usually give biscuits better height and tenderness.
Carryover / Next Meal Ideas
Biscuit breakfast sandwiches
Split and warm leftover biscuits for egg or sausage sandwiches that make a second-day breakfast feel planned instead of scattered.
- Day-old biscuits also work well for a chicken-and-gravy supper if warmed gently first.
Comments
Questions about this recipe?
Loading comments.
right.