OMGosh! Here is the BEST, Flaky Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe! (AND...It's Easy and Fast, Too!)

This is seriously the BEST, most sinfully delicious and EASY recipe for the perfect flaky buttermilk biscuits. 

I admit to having a long-standing buttermilk biscuit obsession. I love those flaky, perfectly-sized, melt-in-your-mouth buttery, fluffy pieces of bread. Sorry for the adjectives, but, well....I LOVE them. I don't eat biscuits very often because they're not the best thing if you are trying to eat mainly Paleo, but once in awhile, I just GO for it! 

I'm guilty. Mr. V. and I ate an entire cast iron pan of these sinful buttermilk biscuits the other night with our stew. Yep. The WHOLE thing. And I'm not even sorry!

You see....

I have been trying for quite some time to figure out the perfect biscuit recipe for 1) speed, 2) deliciousness, 3) flakiness, and 4) the perfect rise. Finally! Here is it! If you've been reading my stuff for any length of time, you know my issues with bread baking of any kind.

I'm afraid of using the right amount of yeast, sour dough is still my nemesis, and I really don't like the time and attention it takes to knead/rise/knead/rise....but I'll get there one day. I know I will. It's a bread-baking journey for this gal, for sure.

But for now----these little buttermilk biscuits have made my day! I actually feel somewhat proficient with bread, now!

I think you'll agree with me....

Bread fails of any kind are NO fun. 

With this biscuit recipe, you just can't miss! The most perfect biscuit recipe is quick and easy....and I have one for you right here!

(You may also be interested in these articles: How to Make the BEST Croutons, Make the Perfect Frittata Every Time, and Southern Food at It's Best: Fried Green Tomatoes--and lots more on the blog!

FTC Disclosure: There are affiliate links scattered throughout this article. If you click through and make any kind of purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you--Heidi (Full Disclosure)

Have you been searching for the perfect, flaky, layered, light & fluffy homemade buttermilk biscuit recipe? YOU'VE FOUND IT! You'll love this buttermilk biscuit recipe--It's easy! It's fast! These are the best buttermilk biscuits I'll be you ever eat. You need this biscuit recipe, especially if you've been wondering how to get your biscuits more flaky and light!

How to Make the Most Perfect, Easy, Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits You've Ever Had

There's a couple of secrets at work in the directions---so please follow along carefully. Even though this recipe is VERY easy and VERY fast, you'll still need to do a couple of things right or you won't get the layered flakiness that makes these buttermilk biscuits so special. 

Ingredients for Buttermilk Biscuits:

** 2 cups all purpose flour (I like using the non-GMO organic flour, especially if I'm going to deviate from my Paleo plan for a second. At least I can do part of this right. I happened to find mine at Sprouts, but if you don't have a Sprouts nearby, the link above is to Amazon.)

** 1 cup buttermilk (Best if it's from organic, pasture-raised cattle and as lightly pasteurized as possible)

** 6 tablespoons grass fed butter (The butter needs to be frozen. This is important. I always have butter in my freezer, but if you don't, just put a stick in there about an hour or so before.) 

** 1 tablespoon baking powder

** 1/2 to 1 tablespoon sugar

** 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (I always go lighter on the salt, and I haven't found it to make much difference.)

Tools to Make Life Easier:

** A good cheese grater with medium to large holes

** A cast iron skillet (if you don't have one of these, just use a pie pan or two)

Directions:

1) Get your oven preheated to 425 degrees. If you are using a cast iron skillet, you can actually cook these on a grill if you like.

2) Grease your cast iron skillet well.

My favorite pans to cook or bake with are cast iron....They are non-toxic, plus provide your body with extra iron! Win! 

3) Grate your butter. Yep. Grate it just like cheddar cheese. If your butter is frozen, this is an easy task. When I grated my butter, it was quite cold in our house, and it still started defrosting pretty quickly anyway. So, if you are in a warmer kitchen or home, I would place your pile of grated butter in a bowl and put in the freezer for a few minutes while you get the dry ingredients ready to go.

4) Mix your dry ingredients together well.

Looks like cheese, right? Nope---it's frozen grass-fed butter. This is one of the secrets to this incredible biscuit recipe.

5) Bring back that frozen grated butter and mix it into the dry ingredients. You don't want it to get mushy, you just want the butter covered with the flour mixture.

6) Make a little pond of buttermilk in the middle of your flour mixture. Mix it up. At some point, you will have to use your hands to form it into a nice, gooey ball. If it's too gooey, just add a bit of extra flour so you an work it.

7) Now place this ball (it will probably be pretty sticky) on a clean, floured counter top. Continue to work it until you can get it to do what you want it to do. You'll need to add some additional flour as you do this, and that's fine. You don't want it to be too wet or too dry.

8) Make layers in your biscuits. This is what make these delightfully flaky. Here's how: Form that dough into a rectangle that is roughly 1/2 inch thick. Now fold it in thirds, just like you would if you were mailing a regular sized sheet of paper. Flatten it again. Fold this in thirds again. Then do this one more time. You don't want to mess with it too much after this, ok?

9) Now flatten it so it is between 1/2 inch and 1 inch thick, depending on how plump you want your biscuits to be and how many you want to yield. I made mine about 3/4 inch thick, and I ended up with a good baker's dozen. If you like thicker biscuits, then go for 1 inch thick. If you want more, but don't want to double your batch, go a little bit thinner.

I think my biscuits turn out the perfect height at 3/4 inch.

10) Use a biscuit cutter if you have one (I do not own a biscuit cutter, so I used a Mason jelly jar---it worked perfectly.) and cut out your biscuits. As you get to where you can't cut out any more, just gently squeeze the dough together to be able to cut out more with no waste. Do not roll it out any more though--you don't want to lose those nice envelope layers from step 8. 

Another key to making the layers is to disturb your dough as little possible as you are cutting them out. 

11) Place these into your cast iron skillet. It's best if you leave about 1/2 inch or more of space between them if you can. They'll have room to get plump and beautiful!

Before baking---see how far apart they are from each other?

12) Bake them for 15 minutes, or until they feel completely risen. If you have flattened them more than about 3/4 inch, then your bake time won't be this long. I tested mine by touching the top and pressing gently to be sure they had risen all the way.

That's it! Enjoying them hot is best, but if you have to wait (as I do, usually) that's fine. They will still be absolutely lovely. 

Here are the biscuits---all cooked to perfection!

Final Thoughts On How to Make Easy but Sinfully Delicious Buttermilk Biscuits

I have to give credit where credit is due. This recipe was adapted from a recipe from Self-Proclaimed Foodie, and I am forever grateful for her directions on the layering for flakiness. I've been trying to figure this out forever! I'm not much of a food blogger, so when I can come across a person who has clear instructions and delicious things going on...well, I'm a fan!

After trying out many buttermilk biscuit recipes for the past few months (and especially failing at fluffy and flaky), I've found a real winner! The extra great perk for me is that it works in a cast iron skillet too. I could even make these outdoors in a closed grill! 

**Another reason I love cooking with cast iron is because of the health benefits! It's non-toxic cookware that also provides iron in your diet. Perfect!

I hope you try these! I know you'll love them as much as Mr. V. and I do. I don't always have buttermilk on hand, but Mr. V. has issued a directive: "Keep it on hand. I want these a LOT." :-) My pleasure!

Do you have a recipe that ALWAYS works? I'd love for you to share it with us! The more things you can try that work, the better off we all are, right? So, please comment and share!

Also--are you interested in learning more about traditional pioneering skills? You'll enjoy watching my friend, Melissa K. Norris, in her Handmade Master Class. You'll also get her physical book when you sign up! 

Hugs & Self-Reliance,

Heidi

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