Easy Southern Style Light and Flaky Biscuits

These Southern Style Flaky Biscuits will take your right back home with their light buttery layers and just the right amount of crispiness!

 

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Homemade flaky southern biscuits are a thing of beauty when executed correctly,

and the stuff of nightmares when botched!!

This recipe will ensure light and flaky biscuit layers, a crispy exterior,

and prevent the dreaded Hockey Puck biscuit! 🏒

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Why should you make this recipe:

• Biscuits are delicious, and this recipe is approachable for most home cooks
• This recipe is reliable and honestly relatively fast
• No strange ingredients like those on the refrigerated blue tube…
• You can double this recipe very easily without having to do any crazy math! lol

What should you serve with your biscuits:

• Honey and butter are classic, but jams, jellies, and fruit spreads are welcome too!
• We turn these into sausage or bacon biscuits for a filling mobile breakfast, or add cheese and an egg for a copycat breakfast biscuit
• Make them ahead, then you have biscuits for breakfast at work, just a quick spin in the microwave wakes them right up

Tips to ensure successful rise of your biscuits:

• Keep your butter COLD! After grating or dicing up my butter, I put it in the freezer and then continue with my recipe or breakfast prep
• Use a pastry blender/cutter or food processor.  To minimize the amount of time the butter is out of the freezer before baking, the use of a pastry cutter or food processor is key.  If you butter warms up too much, your biscuits will not rise.
• Keep your hands to yourself!  After mixing your biscuit dough, work quickly to shape and cut your biscuits.  Avoid overhandling your dough to prevent dense biscuits.
• Use a sharp knife or biscuit cutter to create clean edges.  Whatever you decide to use to actually shape your biscuits, be sure that it leaves a clean cut so that your delicate layers are not pinched down.  I use my bench scraper as it leaves a clean edge perfect for rising biscuit layers.

Required Tools:

• The only tool you really need is either a food processor or a Pastry Cutter
  • If you plan to buy a pastry cutter, make sure the “blades” are vertical and square, not rounded like whisk wires
• If there is a secret or shortcut here, it is definitely the use of powdered buttermilk.  Liquid buttermilk is best of course, but powdered buttermilk lasts a long time in the refrigerator and I never have to worry about having fresh buttermilk on hand if I want to make some biscuits.
• A Rolling Pin and Bench Scraper are also very helpful for biscuit assembly and I use my bench scraper to cut out my biscuits.
• A Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper help ensure no sticking!

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How to make Southern Style Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

 

Freeze your Butter: (this step is first because we need our butter COLD!)

1. Cut your stick o butter in half down the long side, rotate and then cut lengthwise again
2. Now chop your butter into cubes and place in a bowl or plate
3. Keep you butter in the freezer until your dry mix is ready

Preheat your oven:

1. 400° on the Convection setting or 425° for the regular setting
2. A hot oven is really key to ensure high rising and flaky biscuits so make sure your oven is completely preheated!

Mix your dry ingredients:

1. Whisk together your Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Table Salt, and your Powdered Buttermilk (if using)

Cut in your COLD Butter:

1. Using a pastry cutter or food processor, carefully cut your butter cubes into your dry mix
2. This will probably take a few minutes when using the hand powered pastry cutter, but we’re looking for a grainy, crumbly mix
3. A food processor can do this in about 5 or 6 pulses, but be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl so that your butter is evenly incorporated

Add in your Water or Liquid Buttermilk:

1. Regardless if you’re using powdered or liquid buttermilk, you will need about 3/4 of a cup of liquid
2. Your powdered buttermilk is already mixed in to the flour, so no need to rehydrate it
3. Fold with a spatula until there are no wet spots in your mix and you can squeeze together a small handful of mix, no more than 30 seconds of spatula mixing

Roll out your Biscuits:

1. Dump your biscuit mix out onto a well floured counter or table (this is going to look a hot mess, but that will change soon)
2. As best as you can, shape your mix into a rectangle
3. Using a rolling pin, roll out your dough to a uniform thickness, about 1 inch thick
4. Now use your bench scraper to fold the dough into thirds like a pamphlet
5. Rotate 90 degrees and roll out and fold again.  Do this once more for a total of 3 fold and rolls

Cut and Shape: (this can be controversial)

1. Most people use a round biscuit cutter, but I think your bench scraper is a better tool
   • Square biscuits make the most use of your dough and leave the least amount of unused mix possible
   • A bench scraper already has a (dullish) blade and can create perfect edges to assist with rising
2. Cut out your biscuits using as much of the dough as possible.  I use any leftovers to make “ugly” biscuits.  These are still delicious but do not rise like the clean cut biscuits
3. Transfer your biscuits to a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet and space them evenly

Baking:

1. Bake your biscuits until they are nice and golden brown, approximately 12-15 minutes
2. Serve immediately and enjoy!!
   • Many people drizzle a little extra buttermilk or melted butter on top while the biscuits are hot.  I do not, but you do you!!

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