Buttery Buttermilk Biscuits - Easy Recipes for Family Time - Seeded At The Table (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to use butter or Crisco for biscuits? ›

The butter version rises the highest — look at those flaky layers! The shortening biscuit is slightly shorter and a bit drier, too. Butter contains a bit of water, which helps create steam and gives baked goods a boost.

There are many theories about why Southern biscuits are different (ahem, better) than other biscuits—richer buttermilk, more butter, better grandmothers—but the real difference is more fundamental. Southern biscuits are different because of the flour most Southerners use. My grandmother swore by White Lily flour.

Buttermilk adds a tangy flavor to the biscuits and makes them slightly more tender. No food processor: Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl, and use your hands or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until crumbly.

Or if your favorite recipe involves rolling out and folding or layering the dough (like this one), try adding a thin layer of softened cream cheese between the layers of dough. It will keep every bite light and moist.

Buttermilk Biscuits

*Substitute buttermilk, light cream, or heavy cream for the whole milk, if you prefer; use enough of whatever liquid you choose to bring the dough together readily, without you having to work it too much. The higher-fat liquid you use, the more tender and richer-tasting your biscuits will be.

Make sure your butter is at the correct temperature – use unsalted butter softened to room temperature for creaming and cold, unsalted butter for biscuits and pastries that require butter to be rubbed into the flour.

This quick and easy buttermilk substitute is incredibly simple, and my hope is that you have what you need at home already. Here's what you need: Lemon juice OR vinegar. Fresh or bottled lemon juice OR distilled white vinegar will work equally well.

After testing hundreds of biscuits, the Southern Living Test Kitchen cooks found that grating a frozen stick of butter with the large holes of a box grater made the best dough and was much faster too. The ice-cold shreds of butter incorporate into the flour more evenly, improving the dough's flavor and texture.

Yes, you can swap them in a recipe, but it's not as simple as switching buttermilk for heavy cream/heavy cream for buttermilk. For example, if you're replacing buttermilk with heavy cream you'll probably need to switch out your baking soda for baking powder.

Should butter be cold for biscuits? ›

Use Cold Butter for Biscuits

This makes the biscuits airy and flaky on the inside. We default to our Land O Lakes® Salted Butter when baking biscuits.

Make-Ahead Method. Method #1: Prepare the dough and cut the biscuits. Refrigerate for up to 2 days prior to baking. Alternatively, you can prepare the dough and complete the folding steps, cover the dough with plastic wrap and cut the biscuits prior to baking.

Shortening traps more air bubbles and has a higher melting point than butter, so recipes using shortening tend to produce baked goods with more lift and that hold their shape during baking. Interior texture will also be softer and lighter.

High-fat butter, such as Kerrygold Butter, is best. The rich fat from the butter releases water when the biscuits are baking which is what contributes to the beautiful layers and flakiness that we love about biscuits.

However, the flavor that butter gives biscuits is what makes it so desirable of an ingredient. A biscuit made with primarily shortening is soft, light, and fluffy throughout. There is less flakiness going on, but the entire texture is pillow like.

When it comes to biscuits, lard gives them the perfect texture. Easy to make, these savory biscuits can be on your table in less than 20 minutes. Ideal to accompany soups and stews, the biscuits are also great with eggs and sausage, and any leftover biscuits can be reheated on a skillet.