There is (almost) nothing better than fresh, homemade biscuits from scratch! And once you’ve got the basic recipe down pat, you can alter the biscuits for some sweet and savory twists. Add a bit of honey and orange zest to the batter for a sweet brunch addition. Or mix in some cheddar and bacon for a salty explosion in your mouth. Having a good biscuit recipe in your arsenal leads the way to endless tasty possibilities!
Buttermilk Biscuits — from Alton Brown, Good Eats The Early Years
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Using your fingertips, rub the butter and shortening into the dry goods until it resembles coarse crumbs. You can also use a pastry cutter for this, but I find that using the fingertip method makes for a better biscuit.
Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir with a large spoon until the dough just comes together. Then knead in the bowl until all the flour has been taken up.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently kneed until the dough is soft and smooth.
Press dough into a 1 inch thick round. (Make sure that it is about 1 inch thick. If it is too thin, the biscuits won’t flake up and you’ll end up with biscuit hockey pucks.) Using a 3 inch cutter, or 3 inch wide glass, cut out the biscuits, being sure to press the cutter all the way through.
Place the biscuits on a lightly greased pan. Use your thumb to create a shallow dimple in the top center of each biscuit. (According to Alton Brown, this helps to ensure flat tops on the finished biscuit).
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until biscuits are tall and light gold on top.
Buttermilk biscuits are truly a classic…they are one of the few foods I go crazy over even though I’m normally paleo/gluten free. Biscuits with almond flour don’t have the same fluffiness and levity of the traditional flour biscuits! Love the suggestion of orange zest and honey. I can imagine waking up to a basket of these at a B&B somewhere!
Thanks Alicia!! Yeah…I love them! And honey should almost always go with biscuits 😉 (And pretty much every other bread too, lol!)
I have never made biscuits from scratch using shortening…must be about time to try! I will never be a true Southerner if I can’t make a biscuit! I do trust you and Alton, so I’ll give it a go!
Jenna, I actually never made biscuits before living in Texas… I think you’re right about the “true Southerner” idea…it’s actually what helped inspired me to start making biscuits! 😉
A lovely post! And my late mother-in-law always said you could tell a good cook by the biscuits…
Thanks so much Lindy! And I think your mother-in-law was onto something! 😉
Kenley
they look a bit like British scones, are they similar? do you cut them in half and put cream and jam on them? the cheese ones are also very good
They are much fluffier and more airy than scones. With that — you still lather them with cream, jam, honey, etc. 😉
Kenley
You just incepted a very intense NEED BISCUITS NOW craving! These look amazing, girl!
HAHA!! Thanks Eileen! 🙂
These look soooo delish. Especially for someone like me who is NOT a baker (yet) and is mystified when people are able to make fluffy beautiful things in the oven instead of burned, crispy rocks….
Thanks Sarah! Baking just takes practice… but I think you’ll get to the fluffy beautiful stage! 😉
These look and sound great.
Thanks Cynthia!
I just said out loud, “Aw yeah, biscuits!”. So, there you go! 🙂
Ha! I will take that as a great compliment! 😉
Your biscuits sound great, I am going to try this recipe. I am biscuit challenged. Your biscuits look light and fluffy.
Thanks! It’s a good recipe. Make sure that they are an inch high and that you do the finger dimple technique. The first time I made them I didn’t have them 1 inch thick and they were not so light and fluffy! lol
Kenley
These sound SO good! Nothing’s better than a biscuit.
Thanks Megan!! And right you are (though I would argue that bacon is in the same league!)
This sounds delicious! We love sweet biscuits with a little bit of honey 🙂
Thanks! Yum, yum — love honey on biscuits 🙂
Kenley
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I love biscuits! Either with a meal, dipped in soup, or just by itself! Biscuits are dangerous though, I can never stop at just one!
You are so right! They’re worse than Pringles 😉 (And way better tasting!)
Thanks for stopping by!
Kenley
Aw…I love biscuits like this. They are gorgeous! Kenley.
Thanks Danny! Appreciate that. 🙂
buttermilk biscuits! yummy! 🙂 something I need to try very soon! I haven’t had biscuits for a long time! yours look so fluffy; I’m sure they taste amazing Kenley!
Aw, Thanks Ingrid! The trick is definitely to make sure that there is enough thickness in the dough.
Kenley
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