Description
Perfectly flaky and buttery homemade biscuits with golden tops and soft centers. These classic biscuits come together in just 30 minutes and require simple pantry ingredients for a quick side dish that pairs beautifully with any meal.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder (aluminum free)
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt (fine sea salt recommended)
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp) cold unsalted butter
- 1 cup half and half (minus 2 Tbsp)*
Instructions
- Prepare the Butter: Dice butter into 1/2″ cubes and refrigerate until needed. Cold butter is essential for creating those flaky layers in your biscuits, so make sure it stays chilled until the moment you need it.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Whisk thoroughly to ensure all ingredients are evenly distributed. This step is crucial as it helps the biscuits rise properly and have a consistent flavor.
- Cut in the Butter: Add diced cold butter to the flour mixture and cut it into the flour using a pastry blender (or two knives or a fork), until the largest butter pieces are pea-sized. The small pieces of butter will create steam pockets during baking, resulting in flaky layers.
- Add Liquid: Pour in 1 cup minus 2 Tbsp of half and half all at once and stir until mixture comes together and is mostly moistened. Do not over-mix as this will develop gluten and make your biscuits tough rather than tender.
- Fold the Dough: Turn dough out onto a floured surface. If dough is very sticky, lightly sprinkle the top with flour. Pat dough into a rectangle then fold it in half and pat into another rectangle. Fold a second time and pat into a 5″x10″ rectangle or 3/4″ thickness. This folding technique creates multiple layers that will puff up during baking.
- Cut Biscuits: Dip a 2 1/2″ round biscuit cutter into flour and cut out 8 biscuits. Pull together scraps and form into a rectangle to cut an extra 2 biscuits. Press straight down when cutting and avoid twisting the cutter, which can seal the edges and prevent proper rising.
- Bake to Perfection: Place biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet 1-inch apart and bake at 450˚F for 12-15 minutes or until tops are golden brown and biscuits are baked through. The high temperature quickly creates steam from the butter, helping the biscuits rise.
- Finish with Butter: While biscuits are hot, brush tops with 1/2 Tbsp melted butter. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes then serve. The final butter brush adds shine, flavor, and softens the tops beautifully.
Notes
- You can substitute half and half with equal parts heavy cream and milk.
- In very humid climates, reduce the amount of half and half to 3/4 cup.
- For best results, keep all ingredients cold until ready to use.
- Cut straight down with your biscuit cutter without twisting for higher rise.
- These biscuits freeze well – freeze unbaked cut biscuits and bake from frozen, adding 3-5 minutes to the baking time.
- For extra flaky biscuits, chill the cut biscuits for 30 minutes before baking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 biscuit
- Calories: 210kcal
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 320mg
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
