Do you have a treasured recipe that came straight from your grandma’s kitchen? If not, we invite you to try THESE biscuits—the best buttermilk biscuits ever! Tender layers of airy, buttery goodness bake up tall in the skillet. They’re just begging to get pulled apart and slathered with soft, salty-sweet butter and a little jam.
Get ’em while they’re hot!
If you’re local to Murphysboro, IL, you can get one (or a whole dozen) of these mile-high biscuits at out café, Faye. Not near Murphysboro? Make ’em yourself at home with the recipe, below or purchase from our online shop—they’re featured in the Ribs & Biscuits and Pork & Biscuits packages. And if you like our take on the best buttermilk biscuits, you can find a lot more of our favorite recipes—including some delicious compound butters and additional tips and tricks—in our book, Praise the Lard: Recipes & Revelations from a Legendary Life in Barbecue.
The Best Buttermilk Biscuits
MAKES 12 biscuits | TIME 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- • 2 cups all-purpose flour (King Arthur or White Lily), plus more for rolling
- • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled, plus 1 tablespoon for the skillet and 1 tablespoon, melted, for brushing
- • 1/2 to 3/4 cup full-fat buttermilk
Kitchen Tools:
- • pastry blender
- • bowl
- • sheet tray
- • biscuit cutter or round shape like a glass
Instructions:
- Set a 10-inch cast-iron skillet on a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 475°.
- In a large, chilled mixing bowl, whisk together the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Drop in the butter and, using a pastry cutter, cut it into the flour just until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Work quickly so the dough remains as chilled as possible.
- Add 1/2 cup of buttermilk and circle the bowl with a spatula to toss and moisten the flour. Add more buttermilk as necessary, just enough for the mixture to begin to gather into a dough but not form a single mass. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.
- Lightly flour the work surface and a rolling pin. Turn the dough out onto the work surface and gather the clumps together, folding the dough over on itself a few times. Form the dough into a disk and roll it out to a 12-inch circle that’s about 1 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits as close together as possible. Gather the scraps, re-roll, and cut as needed to form 12 biscuits.
- Carefully take the skillet out of the oven and add 1 tablespoon butter. Let it melt; swirl to coat the bottom. Arrange 9 of the biscuits against the edge of the skillet in a tight ring, then squeeze the remaining 3 biscuits into the center of the ring.
- Bake for 4 to 6 minutes, then rotate the pan and brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter. Bake for 2 to 4 more minutes, until the biscuits are golden.
- Serve immediately.
