This buttermilk biscuit recipe from my grandmothers is so simple to make and are ready in 20 minutes. You can easily make them vegan or lactose-free.
Equipment | Oven |
Difficulty | Easy |
Recipe for making biscuits straight from two southern grandmothers.
"Buttermilk biscuit recipe" is kind of a strong term for what I wrote down from both of my grandmothers many years ago. It would be more accurate to say "vague biscuit estimation" full of all kinds of specific terms like "about this much buttermilk" and "until it looks like that". Regardless, an interesting thing is that both grandmothers used a nearly identical recipe! Er-- same proportions-ish of the same-ish ingredients, anyway.
Easy to make vegan buttermilk biscuits? Biscuit recipe with no butter??
The difference between the recipes was in the fat used. Neither grandmother used butter! One of them used canola oil, and the other said that while shortening is supposed to make a better biscuit, she always used vegetable oil. So that means that the family method is both more forgiving, super easy to use for a vegan biscuit recipe, and easily lactose-free when made with lactose-free or non-dairy milk!
Substitutions:
Substitute for self-rising flour: For the 2 1/4 cups of flour in this recipe use instead 2 1/8 cups all purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp baking soda.
Substitute for buttermilk: If you don't have buttermilk on hand you can either use a scant 3/4 cup milk or non-dairy milk with 2 tsp lemon juice added and allowed to sit for 10 minutes. If you want more information for a dairy-free version (and a version that tastes more like real buttermilk) you can use my recipe for vegan buttermilk. Do not use regular milk, the acidity of the buttermilk is necessary to react with the baking powder for the biscuit to rise.
Pro tips and variations!
Savory pies crust: One thing I actually really enjoy using this biscuit recipe for is to make crusts for savory pies. Pie crust is finicky and takes a while to make, but biscuits can be made so quickly and are pretty forgiving. They will rise while baking quite a bit more than pie crust, but they also have a flakier texture, which we think is quite nice. Usually, I just use it to make a top crust and leave the bottom crustless (for calories sake).
To make a top crust I roll the biscuits thinner and somewhat larger than the pan, then I cut rows of half-moon shapes using a round drinking glass and slightly overlap them on the top of the pie to make a scalloped top. If you want to make a bottom crust one recipe should be enough, but you will probably need to make another half recipe of biscuits to roll out for the top crust. Be careful not to roll them too much or they will get tough, one-and-done is best, if possible.
How to make drop biscuits: If you don't want to risk rolling out the biscuit dough and just need buttermilk biscuits, stat, then you can make drop biscuits. For drop biscuits you need to use an extra 2 Tbs (30ml) of milk in the recipe. Mix all the ingredients together like the regular recipe. After the loose ball forms in your mixing bowl, use a scoop or a large spoon to scoop up round mounds of dough and drop them directly onto your chosen cooking pan. Bake as usual.
How to make dumplings: If you want to add dumplings to a soup (for example: chicken and dumplings) you can either make the regular biscuit recipe, then tear it into dumpling-sized pieces and drop them into your boiling soup, or you can make the drop biscuits and drop them into your boiling soup. Boil them until they are cooked through, about 10-12 minutes. They will expand a lot, so be sure you have plenty of room in your soup pot. I recommend breaking them apart from each other after they have set up and turning them over while they cook so they cook evenly, but don't mess with them too much or too early, or they will start to disintegrate.
Let's Begin:
Gather the ingredients. Preheat oven to 450F/230C. Oil an 8in (20cm) round cake pan, or use oil or parchment paper on a cookie sheet, or you can use a cast iron skillet. My dad's mom always made her buttermilk biscuits in her round cast iron skillet and so they never came out round because they all rose against each other in the oven. My dad once joked that round biscuits weird him out!
Add to a mixing bowl the 2 cups self-rising flour, 1/4 cup neutral-flavored oil, and 3/4 cup buttermilk or vegan buttermilk. Just dump it all together, no need to make extra dishes. One of the benefits of using oil instead of butter (aside from easily converting this to a lactose-free or vegan biscuit recipe) is that it is extremely forgiving and you don't have to worry about the temperature of the oil
Gently stir and lightly squeeze the ingredients with your fingers until everything is just combined and forming a loose ball. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with your fingers, you don't want any dry flour hiding in the corners.
The loose ball of dough is ready to be rolled! There is no dry flour and you can see the layers forming.
Lightly flour a surface and turn the ball out onto it. Pat or lightly roll the ball into a disk about 3/4in (2cm) thickness. If the dough is trying to stick, lightly sprinkle the top with a little more flour. My grandmother said it is important to only roll it once or else it will become tough, so try to get it in one go.
Use a cookie cutter or drinking glass about 2in (5cm) in diameter to cut overlapping rounds out of the dough. Do not worry about making perfect circles because it will end up wasting dough. I like using this small beer glass because it has a narrow rim and cuts nicely. If you try to pat the scraps together and roll them out for a second cutting they will become tough, so just do the best you can. Sometimes I roll the scraps into a loose ball and bake it with the rest as a little snack for myself when they come fresh out of the oven.
Place the cut biscuits into the cake pan (or cookie sheet, as in the next picture, or cast iron skillet) and leave a little space between them to rise. No need for them to be perfectly round. Bake them in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
Or you can put them on a cookie sheet, with a small amount of space in between. Again, there is no reason to worry about making them perfectly round. Unless you're making them for in-laws... then it might be worth the time and effort and not worry about a little dough wastage and to use a cookie sheet. Bake them in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
When they are finished baking, turn the biscuits out onto a wire rack. Enjoy while still warm with country gravy, honey, butter, or jam.
What to serve with buttermilk biscuits?
These are an absolutely necessary staple for any full southern breakfast spread. They would traditionally be served as a main breakfast dish smothered in country gravy, or as a breakfast side or dessert served with butter, honey, or jam for spreading. Spreading butter and strawberry jam on fresh baked, warm, homemade biscuits is such a wonderful experience. If you need ideas for other things to serve with your biscuits, I suggest you try;
Fried or Scrambled Eggs
Country Gravy
Sausage, Breakfast Sausage, or Bacon
Hashbrowns
Cornbread Muffins
Pancakes
Fresh Coffee
Fruit Salad
Etc.
You can also use biscuits like sandwich bread to make little sandwiches. They work well as mini BLTs, or using lunchmeat and cheese, or for things such as pulled pork or barbeque. I personally think they work better for savory sandwiches without a very wet filling, but that could just be me.
Storage.
These can be stored in a freezer bag or airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days. They need to stay in something airtight or else they will dry out quickly. Be sure they are completely cool before storing them because if they steam themselves in the bag they will go bad faster.
Can I freeze them? Yes! This is a great candidate for freezing. They are good in the freezer for 1-2 months.
How to reheat them? These are best reheated in a toaster over or full-sized oven, or toasted open-faced in a skillet. Microwaving them is a bad idea and will yield cardboard.
Memories.
I remember waking up in the house of my Arkansas grandmother and going to the kitchen to find a steaming pan of fresh homemade biscuits. As soon as you showed up in the kitchen she would make you an egg and sausage or bacon or toast, whatever you wanted. As more family members emerged the biscuits would disappear and she would make a fresh pan. If she made gravy it was in the smallest pan and she would have to repeatedly make more, it was not very efficient!
On especially lucky days she would make a biscuit variation she called "sugar babies". For these she would pat the biscuits out flat after cutting them, then put a spoonful of sugar, a pat of butter, a drizzle of vanilla, and, in every other one, a sprinkle of cocoa powder. Then she would fold the edges to the top and pinch them closed around the fillings and would bake them in her cast iron skillet. Those dudes were good. If many family members were around she would make pan after pan as they evaporated into thin air, but the best was when you were the only person there and could share a quiet pan together with her in the sunny breakfast room.
My Texas grandmother was an expert at eggs sunny-side-up. I remember she had this huge pan and would make a pile of bacon, before using all the bacon grease to fry the eggs. She would pour the hot bacon fat carefully over the tops of the eggs to cook them to perfection while never flipping them. Unlike my Arkansas grandmother she worked a lot more efficiently and would make a mass quantity all at one time. Emphasis on "mass quantity" there was always plenty to go around!
We always sat down all together at the table in that house. There at the table we could pass the absolute vat of sausage gravy and the hills of eggs and bacon. Pitchers of ice tea and fresh brewed coffee were always available in the mornings, and paired beautifully with the homey goodness of the breakfast food, the lively conversation, and the raucous laughter.
It was not very healthy food, now that I look back on it! Obviously, we don't eat like that anymore, and haven't in years. Wonderful memories though. Do you have any happy memories of buttermilk biscuits in the kitchen with your grandmother? I would love to hear them in the comments! We can enjoy the nostalgia together!
Final Thoughts.
It's so easy and fast to learn how to make biscuits from scratch that anyone can do it. Homemade biscuits taste way better than the store ones and are significantly cheaper. Honestly, biscuits are an incredibly affordable food to make and can really stretch a meal on a tight dollar. Plus! They don't have any weird additives of preservatives in them. If you can quickly make a food that would otherwise be popped out of an over-priced cannister, then it's probably worthwhile to give it a try. Anyone can make this homemade biscuit recipe!
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