Buttermilk Biscuits (Unsoaked Version)
These simple buttermilk biscuits taste so good. Perfect as a side dish for dinner or for dipping into sausage gravy.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 9-14 biscuits 1x
- Category: bread
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder (where to buy)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt (I use this one)
- 2 tablespoons Sucanat or other unrefined sweetener (where to buy)
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, OR soured milk (see notes for soured/acidified milk instructions)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and sucanat together in a large bowl.
- Cut in the cold butter until you have pea-sized butter chunks. (Or, try grating frozen butter with a cheese grater and adding the shreds into the flour.)
- Add just enough buttermilk (or soured milk) to make a heavy, wet dough.
- “Knead” the dough lightly- only about 6-8 times-just enough to get everything to stick together. Do not overknead. Pat the dough out on a well-floured surface to approximately one inch thick. Use a floured glass or mason jar ring to cut into circles.
- Place on an ungreased baking stone or cookie sheet. I like to leave the edges slightly touching as it makes for a softer biscuit. If you prefer crunchier biscuits, then spread them out a bit more.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Use cold butter. This is important to ensure that you end up with a nice, flaky biscuit.
Do not overknead. The heat of your hands will cause the butter to warm up- this makes the biscuits tough. And nobody likes tough biscuits.
Do not overbake. At my house, we prefer soft, tender, biscuits– not hockey-pucks. Therefore, always be sure to set your oven timer for several minutes less than the recipe calls for. I usually pull mine from the oven when the bottoms are golden brown. Generally, the tops are not brown. If you wait that long, you will usually end up with a crunchy hockey puck.
Buttermilk Alternative: Take 1 & 1/3 cups whole milk and 1 tbsp. vinegar OR lemon juice. By adding acid to the milk, it will curdle the milk and work with making the biscuits rise.
