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First and foremost
This is Joanna Gaines’ recipe.
Not mine.
I am simply sharing the amazingness of this biscuit recipe (or what we thought was amazing; you may think otherwise)
Texture of these biscuits
THEY AREN’T FLAKY BISCUITS.
Their texture is tender and more dense and doughy in the center.
If you’re expecting flaky biscuits, please tame your expectations!
What we thought
Joanna Gaines is brilliant. I wish I could take credit for these fluffy, buttery biscuits but I owe all the credit to her.
These biscuits were beyond anything I’ve ever tasted from a biscuit. In fact, these biscuits reminded me of biscuits you get at a southern cafe or a fried chicken fast food place.
I know you might think that it’s demeaning to compare homemade biscuits to a fast food place but I think that’s what she was going for.
She wanted you to be able to make the buttery, tender, fluffy biscuits you get at fast food places or restaurants right in your own home.
About the most fluffy and buttery biscuits ever!
Joanna Gaines certainly achieved what she set out to do. These biscuits were melt in your mouth and I could not get enough of them.
At first I thought I was going to halve this recipe, because it said it made 20, and I’m so glad I didn’t because that would have been a terrible decision.
In one sitting, I ate three biscuits. Everyone who came over had at least two on their plate. I had only eight biscuits left at the end of the night!
What you can serve the biscuits with
I made black pepper sausage gravy to go on top of the biscuits because all biscuits should be served with white gravy, jam, or clotted cream.
I couldn’t find clotted cream around here, even at the British market. I think it was the wedding of Harry and Meghan that caused all the clotted cream to be sold out!
How easy are these biscuits?
The biscuits were pretty easy to make. Standard butter, flour, pastry cutter.
It does require at least 30 minutes chill time so keep that in mind if you are making this for breakfast.
You can keep it in the fridge overnight too if you are prepping ahead of time.
If you are putting them in the fridge overnight, just know they may not rise as high as they normally would.
Can you freeze them?
I would cut them out into biscuit shapes and either put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (if you have the freezer space for a big baking sheet) or put them in a plastic bag then freeze up to three weeks.
Is this THE fluffy biscuit recipe?
I believe they are.
I have made this recipe countless times already and I haven’t had an issue with rise or fluffiness.
They always come out fluffy and tender.
Baking is a science and it can be finnicky.
If your biscuits don’t come out fluffy, there are a multitude of reasons that this could be happening.
I try to address it below and I hope your biscuits come out fluffy!
High rise!
They really rise high. I think the key is to use self-rising flour AND additional baking powder AND baking soda.
They were still incredibly tender and fluffy, though.
I can’t stop dreaming of these.
Mine didn’t rise as high as yours. Mine are flat!
Hard for me to say why. There are so many factors.
Did you use buttermilk? It reacts to the baking soda and baking powder to help with the rise.
How old is your baking soda and baking powder?
See below on baking powder for more information.
Did you use self-raising or regular flour?
Truly every oven is different, too. That could affect the rise.
Additionally, overworking the dough can affect the rise too.
Another reason your biscuits might not be as fluffy or have a high rise. The SCIENCE behind baking powder.
The TYPE of baking powder makes a huge difference in your fluffy biscuits.
Baking powders can be fast-acting, slow-acting, or double-acting, depending on the acid or acids they contain, according to Shirley Corriher.
“Some acids react with liquid, while others react with heat. Double-acting powders usually contain two acids—one for liquid, the other for heat.”
And there we have it.
What kind of baking powder did you use?
I use double-acting, aluminum-free baking powder (see more below on aluminum-free).
Aluminum-free baking powders react with liquid and not with heat.
This makes them faster acting because as soon as you add the liquid (buttermilk, which has acid in it so it reacts kind of like how when you mix baking soda and vinegar together), you gotta move fast and get these into the oven promptly because most of the bubbles (reaction) are released shortly after mixing.
However, if you use baking powders with aluminum, their action is delayed until you put them in the oven.
So there is definitely a trade-off.
If your biscuits are flat or not as fluffy or high-rise as mine, I highly suggest you take a look at your baking powder!
Mine have a metallic taste
I highly suggest using aluminum-free baking powder.
Since you are using so much baking powder in this, if you don’t buy aluminum-free (I think they mostly all are aluminum-free these days but check the label), you’ll get that metallic taste.
There isn’t enough salt in these
Honestly, this is not my recipe. They’re Joanna Gaines’. I made them just as written and we didn’t think they needed more salt.
There’s already so much salted butter in this that I feel if I added more salt, I would be eating straight salt.
Everyone’s salt preference is different, too. If you are used to eating higher sodium food, then your tastebuds will automatically think something less salty is bland.
If you think these need more salt after tasting them, I would suggest adding a sprinkle of salt to your biscuit before you take a bite or sprinkle it on top of the butter or jam.
I would have kept the entire tray for myself had it not been for cookbook club ;)
Go grab all the ingredients and these biscuits this weekend. You will NOT regret that decision. Not one bit.
Other recipes to go along with these fluffy biscuits!
Blackberry lemon jam or blueberry lavender jam on top of these biscuits would be the perfect addition with some salted butter or clotted cream!
Jalapeño mango jam would be a spicy, sweet yet flavorful kick!
Vanilla honey peach butter sounds so decadent and good.
The Most Fluffy and Buttery Biscuits Ever
Ingredients
- 4 cups (500 g) self-rising flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 tablespoons baking powder, (see blog post above for more details; use double-acting, aluminum-free baking powder)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ pound (340 g) (3 sticks) SALTED butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 large eggs, beaten PLUS 1 large egg for brushing
- 1 ½ cups (355 ml) buttermilk, plus more as needed and for brushing
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Add the butter and using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until pea-like crumbs form.
- Stir in the beaten eggs with a wooden spoon until just combined. Then pour in the buttermilk until the dough comes together into a sticky mass. You may need more buttermilk if it's still too dry and there is flour still at the bottom of your bowl. I ended up having to add in 1/2 cup more. DO NOT add 1/2 cup more all at the same time. Do 1 tablespoon at a time until the right consistency is reached.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- When ready, preheat oven to 400 °F (204 °C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Dust a little flour onto your work surface then put the dough onto the work surface and use your hands (flour them) to press into a round, roughly 14 inch diameter and 1/2 inch thick. See photos in the blog post.
- Use a floured 2 3/4-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out about 20 biscuits. Reform the scraps of dough into a circle again to cut more.
- Transfer biscuits to prepared baking sheet and arrange them so they are touching each other. See photos in the blog post.
- In a small dish, beat together remaining egg and buttermilk then brush on top of the biscuits.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
- Let cool slightly before devouring! They’re best eaten out of the oven, day of.
- Serve with your favorite sausage gravy, jam, or clotted cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi Julie! I halved the recipe but my biscuits came out flat and had a funky bitter taste to them. Has this ever happened to you?? Any ideas on why? I used a high quality butter and I don’t think my buttermilk is bad, but i read that the baking soda or powder can do this at times?
Perhaps! I’m thinking maybe the buttermilk is contributing to this since technically it’s soured milk. Perhaps next time use half buttermilk and half whole milk?
I am always on the lookout for biscuit recipes. I just made these and while I loved the texture and buttery flavor there was a hint of sourness from all the baking soda/ baking powder.
Wonder if I cut back a little on those, it would help without ruining the wonderful fluffiness?
I think the sourness you’re getting is from the buttermilk since it’s technically soured milk. Perhaps use half buttermilk and half whole milk next time?
So, can u add cream of tartar to this recipe? I would like to do half of th recipe and add cream of tartar.
I have never done that before so I have no idea how it would turn out if you added cream of tartar. Sorry!
Have you ever made these the night before and refrigerated? I’m preparing a large breakfast and would like to do as much the night before, if possible, but not at the risk of messing up this glorious recipe.
Hi Jen! So, I went to check the cookbook and you can make them the night before and refrigerate them overnight for the next morning!
Here is an excellent recipe for clotted cream. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/257734/chef-johns-clotted-cream/. I have been able to get three 5ib. bags of White Lily Self Rising Flour for $15.00 on Amazon
Great! Thanks
So my external hard drive broke and on it was my recipes I was combining for myself into a digital book. Well my biscuit recipe was of course on the drive. I have tried 6 different recipes before this one trying to make biscuits like my g’ma. THESE ARE HANDS DWN BETTER THAN MY G’MAS. Dont get me wrong, her biscuits were amazing, but these have taken the cake. Id probably catch a backhand if she were here and she heard me say that. But im sure she’d have to agree.
oh this makes me so happy to hear!!!
In my experience this was the worst biscuit recipe I’ve tried and I’ve tried several! I have a great biscuit recipe but I’m always looking for different ones to try. That being said the biscuits I usually make are tall and flaky – I know how to not over work my dough. This biscuit was cornbread like and my husband cooked canned biscuits cause these were so bad. I read comments and I’m glad this recipe worked for some but I’ll just stick to my usual recipe in the future.
Sorry to hear that!
I made them just as the recipe says and they turned out great. You just barely mix the dough .maybe. Something went wrong there?
They look good but why are you putting more baking powder and baking soda in self rising flour since it is already in there?
Please read the blog post. It says it’s for the high rise in the biscuits.
3 sticks of butter isn’t that a lot of butter
Not really; it’s 4 cups of flour.
Thanks for that great recipes my biscuits were something to be proud.
Yay! You definitely should be proud!