Description
Fluffy, tender buttermilk biscuits made from scratch with cold butter, honey, and buttermilk. These classic biscuits are layered through folding to create flaky texture, baked in a cast iron skillet, and finished with a honey-butter glaze for a golden, sweet crust.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons aluminum-free baking powder (not baking soda)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons honey
- ½ cup very cold butter (1 stick), plus 1 tablespoon melted butter for brushing
- 1 cup + 3 tablespoons cold buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons honey (for honey-butter glaze)
Instructions
- Preheat the Oven: Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C) to ensure it is hot and ready for baking the biscuits.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, aluminum-free baking powder, and salt until evenly blended.
- Cut in Cold Butter: Cube the very cold butter and add it to the flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter or back of a fork to mix until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs, with visible pea-sized butter bits.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the cold buttermilk and 2 teaspoons of honey. Gently stir with a silicone spatula until just combined, taking care not to overmix, resulting in a crumbly dough.
- Fold the Dough: Transfer the dough onto a floured surface, patting it into a 9-inch rectangle. Fold the left side over the center, then fold the right side over that. Rotate and flatten again into a rectangle, repeating the fold two more times to create flaky layers.
- Cut the Biscuits: Flatten the dough to about 1 inch thickness. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out the biscuits without twisting the cutter. Lightly flour the cutter between cuts and refrigerate the cut biscuits to keep them cold before baking.
- Arrange and Bake: Place the biscuits snugly side by side in a buttered 10-inch cast iron skillet. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- Glaze and Finish Baking: Mix 2 tablespoons honey with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Brush this honey-butter mixture onto the warm biscuits. For a deeper golden finish, bake for an additional 5 minutes at 450°F (230°C).
Notes
- Use cold butter to ensure the biscuits are flaky and tender.
- Do not twist the biscuit cutter when cutting to avoid sealing edges and preventing rise.
- Folding the dough multiple times creates layers, enhancing the flakiness.
- Chilling the dough before baking helps the biscuits hold their shape and rise better.
- Aluminum-free baking powder is essential to avoid metallic taste.
