15 Min. American Biscuits (Southern Style) | Salty Side Dish Recipes

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These easy homemade southern biscuits (also known as American biscuits) complement a white biscuit gravy recipe. Incredibly simple ingredients and with no need for self-rising flour or yeast,  baking powder biscuits are flakey,  buttery, and tender 

Perfect for eating alone, as a side dish, or to soak up all that gravy goodness, golden brown homemade biscuits over canned biscuits or frozen biscuits are worth the extra effort in the morning. 

Why you will love Homemade Oven Biscuits

There is no doubt that fluffy homemade biscuits seem intimidating. All bread, in some ways, can feel very overwhelming in the kitchen. But you will love making these homemade American biscuits because the truth is they are EASY. 

No rising, no unique, complicated ingredients, these biscuits are a mix, oven-baked, and second away from being the best breakfast you have ever had. These simple buttermilk biscuits are a US classic, the perfect family-friendly and filling breakfast recipe.

Lastly, this biscuit recipe needs very little kitchen expertise, so from novice to expert, your chances of making perfect tender biscuits are pretty good.

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour – No need for self-rising or cake flour. Simple all-purpose plain flour is what you need for this biscuit recipe.
• Baking powder and baking soda – Baking powder and baking soda help the biscuit rise. They are activated differently in the recipe, and you need both.
• Salt
• Cold butter – Cut butter into small cubes. Pieces of butter are essential to perfect Southern biscuits.
• Cold buttermilk – Buttermilk is the cream left from churning butter. You can usually find it in the cold aisle near heavy whipping cream or milk.  

Get a Biscuit Round

While there are many ways to cut a biscuit, I love having a 3 inch biscuit round in the kitchen. The biscuits are perfect every time.

Get yours here.

How to make Breakfast Biscuits (for Gravy)

Preheat the oven to 450. 

1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl and mix well.
2. Add cold butter and a pastry blender to blend the batter into the butter. Do not overmix.
3. Make a well into the center of the batter and add buttermilk.
4. Mix just until the dough comes together. It will be pretty sticky at this point. 

5. Add flour onto a hard surface and fold the dough over 6-8 times on the floured surface. Do not overwork the biscuit dough, as you do not want it to heat up while prepping. 
6. Shape into a 1″ thick flat round. Use a 3″ biscuit cutter to cut dough into nine rounds. Place onto a baking sheet or in a cast iron pan, with biscuits not touching.
7. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. 
8. Cool slightly before serving warm biscuits with Gravy, jelly, or honey. 

How to serve American Biscuits

First, biscuits need to be served warm. The density of the bread causes them to mold into little solid bricks when cooled down, so right out of the oven is best. 

Biscuits in America are typically served with sausage gravy, bacon gravy, or white Gravy. They are also commonly a side dish to which you add jelly or slabs of butter. We are partial to this brown sugar butter recipe or a beurre noisette recipe (burnt butter) if you are eating alone. 

Biscuits also make great substitutions for bread to create egg sandwiches. 

How many biscuits does this recipe make? 

The dough should make 9 biscuits but the cast iron pan we used only had room for 7. 

Can I substitute milk for buttermilk?

No. In this biscuit recipe, you won’t have the same result. However, this masterclass article gives you a few recipe ideas if buttermilk isn’t an option. Please note that changing ingredients in a recipe can change the outcome. 

Are biscuits and scones the same thing? 

Absolutely not. And depending on what part of the world you are in, biscuits and biscuits are not the same! Biscuits in the UK are typically what we call Cookies or Digestive crackers in the US.

The closest item to a biscuit in the UK is called a scone. A scone in the US tends to be sweeter. Basically, none of us can agree on what food we are eating! 

Related Breakfast Recipes

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American Biscuits (Southern Style)

Author:

Trisha Haas – Salty Side Dish

5

from

5

votes

Prep Time

10

mins

Cook Time

15

mins

Servings:

9

biscuits

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

15 minute American Biscuits, a homemade Southern-Style flakey butter biscuit from the oven. Perfect for sausage gravy, jelly or just to eat.

Equipment

• pastry blender

• cast iron pan

• biscuit cutter

  3 inch round

Ingredients 

• ▢

  2

  cups

  all purpose flour

• ▢

  4

  tsp

  baking powder

• ▢

  ¼

  tsp

  baking soda

• ▢

  ¾

  tsp

  salt

• ▢

  4

  tbsp.

  cold butter

  cut into small cubes

• ▢

  1

  cup

  Buttermilk

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 450.

• In a mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and whisk well.

• Add cold butter and use a pastry blender to blend the batter into butter.

• Make a well into the center of the batter and add buttermilk.

• Mix until dough comes together. It will be sticky. Do not be tempted to overmix.

• Add flour onto a hard surface and fold the dough over 6-8 times.

• Shape into a 1″ thick flat round.

• Use a 3″ biscuit cutter to cut dough into 9 rounds.

• Place round biscuits onto a baking sheet or in a cast iron pan, with biscuits not touching.  

• Bake American biscuits for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown on tops.

• Cool slightly before serving warm with butter, honey, jelly, or gravy. Makes approximatly 9 biscuits.

Notes

Tips: 

Use the bottom of a glass if you do not have a biscuit cutter. 

Nutrition

Serving:

1

biscuit

Calories:

119

kcal

Carbohydrates:

23

g

Protein:

4

g

Fat:

1

g

Saturated Fat:

1

g

Polyunsaturated Fat:

1

g

Monounsaturated Fat:

1

g

Cholesterol:

3

mg

Sodium:

441

mg

Potassium:

66

mg

Fiber:

1

g

Sugar:

1

g

Vitamin A:

44

IU

Calcium:

139

mg

Iron:

1

mg

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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