Buttermilk Biscuits – How to Make Them Super Flakey

There's really never a bad time to enjoy a biscuit, especially when it's on a holiday like Easter.  I have always been a huge fan of southern foods like fried okra, corn pudding, hush puppies and of course biscuits.

The best biscuits are the ones that have tons of flakes, but there are a few tricks to the flakes - for one thing you need cold butter, cold flour, cold everything until the minute the go in the oven!  Want to know the other tricks?  Keep reading!

First you want to make sure you have all the ingredients ready to go and that they are cold.  Also make sure your baking powder isn't expired (this happens more than you think).

Southern cooking is simple and so are biscuits.  You just need flour, butter, buttermilk, salt and baking powder.  Not pictured here is honey, which I add a little bit of as well to add a touch of sweetness.

There are two ways to achieve perfect biscuits.  The first is to make the dough, cut the biscuits then store in the fridge until it's time to bake them.  The other option is to put the flour and chopped butter in the freezer for 20 minutes to cool it down before starting.

The colder the ingredients, the better the biscuits.

Use a Cuisinart Mixer if you have one or you can use a beater and a bowl, however I recommend the Cuisinart.  First pulse your dry ingredients, then add the cold chopped butter.

Pulse until the butter and flour mixture look like the next photo.  You don't want to over-blend - the chunks of butter will form moisture pockets in the dough we they bake, therefor allowing the flakes to form, which is also why you want cold butter so it doesn't start to melt or soften before baking.

Transfer this to a large bowl and form a big bowl in the middle of the flour mixture.  Pour the buttermilk into the hole, then squeeze a little bit of honey in there, then carefully fold the ingredients together, making sure not to over-mix.

It should look like crumbles like the photo below.

Next, sprinkle some flour on the counter and pour the dough out, forming it carefully into a rectangular shape.  Fold the left side in to the middle then the right, then press it down gently with a rolling pin.  Repeat that process one more time.

Using either a biscuit cutter or even a water glass, press down into the dough but don't twist!  Twisting will hinder the flakes to form, just press down and bring the cutter back up.

The best way to bake these is on a cast iron skillet or cast iron sheet, which makes the bottoms crispy.  If you don't have one, just go ahead and use a baking sheet and they will still be great.

You can also brush the tops of the biscuits with a little buttermilk before baking, which also makes the tops a little crispy and brown - and who doesn't love that?!

In the end, you have perfectly crispy, flakey, buttery biscuits!

You can also serve these with whipped honey butter!  Simply combine softened unsalted butter with honey and a dash of cinnamon to really wow your guests!