These biscuits are sooo fluffy and light! They are very easy to make and are perfect for breakfast, brunch or even with fruit and whipped cream as a delicious dessert.
Hi everybody! This is my first recipe up on a Spoonful of Smiles and honestly, there is no better recipe to start with. I love biscuits and they are one of the first things I started baking on my own. I have tried many recipes and served many weekend eggs, bacon, and biscuit brunches. I created this recipe over a year ago and have made many changes to get the perfect biscuit. Substituting some of the milk with heavy cream makes these biscuits extra fluffy.
How to make biscuits
There are a few special tricks I always use to make these biscuits extra fluffy. The first I learned at a summer baking class I took when we made strawberry shortcake biscuits. Instead of using only a pastry blender to incorporate the butter into the flour, we used our fingers to flatten each piece of butter. A pastry blender is a great way to start cutting up your butter, but it tends to roll up each piece of butter which results in less flaky biscuits. By flattening the butter pieces, you allow the butter to create thin layers in the dough. When it bakes, the butter layers will create small pockets of air and get the perfect fluffy biscuits.
To make the process faster, I start with cubes of butter and then start to break them up with the pastry blender. Then I search the mixture for any large pieces and flatten them. Finally, I take a handful of dough and rub my hands together. I found that this can flatten a lot of the butter at once.
After the butter is fully incorporated into the dough, (you can tell the dough is ready when it looks like a coarse meal rather than butter in flour), you add the wet ingredients and combine.
There are two ways to form your biscuits. You can roll them up by hand in balls and bake them for a more homemade looking biscuit similar to the ones in this post. These biscuits have more texture and a the crumbly top breaks away in delicious pieces.
The second way to form your biscuits is slightly longer. It involves rolling out your dough into a rectangle and folding it into thirds. You then roll out the dough again and repeat this process about 3-6 times. This is an extra step you can take to get even more layers in your biscuits, just keep in mind that the longer the dough is out, the less cold your butter will be.
After you roll out your dough the final time (about 1/2-1 inch thick, depending on how tall you want your biscuits to be. In the video I do 1/2 in thick and they are still very fluffy), use a circular cutter or glass to cut out your biscuits. These biscuits have a smooth top and are perfectly shaped.
For extra deliciousness, sprinkle with kosher or flaky salt before baking and/or brush with melted butter as soon as the biscuits are pulled out of the oven.
Both methods create the most delicious, fluffy biscuits you will ever taste and are sure to impress! To see these methods in action, take a look at the video below. Thank you for reading my post! Be sure to share in the comments how your baking went or tag me on instagram. I can’t wait for you to try these biscuits!
The Perfect Biscuits
Description
These biscuits are sooo fluffy and light! They are very easy to make and are perfect for breakfast, brunch or even with fruit and whipped cream as a delicious dessert.
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
- Cut your cold butter into cubes or grate with a grater. If butter becomes soft, place it in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Drop the butter into the dry mixture, tossing to evenly distribute. Start breaking up the butter pieces with a pastry cutter or fork. (If you grated your butter skip to the next step)
- Using your hands, flatten each piece of butter until there are no more large chunks or rounded pieces. Work quickly as to not warm the butter too much. Your mixture should resemble a coarse meal texture.
- Create a well in the center of you mixture and pour in the milk and heavy cream. Gently combine. Do not overwork the dough, if there is still some flour that did not fully incorporate that is ok.
- Forming your biscuits option #1: Scoop a portion of your dough that can fit in your palm comfortably. Gently roll into a ball and place on a baking tray lined with parchment. Lightly pat down the tops of the biscuits.
- Forming your biscuits option #2: Remove your dough and any leftover flour from your bowl and place onto a flat surface. Gently roll or pat out the dough into a rectangle about 1/2 to 1 inch in thickness. Fold the dough into thirds over itself and flatten again. Repeat this step 3 to 6 times. Cut out biscuits using a circular cutter or glass with around a 3.5 inch diameter. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment.
- Optional: Sprinkle kosher or flaky salt over the tops of your biscuits. Bake at 400° F for 10 minutes until a light golden brown.
- While biscuits are still warm, brush with melted unsalted butter if you wish. Best served warm. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- If you would like to make this recipe vegan, substitute the milk and heavy cream for non-dairy milk and the butter with non-dairy butter or shortening of your choice. Make sure your butter substitute is very cold, if you need to place it in the freezer 5 to 10 minutes before beginning this recipe.