Pioneer Woman's Buttermilk Biscuits • Steamy Kitchen Recipes Giveaways (2024)

FAQs

Why aren t my buttermilk biscuits fluffy? ›

Use a heavy hand when working in the butter, but a light hand when working in the buttermilk. Too much stirring makes tough biscuits. Try to add the least amount of buttermilk as possible; too much moisture in a biscuits makes them not rise as high.

I've experienced a more crumbly product which comes from a dough that is too dry, by just a little bit more buttermilk. Also, be sure to adequately blend your butter/shortening with your flour. Don't use bread flour or cake flour- all purpose is just fine.

Use Cold Butter for Biscuits

For flaky layers, use cold butter. When you cut in the butter, you have coarse crumbs of butter coated with flour. When the biscuit bakes, the butter will melt, releasing steam and creating pockets of air. This makes the biscuits airy and flaky on the inside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut in cold butter until mixture is crumbly and about the size of peas. Gradually add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and gently knead 3 to 4 times.

A hot 425° oven helps give the biscuits a nice oven spring, or initial rise caused by the reaction to the heat. Eat them fresh. Biscuits are best hot right out of the oven.

White wheat in general is around 9-12% protein, while the hard reds are 11-15%. As far as brands of flour, White Lily “all-purpose” flour has been my go-to for biscuit making. It's a soft red winter wheat, and the low protein and low gluten content keep biscuits from becoming too dense.

Yogurt provides both hydration and structure, for biscuits that bake up straight and tall but moist. Baking soda neutralizes some of the yogurt's acidity, helping the biscuits to brown.

I seal my made-from-scratch buttermilk biscuits in a ziploc baggie (take the air out) and they can last for three or four days before drying out to the point where they're no longer good. Don't wrap them in towels once everyone is done eating them unless you want them to dry out very quickly.

What happens if you use milk instead of buttermilk in biscuits? ›

Regular milk isn't acidic, which means the reaction won't take place. Your baked goods may not rise properly and can turn out drier, less flavorful, and less tender if you use plain milk where buttermilk is called for.

Southern cooks have several tricks when it comes to making tender and delicious biscuits, from the cutters they use, to the type and amount of liquid incorporated, to the number of kneads required to turn out a perfect dough. The not-so-secret ingredient they rely upon is soft wheat flour.

Biscuit recipes tend to be egg-free, this makes them drier and the lack of protein to bind the mix helps achieve that crumbly texture. For super light, crumbly biscuits try grating or pushing the yolks of hard-boiled eggs through a sieve into the biscuit dough.

Crisco may be beneficial for other baking applications, but for biscuit making, butter is the ultimate champion!

With a love of old family recipes, the finest ingredients, traditional baking methods and above all a simple love of baking biscuits. INGREDIENTS: Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed, Sustainable Palm), Sugar, Salt, Flavourings, Raising Agent: Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate.

Fat and moisture are crucial components in biscuit texture

And when cutting the fat, make sure you don't cut the pieces too small; otherwise, the small flecks of fat can create minuscule air pockets that turn into crumbs.

Self-rising flour and all-purpose flour have similar properties with two key differences: ingredients and uses. Ingredient-wise, self-rising flour contains all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder, while all-purpose flour only contains ground endosperm.