Southern biscuits are the perfect fictional device for telling the narratives of Southern families. One cook makes his biscuits with White Lily flour only because that’s how his Maw Mae did it. Another swears by lard, as her family never had the funds for high-dollar butter or shortening. Most Southern cooks bake biscuits at least once a week—a ritual and rite of passage as the recipe is handed down through the generations.
My biscuit recipe is much the same. As a transplant to the South, and married into a Southern family, I felt a steep sense of duty in making the perfect Southern biscuit. Truth be told, I don’t think I’ll ever truly master it, but 10 years after taking biscuits to task, I’ve landed on a reliable recipe that I can replicate here in the South or anywhere else in the country with ease. My biggest piece of advice: Don’t take biscuit-making too seriously, but try to make them regularly. The ingredients are relatively inexpensive and the results are always edible, despite any mishandling.
Why You’ll Love It
- They’re tender and flaky. When the dough is folded onto itself into a smooth dough, this is where the magic happens. By striking a balance between folding and patting the dough, you can turn a tender dough into a flaky biscuit.
- They’re light, yet sturdy. The biscuits are tender, but also sturdy enough for breakfast sandwiches or for dunking into soup.
What Are Southern Biscuits?
The terms “tender” and “flaky” are often used together to describe baked goods like pie dough and biscuits (although very few biscuits are both). Here are the key differences.- Tender biscuits: Tender describes a small tight crumb, similar to a muffin. A tender biscuit requires a relatively wet dough that can be hard to knead, so much so that tender biscuits are almost exclusively drop biscuits.
- Flaky biscuits: Flaky biscuits, on the other hand, bring to mind the biscuits from a can that can be peeled apart into distinct layers. Homemade flaky biscuits are folded onto themselves repeatedly until the layers are developed, making them decidedly tougher than tender biscuits.
- The best Southern biscuits are both tender AND flaky, using a combination of techniques and ingredients like buttermilk. Buttermilk is commonly used in Southern biscuits for its tangy flavor, plus buttermilk helps biscuits rise when paired with baking soda.
What Type of Flour Should I Use for Southern Biscuits?
In the past, I relied on the recipe on the back of the bag of White Lily self-rising flour. It felt like a cheat at first, but I started to learn that biscuit-making was much less a recipe than a technique, and a practice in balancing being both gentle with the dough, yet working it enough to get a high rise and a few flaky layers.Now that I’ve got the technique down, I’ve moved away from using White Lily self-rising flour and mostly keep King Arthur all-purpose flour on hand for baking. I think my biscuits are better with an everyday all-purpose flour plus leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda.
Key Ingredients in Southern Buttermilk Biscuits
- All-purpose flour: Use the all-purpose flour you have on hand.
- Baking powder and baking soda: These are the leavening agents that make the biscuits light.
- Unsalted butter: Freeze the butter beforehand so that you can grate it easily.
- Buttermilk: The baking soda reacts with the acid in buttermilk to help the biscuits rise.
Helpful Tips
- Keep the butter as cold as possible. This is why I call for frozen butter to be grated on a box grater. Room temperature varies widely in the South, but I can count on frozen butter to be cold and stay cold while I make the biscuits.
- Use whatever flour you have on hand. I’ve moved away from using White Lily and mostly keep King Arthur on hand for baking. I think my biscuits are better with an everyday all-purpose flour than any special flours.
- Work quickly. Biscuits are a quick everyday bread. If it takes you longer than 20 minutes to get your biscuits in the oven, you’re probably doing something extra that you don’t have to do.
