Butter Biscuits

When I first heard about butter biscuits, they sounded too good to be true. That’s because these from-scratch biscuits come together in just one bowl, don’t require any fancy techniques, and come out perfectly pillowy every single time. In short, they’re the quickest, easiest way to make biscuits at home. Here’s everything you need to know.

To make butter biscuits, you’ll first melt a full stick of butter and pour it into a baking dish. Then, you’ll mix flour, leavener, salt, a touch of sugar, and buttermilk to create a wet, shaggy dough that’s similar to a super-thick waffle batter. Transfer the dough to the baking dish, score into squares, then bake until golden and puffy. The biscuits absorb the butter as they bake, creating tender, light, buttery biscuits that are perfect for serving with jam.

Any variety of unsalted butter will work well here. Standard unsalted sweet cream butter is great, but for added flavor, feel free to use a cultured variety as well. If you use salted butter, be sure to halve the amount of salt in the biscuits.

Read more: What’s the Difference Between European and American Butter?

Before you head into the kitchen to bake up a batch of these biscuits, keep these tips in mind.

1. Spoon and level the flour. To keep the biscuits nice and light, spoon your flour into the measuring cup, then level it off with the dull side of a knife. This measuring method will prevent you from adding too much.
2. Don’t over mix the dough. Once you add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix the dough until it just barely comes together. A few pockets of unincorporated flour are okay, so don’t worry about making your dough completely smooth.
3. Feel free to add spices. Think of this recipe as a blank canvas. Black pepper, garlic powder, sesame seeds, and even everything bagel seasoning would make great additions to these biscuits and amp up their flavor.