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These really are the best biscuits! Flaky, tender, and ready in under 30 minutes!
For more delicious breakfast treats be sure and check out this recipe for our favorite Streusel Blueberry Muffins, Raspberry Chocolate Scones and better the real thing, Starbucks Copycat Coffee Cake.
I love me a good biscuit and I have baked my way through quite a few recipes in the attempt to create the best one. I think I have finally found a winner. It meats all my qualifications, it’s tender, soft, flaky, really tall and tastes good too!
Tips for Making Flaky Biscuits
- Use cold butter, sour cream, egg and milk. Leave it in the refrigerator until you are ready to start.
- Don’t overwork the dough. Use a pastry blender or dough hook to combine the dough until it looks shaggy. There will still be small pieces of butter in the dough. This is what makes a flaky biscuit.
- Baking powder is an important ingredient in this recipe so make sure you are using fresh baking powder, not the stuff that’s been sitting on your pantry shelf for years.
- Use your hands to bring the dough together. Do not use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. Use your hands to pat the dough into a one inch tall circle.
- Do not twist the biscuit cutter when cutting the dough, this will seal the edges of the biscuit and prevent those flaky layers from forming.
- The combination of butter, sour cream and lots of baking powder in the recipe makes a nice flaky and soft biscuit.
- The trick to a nice tall biscuit is to roll your dough out to about 1 inch thick.
- I used my trusty old biscuit cutter that as my grandmothers but you could also use the rim of glass dipped into flour to cut out your biscuits. You can even just use a knife and cut them into squares like I did here.
- Place them on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-17 minutes.
- Baste the biscuits with melted butter 1-2 times during the baking process.
Can I Freeze Biscuits?
One of the best things about this recipe is that they freeze really well. With our reduced size family we can’t eat a whole batch.
Place the biscuits on a baking sheet and place in freezer until frozen solid.
Place them into a large ziploc freezer bag and remove as much air as you can.. You can now have biscuits anytime you want!
They will last in the freezer for 2-3 months.
They are ready when you are! You can bake while still frozen at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
There is nothing quite like a warm, buttery, flaky biscuit right out of the oven. I love mine slathered with butter or homemade jam. They also make a delicious breakfast sandwich or cover them with sausage gravy.
Pine State Biscuit Sandwich Ideas
One of our favorite Portland restaurants is Pine State Biscuits. They have some of the best biscuits and gravy in Portland but we also love their biscuit sandwiches.
One of our favorite things to do with this recipe is make a copycat version at home.
- Egg – We use both a fried egg or scrambled egg. 1 egg per sandwich.
- Meat – You can use sausage patties or bacon. Cook the meat before adding it to the sandwich.
- Cheese – Use your favorite kind of cheese. We like cheddar cheese.
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Did you know I wrote a cookbook? Check out the Holiday Slow Cooker Cookbook for 100 delicious recipes.
The Best Biscuit Recipe
Best Biscuits
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp soda
- 1/2 cups butter
- 16 oz sour cream
- 3-5 tsp water
- Melted butter
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients in a bowl or your food processor
- If using food processor, pulse until butter is small and well blended pieces or cut in butter by hand using a pastry cutter
- Add in the sour cream and water and mix well
- Pulse again until well mixed
- Add more water if it is too dry (just a little at a time.)
- Knead a few times on the counter and roll out to 1 inch thick
- Use a biscuit cutter to cut or dip a drinking glass into flour and cut
- Freeze individually on a cookie sheet
- After they are frozen, place in a freezer bag to store
- Bake frozen or thawed on an ungreased cookie sheet
- Bake at 400 for 15-17 minutes or until top is golden. If frozen bake for 3-5 minutes longer.
- Twice during the baking process baste the tops of the biscuits with melted butter
Sharon Schroeter says
These are really yummy! Do you think I could put some more sugar in them to use for strawberry shortcake?
Thanks for your great recipes–keep up the good work!
Sharon
Leigh Anne Wilkes says
I have made them before with some brown sugar and they were yummy!
Sharon Schroeter says
Thanks Leigh Anne, I will try that!
Andrea says
Holey Schmoley! These are the BEST gawsh darn biscuits ever. I found them after making the cinnamon roll biscuits. I even successfully halved the recipe. Which is good and bad. Good because if I did make the whole recipe- just my hub and I would eat them ALL The Bad being- we don’t have as many leftovers and um- they store really well and don’t get as tough as regular biscuits do. Either way- it’s nice having the option. lOL Definitely going to make some breakfast biscuits if we ever have leftovers again. lol Excellent recipe and from now on- my go to recipe for biscuits. I love that I can just put it in the food processor. Absolute magic! lol Thank you!!!
brad tittle says
These are awesome so far….
Carol says
My husband just made a batch of these and we both really liked them on this icy, sleeting morning in Texas! Mine with rhubarb jam and his was with blackberry. I wasn’t in the kitchen when he was making them but he said he had to add much more water than the 5 tsp called for–tho he was making by hand rather than food processor. (He prides himself on homemade biscuits.) Wonder if the method made the difference? They were delicious and glad we have extras in the freezer now. Hope to make it to Pine Street Biscuits one day.
Elicia P says
Thank you.
I was looking for a recipe that did not call for milk and this was it. So simple to make, my 4 year old helped me and I can not believe how easy. Pulled them out of the oven and added honey butter my son added jam.
Why have I not made biscuits before!
Leigh Anne says
So glad you and your son had fun making these. Nothing beats a good biscuit!!