Simple Make-Ahead Biscuits Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you make biscuits ahead of time before baking? ›

Since Buttermilk Biscuits are best served the day they're baked, use these instructions for making them ahead of time. You can do this with the whole batch, or whatever you don't want to eat in a day. Place the unbaked shaped Buttermilk Biscuits dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until solid.

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.

Even though you're super-careful not to overmix your dough, you're still going to develop its gluten somewhat; that's just the nature of mixing flour with liquid. But if you chill your pan of biscuits in the fridge before baking, not only will the gluten relax (yielding more tender biscuits), the butter will harden up.

For those kind of days, these overnight buttermilk biscuits are the ticket. Here, a butter-packed dough comes together hours in advance so that you can bake and serve them at your leisure. It's the morning convenience of the refrigerated can biscuits but without that greasy mouthfeel.

Just as important as the fat is the liquid used to make your biscuits. Our Buttermilk Biscuit recipe offers the choice of using milk or buttermilk. Buttermilk is known for making biscuits tender and adding a zippy tang, so we used that for this test.

For super light, crumbly biscuits try grating or pushing the yolks of hard-boiled eggs through a sieve into the biscuit dough. This increases the fat content and slows down the development of gluten. Cookie recipes on the other hand are more likely to contain eggs. Adding moisture as well as binding the mixture.

Buttermilk adds a tangy flavor to the biscuits and makes them slightly more tender. Butter: We use salted European butter in this recipe. It will work with unsalted or salted butter. I like the extra saltiness of salted butter, but you can reduce the salt to 3/4 teaspoon if you prefer.

So what's the final verdict? Butter is the winner here. The butter biscuits were moister with that wonderful butter taste and melt-in-your mouth texture. I'd be curious to test out substituting half or just two tablespoons of the butter with shortening to see if you get the best of both.

Why biscuits are unhealthy? ›

Can biscuits be healthy to eat? Biscuits are not necessarily healthy as they contain a lot of saturated fat due to a large amount of butter used in making biscuits. The amount of saturated fat in a typically-sized biscuit usually composes 30-50% of the recommended daily value of saturated fat.

Whole Milk: For a crispy crust with a matte appearance, use just milk. Many biscuits and dinner rolls are brushed with milk or buttermilk for a finishing touch. Heavy Cream: For a little more shine than an all-milk wash, but not as much as an egg wash, use heavy cream or half-and-half.

Mixing. The multi-stage mixing method is preferred for its ability to produce consistent doughs which are not fully developed. Blending all dry ingredients to rub or cut the shortening into the flour until fat is fully distributed and pea-sized lumps are visible.

The basic formula is as follows: 2 cups AP flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 6 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup milk—and the add-in(s) of your choice. I'm giving you two savory options. The red is a sun-dried tomato and cheddar biscuit with paprika and a touch of cayenne.

To achieve the best results with the biscuit method, it's important to use cold fat (such as chilled butter) and handle the dough as little as possible to prevent the fat from melting. Additionally, using a light touch when mixing the dough can help ensure a tender and flaky texture in the finished baked goods.

The dough is easy to make and can be made a day in advance. Wrap the dough discs tightly in food wrap and store in the fridge overnight. Remove the dough from the fridge about 20 minutes before you want to roll it and leave it on the worktop to soften slightly before you roll it out.

When you place the dough in the refrigerator, it can stay overnight. In fact, the longer it sits in the fridge, the better. So you can easily make the dough the night before and bake the buttermilk biscuits in the morning.

Biscuits generally last 1 week in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer, and 2 days at room temperature. Keep dough fresh by separating it into pieces, wrapping it in plastic, and freezing it for 3 hours. Then, transfer your dough to its permanent storage.

Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. To Reheat and Serve: Remove the number of biscuits you plan to serve. Reheat in the microwave until heated throughout, about 30 seconds.