Small-Batch Buttermilk Biscuits

By Erin Jeanne McDowell

Published Feb. 10, 2021

Small-Batch Buttermilk Biscuits
Julia Gartland for The New York Times (Photography and Styling)
Total Time
45 minutes, plus chilling
Rating
4(1,314)
Comments
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Here’s a recipe for when you want towering, fluffy biscuits, but don’t want a large batch. You can use pretty much any ovenproof dish — a baking sheet, a square or round cake pan, or even a skillet — but be sure to butter the pan beforehand. If you like things a little less seasoned, reduce the salt to ½ teaspoon, and if you use salted butter in the dough, reduce the salt to ¼ teaspoon. Fun tip: Bake these beauties in the toaster oven by following the same temperature and timing guidance as you would when baking in a standard oven. Serve them warm.

Featured in: Big Love for Small-Batch Cooking

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Ingredients

Yield:4 biscuits
  • 2cups/255 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1tablespoon baking powder
  • 1teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, plus room temperature butter for greasing the pan
  • ¾cup/180 milliliters cold buttermilk, plus more as needed
  • 1large egg
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

423 calories; 20 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 52 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 363 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt to combine. Add the cold cubed butter, and toss until each cube is well coated with flour. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

  2. Step 2

    Make a well in the center of the bowl, and pour in the buttermilk. Use your hands or a silicone spatula to mix the ingredients together until they form a homogenous dough. (It will look quite shaggy.) If the dough is not coming together, add more buttermilk by tablespoons.

  3. Step 3

    Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Toward the end of chilling, heat the oven to 400 degrees.

  4. Step 4

    Butter a 9-inch square baking pan, a 9-inch round cake pan, an oven-safe skillet or a baking sheet.

  5. Step 5

    On a lightly floured surface and using floured hands, pat the dough into a rectangle ½-inch thick. Fold the dough in quarters. Using floured hands, pat the dough out again to a square about 1¼-inch thick.

  6. Step 6

    Cut the square of biscuit dough into four even pieces. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared pan in a cluster, with about ½ inch of space between each biscuit.

  7. Step 7

    In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the egg wash over the surface of the biscuits, and bake until deeply golden brown on top, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool at least 10 minutes before carefully separating and serving.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
1,314 user ratings
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Comments

Margaret

I'm sure these biscuits are good, but this is not a "small batch" recipe, at least not compared with my old standby biscuit recipe ("Rolled Biscuits," Joy of Cooking, 1975 edition, p. 632), which calls for 1 3/4 cups of flour. When I want a small batch of these, I halve the recipe.

Dan Findlay

Biscuits are easy to scale up or down. The proportions, by weight, are 3 parts flour, two parts liquid (dribble a little more if needed), one part fat. 1 teaspoon baking powder per cup (120 grams) of flour and salt to equal 2% of the flour weight, less if your butter and/or buttermilk have been salted. Work the fat into the flour well, but use a light hand with the dough once the liquid is added

Belle

Tasty and expeditious! Makes just four biscuits of a generous size, not "huge" in my book, not mingy. The dough came together easily with quantities given. When patted out the second time and before cutting, the dough was a generous 5" square. Altogether a lovely bake for a Saturday morning when there is snow on the ground. Would definitely bake these again.

MB

My new go-to biscuit recipe. Perfect, I cook them in the toaster oven.

David Z.

This is exactly the type of buttermilk biscuit I wanted to enjoy and this recipe was absolutely perfect.

Karen

My now favorite biscuit recipe!

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