068 / 75 · Crisp, Tangy and Warm Sides
Buttermilk Dinner Biscuits
8 small dinner biscuits in one 8-in/20-cm square metal pan · Active 20 min · Total 55 min
Print recipe · PDFCold butter, a soft buttermilk dough and a small metal pan make eight tender dinner biscuits. The pieces sit close enough to support their sides without becoming a single uncut lid. A short refrigerator pause is included, and one center biscuit is opened before serving to check that its floury seam has cooked.
Keep the butter visibly cold
Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour with light fingertips, leaving thin flakes rather than a smooth paste. If it begins to feel greasy or soft, pause and refrigerate the bowl. Buttermilk brings the dough together with only a few turns of the spoon. The mixture should be soft and slightly tacky, not dry enough to knead like a firm bread dough. A measured small dusting allowance helps on the board; repeatedly burying the dough under extra flour would change that balance.
Divide instead of chasing perfect circles
Pat a rectangle of even thickness and divide it into eight similar pieces. Gently round the corners if desired, without tightly rolling each one into a smooth ball. This avoids repeatedly gathering and rolling scraps, which can make the last biscuits tougher than the first. Arrange in the greased pan with narrow gaps. The pieces will rise and may touch, so their sides stay softer than biscuits spread far apart on a large tray. A metal pan gives a more predictable hot-oven start than a thick cold ceramic dish.
Look inside a middle biscuit
Color at the top and bottom is useful, but the middle still needs to be set. Open one central biscuit with a clean utensil and check for a moist tender crumb without wet raw dough. Continue baking if necessary, shielding the tops loosely if they are already brown. Let the batch stand briefly in the pan, then move to a rack so steam does not wet the bottoms. Serve plain beside a sauced hotdish; no unlisted butter pat, honey or jam is required for the finished picture.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 g)
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (8 g), for board dusting; unused flour may remain
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (12 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt (3 g)
- 4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cold butter (65 g), divided:60 g dough and 5 g pan
- 3/4 cup pasteurized buttermilk (180 ml)
Set out
Oven, 8-in/20-cm square metal baking pan with sides at least 2 in/5 cm high, Mixing bowl, Spoon, Board, Knife or dough scraper, Refrigerator, Suitable foil if needed, Cooling rack
Allergens
Milk, Wheat. Check labels and substitutions.
Make it
- Heat oven to 425°F (220°C). Grease the metal pan with 5 g butter. Mix 240 g flour, baking powder and salt in the bowl. Rub in 60 g cold butter, leaving small flakes.
- Stir in buttermilk just until no dry flour pockets remain. Dust the board with the separate 8 g flour as needed. Pat dough about 3/4 in/2 cm thick and divide into 8 equal pieces. Gently shape roughly 2 1/4-in/6-cm rounds without kneading them smooth. Arrange in the pan with narrow gaps, then refrigerate 10 minutes. Discard unused dusting flour.
- Bake 18–22 minutes until risen and golden, checking a middle biscuit has no wet raw dough seam. Extend a few minutes if needed, shielding tops loosely if they color first. Do not taste raw dough.
- Rest 5 minutes in the pan, then move to the rack. Serve eight biscuits warm.
A small pan changes the sides
Close neighboring biscuits support each other and keep soft side walls. If using a spacious tray instead, expect more browned edges rather than claiming an identical finish.
A useful detail
The 55-minute total includes mixing, light shaping,10 minutes chilling, up to 22 minutes baking and a brief rest. Actual dough pieces are divided by quantity before shaping; they need not be identical decorative circles.
Another way
- Add 1 tablespoon finely snipped chives (3 g) to the flour for an original herb biscuit. Keep liquid and butter quantities unchanged and include chives in any illustration of that variation.
Keep it well
Cool plain biscuits on a rack, then keep covered in the refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or below for up to 3 days, or freeze promptly for up to 1 month for quality. Thaw in the refrigerator and warm for texture. This plain-bread storage note does not cover meat, egg or dairy fillings added later.