It's the little things that make the difference between “pretty good” and “oh my God, who made this?” biscuits and gravy.
Opt for a special flour All-purpose works fine in a pinch, but Southern-style soft wheat flour (like White Lily) makes biscuits noticeably lighter and more tender.
Keep everything ice cold
If your kitchen runs warm, chill the mixing bowl, flour, and even the biscuit cutter. Warm hands melt butter fast, so work quickly.
Use very cold fat for the biscuits Butter or shortening should be almost fridge-hard. Cold fat creates steam pockets, which gives you biscuits that rise tall and stay flaky.
Consider a butter and shortening mix
Butter adds flavor, shortening adds tenderness and loft. A blend of the two can give you the best of both worlds.
Grate or cube the butter Grating
frozen butter into the flour gives you perfect, evenly distributed fat
without melting. It’s an easy trick that changes everything. The clumps
of butter contribute to flakiness.
Consider using cold buttermilk Pick your milk carefully. Use whole milk for body, cream for richness, buttermilk for tang. Or blend them for breakfast perfection. Buttermilk's acidity reacts with the leaveining to give you more lift and tang that complements the biscuits.
Baking powder plays an important part Use very fresh baking powder. Since the baking powder is your leavening agent make sure it has lots of punch.
Don’t overwork the dough
Mix only until the dough comes together. Over-mixing makes biscuits tough instead of tender. Biscuit dough can be finnicky if it's over processed.
Use a light touch when shaping
Pat the dough instead of rolling it. Rolling compacts the layers and can make biscuits dense.
Don’t use too much flour when kneading
Extra flour toughens the dough. Lightly dust the surface but resist the urge to add more than absolutely necessary.
Fold the dough for layers
After bringing the dough together, gently fold it over itself four to
six times. This creates natural layers similar to puff pastry, giving
biscuits more height.
Let the dough rest
A short rest of 10 to 15 minutes before cutting allows the gluten to relax and the flour to hydrate, producing a softer biscuit.
Use a sharp cutter with a clean edge
Dull cutters compress the dough instead of slicing it, which reduces the rise.
Cut the biscuits straight down Be careful not to turn the biscuit cutter. When you cut the dough straight down, you want preserve the
layers.
Cut tall biscuits
Aim for a dough thickness of at least one inch. Thin dough gives you short biscuits no matter how perfect the recipe is.
Freeze your biscuits After you have cut out the biscuits and place them on the baking sheet but right before you pop them into the oven, freeze them for a short period of time. This makes the butter cold again and guarantees extra flakiness.
Place biscuits close together on the baking sheet
Let them touch or almost touch. This helps them rise higher because the sides support one another.
Brush the tops with buttermilk before baking
This gives a golden top without toughening the crust.
Use a hot oven
425–475°F is ideal. High heat gives the biscuits an immediate blast of steam and helps them puff up. If your oven has hot spots, turn the pan halfway through to ensure even browning.
Let them cool briefly before splitting
Give them a minute or two on the rack so the steam settles and allows the biscuits to keep rising.
Try some or all of these tips to upgrade your biscuits.
B.A. English, MFA, post grad English. NYU journalism program. Investigative journalist. I write about people, politics, society & women's rights with an edge.
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