Cookies & Baking

Honey Butter Biscuits

Name: Honey Butter Biscuits
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 300 g (2 1/2 cups) plain flour; 1 tbsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt; 1 tbsp sugar; 115 g cold butter, cut into small cubes; 240 ml cold buttermilk; 60 g butter, softened; 2 tbsp honey; 1 pinch salt; 30 g butter, melted; 1 tbsp honey

Rub cold butter into flour, baking powder and soda, stir in buttermilk, fold the dough three times for layers, cut 6 cm rounds and bake at 220°C (425°F) for 13-15 minutes, then brush with melted butter and honey; about 35 minutes for 8.

These are American-style biscuits: tall, flaky, tender quick breads made with cold butter and buttermilk, more like a scone than a cookie. Folding the dough a few times makes buttery layers that pull apart in flakes, and a brush of melted butter and honey as they come out of the oven gives a glossy, sweet-salty top. They take about half an hour from bowl to table and are best eaten warm with extra honey butter.

Tall, flaky golden honey butter biscuits on baking paper, one split open with melting honey butter, beside a bowl of honey butter and a jar of honey

Serves 8
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 15 min
Total: 35 min
Cuisine: American

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Ingredients

Biscuits

300 g (2 1/2 cups) plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
115 g cold butter, cut into small cubes
240 ml cold buttermilk

Honey butter

60 g butter, softened
2 tbsp honey
1 pinch salt

Glaze

30 g butter, melted
1 tbsp honey

Method

Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until most of it is the size of small peas.
Pour in the buttermilk and stir with a fork just until a shaggy dough forms. Do not overmix.
Tip the dough onto a floured bench and pat it into a rectangle about 2 cm thick. Fold it in three like a letter, turn it a quarter turn and pat it out again. Repeat the folding twice more.
Pat the dough to 2.5 cm thick and cut out rounds with a floured 6 cm (2 1/2 in) cutter, pressing straight down without twisting. Press the scraps together once and cut more.
Put the biscuits on the tray so they just touch each other, which helps them rise tall. Bake for 13–15 minutes, until risen and golden brown.
Meanwhile, beat the softened butter, honey and salt together for the honey butter, and mix the melted butter and honey for the glaze.
Brush the hot biscuits with the glaze and serve warm with the honey butter.

Tips

No buttermilk: stir 1 tbsp lemon juice into 240 ml milk and leave for 10 minutes.
Keep it cold: cold butter makes the flaky layers. On a hot day, chill the bowl of flour and butter for 10 minutes before adding the buttermilk.
Make ahead: freeze the cut, unbaked biscuits on a tray, then bag them. Bake from frozen for 18–20 minutes.
Storage: best on the day. Warm leftovers in an oven at 180°C (350°F) for 5 minutes.

Questions

Are these biscuits like cookies?

No. American biscuits are flaky, scone-like quick breads made with butter and buttermilk, eaten warm with butter, honey or gravy.

What can I use instead of buttermilk?

Stir 1 tbsp lemon juice into 240 ml milk and leave it for 10 minutes before using.

How do I get tall, flaky biscuits?

Keep the butter cold, fold the dough three times, cut straight down without twisting and bake the biscuits touching each other.

Can I freeze the dough?

Yes. Freeze the cut, unbaked biscuits on a tray, then bag them. Bake from frozen for 18-20 minutes.

Is this honey butter biscuit recipe halal?

The recipe is pork-free and lists no alcohol. It is not halal-certified: use halal-certified ingredients and check the labels on the butter and buttermilk.

A Dada Cooking original recipe. Quantities are metric first, with US amounts in brackets.