Southern Homemade Biscuits are the ultimate comfort food. They are light and fluffy with the perfect golden brown outside. The perfect accompaniment to any meal.

I have made all kinds of biscuits over the years, like these for example, and I have to say that these are my favorite. They are so easy to make but look and taste like you spent hours making them.

I am all for time savers and if I can make a biscuit that has layers and rises on its own without using yeast, count me in. These biscuits are tall with fluffy layers. You can pull them apart and see all of the layers inside. The secret to that is the step of folding the dough before you cut the biscuits. 😉

This recipe calls for buttermilk but you can just make your own. I normally don’t have buttermilk on hand but can quickly make it with white vinegar and milk. Since you need one cup of buttermilk for this recipe, just use one cup of any kind of milk and add 1 1/2 tbsp of white vinegar. Whisk it together and let it sit for at least five minutes but the longer the better. If you can let it sit for 15 minutes it will become nice and thick and tangy.
I’ve also made these using pastry cutter to break up the butter and shortening but my fingers worked the best. You want to be fast so the butter and shortening don’t completely melt so using your fingertips to break it apart is ideal.
This is Alton Brown’s recipe. I love him and have used many of his recipes which never fail me. If you’ve never made these before or have your own favorite recipe already, give these a try anyway. They are so good quick to make and so darn good!

Southern homemade biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled
- 2 tbsp unflavored shortening, chilled
- 1 cup buttermilk, chilled
Instructions
- Prep! Gather all ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined.
- Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, break up the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until you have pea size pieces. (I found the warmth of my fingertips worked best)
- Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the buttermilk.
- Stir just until the dough comes together. It will be very sticky.
- Lightly dust the counter with flour and place the dough onto it. Sprinkle a little flour onto the dough and start to gently fold it over itself 5-6 times. Press the dough out until it's about 1 inch thick.
- Using a 2 inch cutter, cut out the biscuits.
- Place them on a cookie sheet and make sure they are touching each other.
- Bake until the biscuits are golden brown on top which should take approximately 15-20 minutes depending on your oven.
- Optional: Brush tops with melted butter while still warm. Enjoy!
Notes
If you make these, please share below how they turned out. Did you do anything differently?