Traditional Southern Buttermilk Cast Iron Biscuits are a sacred staple served at every meal. This small batch recipe is made with a handful of pantry items; have warm, soft, buttery biscuits in under forty minutes!
Jump to RecipeWHY CAST IRON BISCUITS?
Cast iron skillets are my favorite cookware to use in the first place! I am working on gaining confidence with baking; biscuits were the perfect place to start! Whit this in mind, these cast iron buttermilk biscuits are easy to prepare and can be used universally.
Born and raised in the deep south, it's vital to know how to make a good biscuit. In fact, you are not certified if you don't have a "from scratch" biscuit recipe. After a few attempts and adjusting the ingredients, this recipe will become your staple biscuit recipe! The texture is soft and chewy with a hint of sweet and saltiness.
FLAVOR PROFILE
These biscuits lack no depth and are very dense. To further emphasize, this recipe is not "light" by any means and has tons of butter. While making southern style biscuits now is not the time to be shy with butter. They are light in flavor but ready to marry with jam or your favorite toppings.
TIPS FOR THE BEST CAST IRON BISCUITS!
With any baking recipe, there are always a few tips and tricks to ensure the best baking experience. Such as:
- Frozen butter works best! In this case, it helps the butter to spread evenly throughout the batter and will produce little pockets of butter throughout the biscuit.
- Buttermilk substitute-One cup of milk plus one tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice). Stir the mixture, let sit for five minutes and the result is in fact like real buttermilk!
- Do not omit the mayo and egg wash topping. This helps the biscuits so that they are not dry and aids with browning.
- Biscuits should be placed close together in skillet. In this case, this helps the biscuits to rise and stay fluffy.
- Never bake with cold bakeware! In general, this helps with evenly baking the biscuits.
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WHAT CAN YOU SERVE THESE BISCUITS WITH?
These biscuits are universal! I've used them as a light dessert topping with homemade whipped cream and fresh strawberries. However, they can be used with savory dishes as well. As fall approaches, I'm working on a quick chicken pot pie topping therefore, to use with these biscuits!
HOW TO PREPARE THE BISCUIT DOUGH
First, place one stick of butter in the freezer at least a half hour before baking. Additionally, sift your dry ingredients and set aside. Next, take frozen butter and with a grater, grate the butter into the dry ingredients.
Correspondingly, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place lightly oiled cast iron into the oven.
Slowly pour buttermilk into dry ingredients while hand mixing your dough. Add small amounts of flour (as needed) until dough ball forms.
Third, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough too. Using a floured cookie or biscuit cutter, cut the dough to make the four biscuits.
Fourth, remove hot cast iron from oven and use remaining butter to heat and coat the cast iron too. Place biscuits together with cast iron and leave no space in between.
In conclusion, take your egg as well as mayo and brush the top and sides with the mixture. After all, bake for 25-35 minutes depending on oven and preferred brownness. Enjoy!
Furthermore, love brunch as much as I do? To emphasize, check out my other fun and tasty brunch recipes!
Smoked Beef Sausage Breakfast Pizza
Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Egg Waffle Sandwich
Cast Iron Buttermilk Biscuits
Equipment
- Grater
- Oven
- Sifter
- Mixing Bowl
- Pastry Brush
- Cast Iron
Ingredients
- 2 cups Flour
- ¼ cup Flour for kneading
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- ¼ cup Frozen Butter reserve 1 teaspoon for cast iron baking
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Mayo
Instructions
- Place butter in the freezer at least a half hour before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place lightly oiled cast iron into the oven.
- Sift dry ingredients and set aside.
- Next, take frozen butter and with a grater, grate the butter into the dry ingredients.
- Slowly pour buttermilk into dry ingredients and begin hand mixing your dough. Add small amounts of flour (as needed) until dough ball forms.
- Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough for 15-20 seconds.
- Using a floured cookie or biscuit cutter, cut the dough to make the four biscuits.
- Remove hot cast iron from oven and use remaining butter to heat and coat the cast iron. Place biscuits into cast iron and leave no space in between.
- Take your egg as well as mayo and brush the top and sides with the mixture.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes depending on oven and preferred brownness. Enjoy!
erin says
yum!! i want to make these!! just wondering about the amount of butter; it says to freeze ½ cup but only calls for ¼ cup in the recipe. can you please clarify? thanks so much 🙂
Carita says
Hi Erin, thanks for visiting and leaving your feedback! I updated the recipe a bit to reflect your point. You are freezing 1/4 cup of butter and reserving 1 tsp to coat the cast iron skillet upon baking. Hope this helps!:)
Twinkle says
This recipe looks delicious and I can't wait to try it this weekend. What size cast iron pan are you using in these pictures?
Carita says
Hi there and thanks so much for stopping by! This is around an 8" cast iron pan!
Keelia says
Hi! My kitchen smelled so good this morning as these were baking. After baking and eating these guys, I have two questions. Are you using kosher salt for this recipe or another type of salt? Secondly, I’m newish to biscuits making and am always playing around with how tall the dough should be patted out to before I cut it. Mine did not turn as tall as yours above. Any recommendations for this recipe?
Thanks for sharing this. So good!
Carita says
I'm so glad to hear this,nothing like a warm buttery smell in the kitchen to get the day started! For the salt, I've used different types but mostly iodized (since it's fine). A few tricks to achieve "tall biscuits" are to not over knead the dough, make sure the dough is not flat when cutting your biscuits, use a dough or cookie cutter (only) and to place your biscuits very close together when baking. I've also learned to not over manipulate your biscuits when cutting them. When using your biscuit cutter, try using a "clean cut" method being careful not to twist, turn or agitate the biscuits with the cutter a lot. This releases a lot of the air that's needed to make them fluffy!
This helps me understand what can be added into the blog post to help future readers. Thanks so much for your questions!:)
Aerica says
These were so good! Thank you for the recipe!
Carita says
So glad you loved it Aerica! 🙂
Kaleb says
This recipe is great! One question - would they still turn out well if I made the dough in advance and left it overnight before baking?
Carita says
thanks Kaleb! I've never tried this method but I don't see why it wouldn't hurt. 🙂