Buttermilk Biscuits with Honey Lemon + Thyme Butter

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits with Lemon Butter | Fluffy homemade biscuits are super easy to make and make a great snack with this sweet citrusy butter. Use these biscuits as a base for your favorite breakfast sandwich.

Bake these easy biscuits, make a pot of tea and gather your family around the dining table. Perfect for a lazy, sunny Saturday morning breakfast or even better - a Sunday night. I remember Sunday nights as a kid, being freshly showered, ready to begin my school week again and enjoying one last little beautiful slice of the weekend.

My sister and I would be in our jammies, gathered around the table, sipping a cup of tea with (probably too much) cream and sugar and slathering butter and honey over freshly baked, warm from the oven, tea biscuits. We've always called this recipe tea biscuits, not buttermilk biscuits although that seems to be the more popular term. When my dad used to make these, he used regular milk. I like the tang of buttermilk in my biscuits.

How to make Buttermilk

That doesn't mean I always have buttermilk in my fridge though. On the contrary, I never do. I make it myself. It takes five minutes and all you need is:

• milk (I usually make my buttermilk with almond milk, I don't care for cow's milk, so try whatever you have)
• white vinegar

The process is as follows:

1. In a one cup measuring cup, add one tablespoon of vinegar.
2. Fill the rest with the milk of your choice.
3. Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes or until it looks weird and separate-y. That means it ready. I usually give it a little stir before adding it to my recipe.

How to Make Buttermilk Biscuits from Scratch

You can preheat your oven right away, to 400°F. It only takes a few minutes to make the biscuits.

Add a tablespoon of vinegar to a one cup measure. Fill the rest with milk of your choice. (I use almond milk). Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes. Alternatively, use store-bought buttermilk.

Mix the dry ingredients together - the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. I don't add sugar to my biscuits but some people do. I prefer mine more savory.

For the butter, I use a cheese grater and grate the stick of butter on top of the flour. Use your hands to cover the butter with flour and pinch/snap it into small, pea-sized pieces.

Next, pour in most of the buttermilk. I say most because brands of flour and the process of measuring flour can differ. You might not need it all. Mix together the dough with a fork. Or your hands. You don't want to over mix this, so just make sure the dough pulls together until it's a shaggy dough but it stays together. Add more buttermilk if it's too dry and a bit more flour if it gets too wet.

How to cut out biscuits

Now press the whole thing out on a floured countertop. I press it out to about an inch thick. Use a biscuit butter, cookie cutter or a glass to cut out circles. Beware if you're using a glass - I used a plastic wineglass for these photos and the biscuits became kind of dome-shaped and didn't rise as much as usual. I'd recommend a biscuit or cookie cutter. Or simply use a knife and cut the dough into squares. I do this when I'm making chicken and biscuits - this also eliminates having to re-roll the dough and possibly over handling it.

Also - don't twist your cookie cutter/glass. Just press straight down and back up. You'll get the most rise this way.

Cut as many biscuits as you can. Gather scraps together and press out to an inch thick and cut biscuits until you run out of dough.

Place the biscuits on a lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve warm.

How to make the Lemon Butter

Soften a stick of butter, either by leaving it out or microwaving 5-10 seconds at a time. Don't melt it, just soften it so you can mix it. Add the lemon, honey, and thyme. Whisk together.

Place the mixture on a piece of plastic wrap. Gather it into a log shape and wrap with the plastic wrap, lengthwise. Twist the ends in opposite directions to tighten. Refrigerate until solid. Cut rounds off of the cylinder for serving.

Questions About Making Biscuits

Why do you use buttermilk in biscuits? Do I have to buy buttermilk for this recipe?

Buttermilk is acidic and combines with the baking soda to help the biscuits rise. You can make buttermilk yourself. Check the beginning of this post or the recipe card notes for instructions.

Other great biscuit recipes:

Cheesy Chives + Cayenne Scones

Pumpkin Scones with Maple Icing

Buttermilk Biscuits with Honey Lemon Thyme Butter

Jacqueline Piper

5 from 5 votes

Fluffy homemade biscuits are super easy to make and make a great snack with this sweet citrusy butter. Use these biscuits as a base for your favorite breakfast sandwich.

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 12 mins

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

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Biscuits

• ▢ 360 grams all-purpose flour (3 cups)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ¾ teaspoons salt
• ▢ 70 grams butter (5 tablespoons)
• ▢ 250 ml buttermilk (1 cup *see notes on how to make)

Lemon Butter

• ▢ 1 stick salted butter (room temperature (8 tablespoons))
• ▢ 1 lemon (zested and juiced)
• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoon honey
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

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Instructions

 

Biscuits

• Ready your buttermilk. Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Mix together the dry ingredients. Grate in the cold butter. Mix with hands, snapping/pinch to keep the butter in small pieces.
• Add most of the buttermilk. Mix the dough wiht a fork until shaggy and holding together. Don't over mix. Add more buttermilk or flour as need.
• Turn dough out onto a floured countertop. Press out to about an inch thick.
• Cut circles, using a cookie cutter, biscuit cutter or glass, being careful not to twist the cutter.*
• Place biscuits on a lined cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden.
• Serve warm with the butter.

Lemon Butter

• Whisk together the butter, lemon zest, and salt, honey, and thyme. Place mixture on a piece of plastic wrap. Gather together into a log shape and wrap with the plastic wrap, lengthwise. Twist the end in different directions to tighten shape. Refrigerate until solid. Slice rounds off for serving.

Notes

1. If you're not using store-bought buttermilk, then add one tablespoon of vinegar to a one-cup measure. Fill the rest with milk of choice and let sit 5 minutes, then stir.
2. If using a glass beware of using one that is dome-shaped. Your biscuits will not rise as much. alternatively, just use a knife to cut into 12 squares.

*Nutritional information is an estimate and intended for informational purposes only, and not to be used as medical or dietary advice. Estimate is per serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 253kcal

Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate. Values vary based on products used.

Read our full Nutrition Disclaimer.

Keyword biscuits, breakfast, brunch, buttermilk, snack, tea

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