How to Make the Best Light Biscuits

Light, fluffy buttermilk or quick biscuits take some practice, but you can do it! There's nothing better than a velvety, puffy biscuit, split open with melted butter and honey dripping off of it for breakfast in the morning. But there are a few secrets you need to know before you tackle this recipe for best results.

Helpful Tips

Use these tried and true biscuit making tips:

1. Make sure the recipe you are using is a good one. The best proportion of flour to fat is 1/2 cup of fat for every 2 cups of flour. More fat will make softer biscuits, which could be a good thing. Too little fat will result in dry and heavy biscuits.
2. The type of flour you use is important. Don't use bread flour unless the recipe calls for it and avoid whole wheat and other whole grain flours. They will make the biscuits tough and heavy. This is especially important to achieve light and airy biscuits.
3. The best combination is all-purpose flour (bleached or unbleached doesn't make too much difference, but still prefer bleached for the lightest result) and cake flour. Cake flour is a soft flour that has less gluten protein. You can find it right next to the other flours in the grocery store. If you can't find cake flour you can make your own by spooning 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into the bottom of a measuring cup, then lightly spooning in all-purpose flour to fill the cup. Level it off, then sift using a sieve or a metal sifter. Self-rising flour is too salty and it's better to be able to control the amount and type of leavening you use. It's also very important to measure flour correctly. If you dip the measuring cup into the flour you'll have too much and the biscuits will be tough and heavy.
4. For baking powder, try using Rumford (part of Clabber Girl) and Clabber Girl baking powders, because they contain calcium phosphate instead of sodium aluminum sulfate. That ingredient can cause some baked goods to taste bitter.
5. When the recipe calls for baking powder and baking soda, make sure to use both! Baking powder, especially the double acting type that rises when it meets liquid and again in the oven, provides the most reliable leavening. Baking soda helps neutralize acid ingredients in the biscuits for the best flavor. Don't worry too much about the chemistry in baking, the products do the work by themselves.
6. Fat is essential for the lightest and fluffiest biscuits! Butter adds more flavor, but shortening makes the biscuits more tender because it doesn't contain water or milk solids. The fat must be cold. Fat forms small pockets throughout the biscuit dough, and as the fat melts in the oven, the CO2 from the leavening agent takes its place so the biscuits rise. If the fat melts or softens before the biscuits bake, the biscuits will be hard and flat because there's no place for the CO2 to go except out of the biscuits.
7. Don't work in a hot kitchen. If the dough seems to be getting too soft or warm, place it in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. It helps to make sure your hands are cool too. If you need a trick to achieve this, try holding them under the cold water faucet for a few minutes during the baking process. Dry your hands and keep going.
8. Since the dough is soft and the biscuits delicate, place them about 1" apart on baking sheets. If they are too far apart, the biscuits will spread too much. If they are too close together, the biscuits in the center won't bake through when the end biscuits are done.
9. Finally, a light touch is essential! Handle the dough and the biscuits as little as possible. You don't want gluten to develop and you want the fat to stay cold until the biscuits bake, so keep your hands off. While you're baking, think of handling clouds or other very delicate objects during this whole process.

Now it's time to bake. Have fun and experiment with fluffy buttermilk biscuits, flaky biscuits, airy biscuits, or tender biscuits.