If you want impossibly soft, fluffy, pillow-like biscuits, shortening (like Crisco) is the only way to go; however these biscuits also have BUTTER! It's the best of both biscuit worlds.
A good biscuit recipe is imperative if you want to make Sunday morning biscuits and Sausage Gravy, or just a simple side biscuit for a brunch casserole.
Also be sure to try this sweet and savory biscuits recipe, if you're looking for a spin on traditional biscuits.
Butter vs. Shortening
First off, this recipe is the best biscuit recipe because it uses both shortening and butter. Shortening and butter have their own strengths and their place in a biscuit recipe, like in these biscuits which also use shortening.
This biscuit recipe can be made using a biscuit cutter, or drop biscuits (such as for dumplings).
A highly debated subject is whether or not biscuits should be made with butter or shortening. The answer actually depends on what your goal is.
A biscuit made with primarily butter will have more air pockets, especially when the butter is cold; whereas shortening is easily and evenly distributed throughout the dough, resulting in less air pockets.
A butter biscuit will typically be, more flaky, more crumbly or have a denser crumb texture, and is best suited for cobblers and shortcakes (in my opinion). However, the flavor that butter gives biscuits is what makes it so desirable of an ingredient.
A biscuit made with primarily shortening is soft, light, and fluffy throughout. There is less flakiness going on, but the entire texture is pillow like.
Instructions
Let's get into it.
Here's how to make these amazing biscuits:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Start by combining all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, as shown below and use a fork or pastry cutter to cut in the shortening until it resembles coarse crumbs(photo 1). Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined; dough will be slightly sticky but should come together as a unified ball (photo 2).
On a lightly floured surface, roll the biscuit dough out to about ¾-inch thickness (photo 3). Use a biscuit cutter or water glass to cut circles out of the dough (photo 4).
See recipe notes for drop biscuit instructions.
Repeat with remaining dough scraps (photo 5) until all the dough has been used.
Arrange biscuits on a parchment paper lined baking sheet (or nonstick) about 2 inches apart.
Melt butter in a microwave safe container, or on the stove top and brush on uncooked biscuits (photos 6 and 7).
Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until just golden brown.
Remove from oven and brush with more melted butter.
FAQ's
Use shortening as the primary fat and don't overwork the dough.
All purpose flour and bread flour will make very light, fluffy biscuits along with the right technique and recipe.
More recipes you might like...
If you tried these biscuits, please leave a rating in the recipe card below, or in the comments!
📖 Recipe
Southern (Crisco/Shortening) Biscuits
Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup shortening like Crisco
- 1 ¾ cups buttermilk
- 1 stick melted butter for brushing biscuits
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine 4 ½ cups all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl until evenly mixed.
- Cut in 1 cup of shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add 1 ¾ cups buttermilk and mix until soft and combined.
- Turn dough out onto generously floured surface.
- Roll out into a ¾-INCH thick slab.
- Use a biscuit cutter or glass to cut out biscuits; roll up excess scraps and re-roll another slab to cut more biscuits until little to no dough remains.
- Brush with melted butter.
- Bake on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from oven, brush again with melted butter while still hot.
Notes
- FOR DROP BISCUITS: MAKE RECIPE AS IS, BUT DON'T ROLL OUT ONTO A FLOURED SURFACE. INSTEAD, LEAVE THE DOUGH IN THE BOWL, AND USE A FORK OR SPOON TO "SCOOP" 2 INCH SECTIONS OUT AND "DROP" THEM INTO A GREASED PAN ABOUT 1-2 INCHES APART. BAKE AS INSTRUCTED.
- Any brand of vegetable shortening will work, however Crisco is a popular and trusted brand.
- Recipe makes a large batch, about 18 dozen biscuits so cut in half to make a smaller batch.
- If you don't have buttermilk, you can make a buttermilk "substitute" by combining the milk with a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice; stir and let sit for 5 minutes to thicken. Use in place of buttermilk called for in recipe.
- If you do not have a biscuit cutter, use a small glass. Dust the rim with flour to prevent sticking.
- These biscuits are so very soft and are great served straight up; with butter and jam.
Brenda Walker says
Just made these and had a chuckle,in your recipe it states it makes a large batch 18 dozen ,and yes I know it makes 18,lol just made me smile as I was making them.It’s a great recipe,so easy and they come together in seconds.
Mike Riland says
Just made them. Amazing. Once I got it formed on my table I folded once to make it an easy split biscuit.also to get max rise push cutter straight down then slight twist.
Deanna Brand says
Just made these and came out great!! Will continue to use this recipe 😋.
Stephanie Byrd says
This is my go to biscuit recipe! It makes an abundant portion for my large family. They turn out great every time. I’ve tried a lot of biscuit recipes, these are the best.
Nel says
Love this recipe.
Paula says
The best biscuits I have ever made ...light fluffy and absolutely delicious ...tastes like my grandmas biscuits so yummy.
Mary says
In the last two months I have tried several biscuit recipes.
I have made bread for 40 years, and products like cinnamon rolls. I bought store brand biscuits because I just didn’t have the patience to work at biscuits.
Right… consider it a mental block . Lol
Your website was my last recipe search. It is a great recipe- worded well…. And worth following.
I was delighted at the easy feel of the dough… it makes 18 biscuits so that was thoughtful.
Thank you- mission Accomplished !
Lynn says
My family is small(3). How do you cut down this recipe?
Erin says
Hi Lynn! You could just divide each measurement in half, or make the biscuits as is and freeze half after they are baked.
Stephanie says
Can you freeze the dough for later?
Kelly R. says
When you hit the print function, it actually allows you to adjust the number of biscuits!! It's awesome!
Ainsley Moore says
So, this was my first time ever making biscuits from scratch! They taste delicious, and really weren't hard to make. I do have a question.....mine took a while to brown. Does that mean I didn't do something correctly? I had to cook them a good bit longer, so the tops and bottoms were a little crunchier. Like I said, they taste wonderful, but weren't as fluffy. Please give me any advice you have 😊 Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Opal says
Great recipe rose well and look real layered can't wait to taste them.
Erin says
Glad to hear you got a good result 🙂 They are really good with this sausage gravy recipe I linked below, or just butter and cold berry jam.
https://thefrozenbiscuit.com/sausage-gravy/
Jason says
Can you use milk instead of buttermilk?
Sue says
Can you freeze the cut biscuits not baking for future use?
Gene Vandevoir says
Followed recipe to the tee. First time making biscuits from scratch. Brought back to my childhood summers at my grandma's house. The best.
Linda says
Can you freeze left over dough? Or refrigerate it for how long
Erin says
Technically, yes you can freeze the leftover dough, but that can affect the texture once they are baked. A better option is to store the dough in the fridge (for up to 2 weeks).