Make biscuits for now and biscuits for later with this recipe for Large Batch Freezer Biscuits. The buttermilk biscuits you love - on demand!
Biscuits are that craveable bread that you want all the time, but don't always have the time - or the energy - to make them. This recipe for Large Batch Freezer Biscuits, allows you to make a big batch all at once and freeze them for just those times.
These freezer biscuits bake up perfectly - straight from the freezer! No need to defrost. Just take out however many you want, preheat the oven, and you're 15 minutes away from hot flaky buttermilk biscuits!
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Ingredients
I bet you have everything you need to make a bunch of biscuits, right now! If you don't have buttermilk, that's okay. I have you covered with an easy fix!
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions
Here are few easy ingredient substitutions, should you need them.
- Buttermilk - If you don't have access to buttermilk you can make your own, "in a pinch", substitute. For the ¾ cup of buttermilk needed in this recipe, place 2 ½ teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar in a measuring cup. Add enough whole milk to add up to ¾ cup. Stir, then let stand for 5 minutes, until it looks thick and curdled.
Alternatively, you can replace the buttermilk with yogurt, either plain or Greek. Because of the thickness of yogurt, you'll need more of it than you would buttermilk, to properly hydrate the flour. Replace ¾ cup of buttermilk with 1 cup of yogurt. - Sugar - The sugar is not here to add sweetness to the biscuits. It contributes to the tenderness on the inside and the browning on the outside of the biscuit. You can omit this if you want and they'll still be delicious.
- Egg - I prefer to brush all of my pastries with an egg wash. I find that the milk solids in butter, buttermilk, milk, and cream have a tendency to burn. If you don't want to use an egg, you can still brush the tops with dairy. Just keep an eye on them and remove before they burn.
I have never tried to make my biscuits vegan or gluten-free and cannot attest to substitutions to make these compliant with those restrictions. However, a quick internet search brings up dozens of recipes you can try.
Variations
As delicious as they are, you are in no way restricted to plain biscuits. Try these make ahead variations!
- Cheddar - Toss 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese with your flour/butter mixture, before adding the buttermilk. Freeze and bake as directed.
- Parmesan and rosemary - Toss ½ cup grated parmesan and 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary with your flour/butter mixture, before adding the buttermilk. Freeze and bake as directed.
- Sweet biscuits - Double the sugar in the dry ingredients and replace the flaky sea salt on top with coarse sugar. Serve with fruit and whipped cream for an impromptu Strawberry shortcake moment. Freeze and bake as directed.
- Biscuit sandwiches - Top your biscuits with eggs, bacon, and cheese or go all out, like in my Chicken Fried Steak Biscuits with Country Gravy.
Instructions
Biscuits are sooo beautiful. With their flaky layers, they look almost unattainable. Like most things, they take practice to make perfect. But using my techniques will give you flaky, fluffy, buttery clouds of biscuity love. That you can freeze and remember how much you love them any time you want ❤️
Mixing the dough
1a. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda, sugar, and salt.
1b. Add in cold butter cut into cubes. Using your fingers, or a pastry cutter, mash or "cut" the butter into the flour.
1c. You should end up with small and large pieces of butter incorporated into flour with the texture of cornmeal. You can use a food processor for this step, giving it just 5 or 6 pulses.
1d. Pour cold buttermilk all over the butter and flour mixture.
1e. Using a danish dough whisk, or sturdy wooden spoon, mix the buttermilk and flour mixture together.
1f. You will make a shaggy dough, with dry floury bits at the bottom of the bowl. That is fine. It will all combine in the next steps.
1g. Lightly dust your counter with flour and dump the shaggy dough out.
1h. Working quickly, to avoid melting the butter chunks, press the dough into a rough square.
Cut & Stack
2a. Using a bench scraper, or sharp knife, cut the dough into four pieces.
2b. Stack the dough quarters on top of each other and press down, forming another square. Repeat 2 more times, for a total of 3 cut and stacks.
2c. Press or roll out to ½ inch thickness. Using a 2 ½ inch biscuit cutter or cookie cutter, cut out biscuits. You should get 20 to 24 biscuits.
2d. Place biscuits on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and place in freezer until hard. Transfer to a zip top bag labelled with baking instructions. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Baking time
3a. When it's biscuit time, remove desired number of biscuits from freezer and place on lined baking sheet. Brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle with flaky salt, if desired.
2b. Bake in an oven preheated to 450°F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tall, flaky, and golden brown.
Expert tips
- Don't twist the cutter when cutting out biscuits. Doing so will press the layers shut, and your biscuits won't reach their tall and flaky potential! Press straight down and pull straight back up!
- If you don't have a biscuit or cookie cutter, resist the urge to use a drinking glass, or any old round thing, to cut out your biscuits. You need a crisp, sharp edge to cut them or you will seal the layers and they won't fully rise. If you don't have a biscuit cutter, remove both the top and the bottom from a clean food can (like a tomato can) and use that, or make square biscuits by cutting with a bench scraper or knife.
- Don't make your biscuits thicker than ½ inch. If you do, they will have a tendency to fall over due to their flaky layers. Still delicious, in a Leaning Tower of Pisa kind of way.
Recipe FAQ's
You can, although your biscuits won't have the same fluffiness as they would with buttermilk. If you use milk, use the highest fat content you can, which contributes to the tenderness. Or read the substitutions section above for making your own buttermilk substitute with milk.
Your biscuits are best eaten the day they are baked. If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Because butter is a solid at room temperature, they will feel and taste "dry" if eaten cold. Wrap your biscuits in aluminum foil and reheat in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes, or until warmed through, or heat in microwave for 15 seconds.
More ways to love biscuits
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Large Batch Freezer Biscuits
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter very cold and cut into small cubes
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk very cold
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet (or 2 small sheet pans) with parchment paper.
Mixing (cutting) in butter
- Toss cold butter cubes into the dry ingredients and, using a pastry cutter or your fingers, mix in the cold butter until you have a mixture of flat pieces and crumbly, pea sized bits of butter mixed into the flour.
Alternative food processor instructions
- Measure all of your dry ingredients into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse a few times to mix. Add chilled butter to the dry ingredients and pulse 5-6 times, or until most of the butter is in pea sized, or smaller, pieces. Pour into a mixing bowl and proceed with the rest of the instructions.
Making biscuits
- Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the cold buttermilk. Use a dough whisk, or sturdy wooden spoon, to bring the wet and dry together until you have a fairly uniform, loose dough. The flour won't look all mixed in and that's okay. It will come together.
- Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Using your hands, gently bring it everything together into a rough square. Do this quickly so your warm hands don't melt the butter.
- With a bench scraper, or knife, cut dough into four smaller squares. Stack the quarters of dough on top of each other. Smush it all down into a square again. Repeat this cutting and stacking procedure 2 more times, for a total of 3 cut and stacks.
- Pat or roll the dough into a large rectangle about ½ inch thick.
Round biscuits
- Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out your biscuits. Do not twist the cutter when cutting them out! That will effectively seal the edges of the biscuits, keeping them from fully rising. Just press straight down and lift straight up. Gather your scraps as you go and re-form them together and cut as many biscuits as you can.
Square biscuits
- Using your bench scraper, or a knife, trim the edges of your large rectangle. Cut your dough into square biscuits.
Freezing instructions
- Place each biscuit on your parchment lined baking sheet. Place in freezer until firm. Transfer all frozen biscuits to a zip top bag that has been labeled with the directions for baking. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Baking instructions
- To bake, preheat oven to 450°. Remove desired number of biscuits from the freezer. Place on parchment lined baking sheet or buttered cast iron pan. Brush the tops of the biscuits lightly with an egg wash and sprinkle with flaky salt, if desired.
- Bake in 450°F oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Nutrition
The nutritional and caloric information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It does not assert or suggest that readers should or should not count calories, and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s or doctor’s counseling.
Carmen says
Quantity of each ingredients please
Cynthia says
The ingredients are in the recipe card.
Leslie says
I love biscuits so much, and these just jumped to the top of my list. So so good! I love having them in the freezer for future dinners. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Cynthia says
You’re so welcome! I hope you, and future you, enjoy the biscuits!
Laura H says
Hello Cynthia! Could you tell me please if I can bake the biscuits finishing the cutting procedure, I mean without freeze them? If I can, how many time and o en temperature? Or freezing is obligatory? Thank you very much
Cynthia says
Yes you can bake these right away! All the details are in my flaky buttermilk biscuit recipe https://butfirstwebrunch.com/flaky-buttermilk-biscuits/.