Honey Butter Biscuits
Tall, flaky biscuits made with cold butter and milk, brushed with melted honey butter while hot. Makes 8 in 30 minutes.
Photograph credit: Plain Butter Biscuit with Honey by Alabama Extension · CC0 1.0 · Flickr
Making Honey Butter Biscuits Ahead
Best eaten warm on the day. Keep in an airtight tin for up to 2 days and warm at 160°C for 5 minutes. Freezes for up to 2 months.
Honey Butter Biscuits: The Method
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Heat the oven to 220°C / 430°F (200°C / 390°F fan). Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl. Rub in the grated butter until crumbly, leaving some pea-sized pieces.
-
Stir in the milk with a fork until just combined. Tip onto a floured surface, pat out, fold in half twice, and pat to 3 cm thick.
-
Cut 8 rounds with a 6 cm cutter, pressing straight down. Stand them touching on a lined tray.
-
Bake for 15 minutes until risen and golden. Mix the melted butter and honey and brush over the hot biscuits.
Tips for Success
- Keep everything cold, including the milk.
- Press the cutter straight down; twisting seals the edges.
- Do not overwork the dough or the biscuits turn tough.
- Check at 12 minutes if your oven runs hot.
Behind the Recipe
Cold is the secret. Butter that is cold when it goes into the oven melts into the dough in steam bursts, and those bursts are what make the layers. If the butter softens while you work, the biscuits come out flat and dense.
Grate the butter on the coarse side of a box grater and rub it in with your fingertips, quickly, until it looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces left. Those pieces are the flakiness.
Add the milk all at once and stir with a fork until just combined. The dough will look shaggy; it should. Press, fold twice, and pat out to 3 cm thick.
Cut straight down with a floured cutter, without twisting, which seals the edges and stops the rise. Stand them close together, touching, so they rise up and not out. The honey butter goes on as they come out of the oven. Biscuits are best eaten the day they are made, ideally within the hour. If the oven is small, bake in two batches rather than crowding the tray, and keep the second portion of dough in the fridge while the first bakes.
Good Alongside
Fried chicken · Scrambled eggs · Jam · Sausage gravy
Questions About Honey Butter Biscuits
How long does Honey Butter Biscuits take to make?
About 30 minutes in total — 15 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe serves 8.
What are the key tips for making Honey Butter Biscuits?
Keep everything cold, including the milk. Press the cutter straight down; twisting seals the edges. Do not overwork the dough or the biscuits turn tough. Check at 12 minutes if your oven runs hot.
What should I serve with Honey Butter Biscuits?
Fried chicken; Scrambled eggs; Jam; Sausage gravy.
Can Honey Butter Biscuits be made ahead or frozen?
Best eaten warm on the day. Keep in an airtight tin for up to 2 days and warm at 160°C for 5 minutes. Freezes for up to 2 months.
Is Honey Butter Biscuits suitable for a special diet?
This recipe is vegetarian. Those labels are checked against the ingredient list, so a dish is only marked when nothing in it contradicts the claim.
How many calories are in Honey Butter Biscuits?
About 278 kcal per serving, with 5 g protein, 33 g carbohydrate and 14 g fat. The figures are calculated from the ingredient list and are an estimate.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.
Reader Reviews
Cooked this? Leave a review
Written and tested by Turab
One person, one kitchen — no test kitchen, no team. How every recipe on this site is checked before it goes up.
Related Recipes
More American cooking and baking ideas from Weekly Delight.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brown butter, a 24-hour rest and two sizes of chocolate produce cookies with crisp edges, a chewy middle and pools…
Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes
Tall, tender pancakes with a tangy edge and a golden, even surface. The lumps in the batter are not a mistake — they…
Classic Smash Cheeseburger
A smash burger with lace-edged, deeply browned patties, American cheese melted to the edges and a soft toasted bun…
Fudgy Cocoa Brownies
Cocoa-based brownies with a paper-thin crackly top and a dense, fudgy middle. No chocolate to melt, no mixer needed…