Honey Butter Biscuits

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Honey Butter Biscuits are soft, fluffy, and slightly sweet from a brush of delicious honey butter. They’re the perfect addition to any holiday spread or big family dinner!

If you’re loving this recipe, you should also check out Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits and Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits.

honey butter biscuits stacked on a baking sheet.

Table of Contents

Can you keep a secret? These homemade biscuits only take about half an hour to make from start to finish. Yes, really! They’re one of my all-time favorite side dishes to make because they always seem so much more impressive than they really are.

While I do have plenty of biscuit recipes on the more savory side (scroll down to check those out), I love these sweeter biscuits. The sweetness here is very mild but it compliments any dish so well. You can use salted butter if you’d like to really enhance that salty and sweet combination of flavors!

Essentially, these are just homemade biscuits that have the best soft and fluffy texture and are enhanced with a good drizzle of honey that gets mixed right into the dough. Honey and butter also get mixed together and brushed atop the biscuits before baking to really seal the deal on that mouthwatering sweet, buttery flavor.

Ingredient Notes

labeled ingredients for honey butter biscuits on a wood surface.

Flour – all purpose flour works in any occasion but if you can, see if you White Lily flour is available to you (it contains more protein). Note: if using White Lily flour, you will need to add an extra 4 tbsp. since it’s lighter.

Baking Powder and Baking Soda – Make sure that neither of these ingredients are expired! Both of these ingredients should always be used within 6 months of opening the containers.

Honey – for the best flavor, try to use a good quality honey that you love the taste of.

Buttermilk – 1% low fat buttermilk always makes the best biscuits. Make sure it’s cold!

Butter – I like unsalted butter, but salted works as well if you really want to enhance that salty/sweet combo. Make sure to use cold butter as well.

See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.

How to Make Honey Butter Biscuits

collage of four images of making the dough for biscuits.

Prepare. Preheat the oven to 425°F and lightly grease a large baking sheet.

Mix the first few ingredients. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (1). Mix on low to combine ingredients.

Add butter. Chop cold butter into pieces and add it to the flour mixture (2). Mix on low, until batter resembles coarse crumbs (3).

Finish making the dough. Pour in honey and mix for a few seconds. Pour cold buttermilk into the center of the mixture. Mix until just combined (4) and note that the dough will be sticky.

cutting the biscuits out on a non stick sheet.

Knead the dough. Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle with a little more flour on top (5). Knead dough 5-6 times and pat into a ½ inch-think circle (6).

Cut the dough into biscuits. Using a cookie cutter (about 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter), cut out the biscuits (7). Rework dough scraps into a ball (kneading it as little as possible) and shape it into a circle again. Cut out more biscuits.

brushing honey butter onto uncooked biscuits that are on a baking sheet.

Prepare for baking. Place biscuits on the baking sheet leaving about an inch in between (8). In a small bowl, mix melted butter and honey. Using a pastry brush, brush each biscuits with honey butter mixture (9).

Bake. Bake for 10-13 minutes (depending on the size of biscuits), until raised and golden brown.

Enjoy! As soon as you take the biscuits out of the oven, brush them with more honey butter mixture.

honey butter biscuits with on a baling sheet with one cut in half and honey also on the baking sheet.

Tips for the Best Biscuits

Keep fats cold. This means the cold butter and cold buttermilk!

If you don’t have buttermilk, don’t fret! You can easily substitute the buttermilk with an acidic milk mixture. Simply combine 1 TBSP of freshly squeezed lemon juice OR white vinegar with 1 cup of whole milk. Let it sit for just about 5 minutes before you use it. Do note that this is NOT an equal substitute to buttermilk and will not work as well. But it will certainly work in a pinch.

Do NOT over-mix the dough! Mix everything together just until the dough forms, knead it just a few times, then cut the biscuits with your cookie cutter. Over mixing the dough could result in flat, tough biscuits.

Use a cookie cutter. This is how to achieve perfectly sized, uniformed biscuits that all bake evenly. If you don’t have a cookie cutter you can just use a narrow glass. Make sure to slightly grease the cookie cutter. Don’t twist the cookie cutter – just gently press it down.

Check your baking powder and soda to make sure they’re not expired. If your baking powder is more than 6 months old, it will start to lose its acting agents and won’t work as well anymore. To test baking powder, place a teaspoon of baking powder is a small bowl and pour in about 1/2 cup of boiling water. If it bubbles a lot, it’s still good to use. If there is no reaction, your baking powder is dead and you should get rid of it.

brushing honey butter on top of biscuits.

Best Way to Store Biscuits

Always store biscuits in an airtight container. You can store biscuits at room temperature for up to 2 days, but I don’t recommend storing them that way longer, especially if you live in a humid environment. It’s better to store the biscuits in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for up to 5 days. You can easily reheat the biscuits in a microwave.

If you want to store them any longer, you can always freeze them. Freeze cooled baked biscuits in an airtight food storage container or in a zip-top freezer bag. Get as much air out as you can, label, and freeze for up to 1 month.

Recipe FAQs

Can I make biscuits ahead of time?

Yes and no. Biscuits are best when baked fresh and will rise much better when the dough is first prepared. If you prepare the biscuits and refrigerate them instead of baking, the baking powder will lose a lot of it’s active ingredients (especially if using double acing baking powder). If you want to make biscuits ahead of time, it’s best to prepare the biscuits and freeze them raw.

How do I freeze biscuits?

Prepare biscuits according to the recipe. Cut them out and place them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Freeze for up to 2 hours (set a timer so you won’t forget). Once frozen, transfer the biscuits into a zip-top freezer bag, get as much air out as you can, and label. Freeze biscuits for up to 3 months. To bake frozen biscuits, don’t thaw them. Place frozen biscuits on a greased baking sheet and bake at 425°F for 15-18 minutes, which is about 5 minutes longer than fresh biscuits bake time.

Why use buttermilk in biscuits?

Using buttermilk will help with softer and fluffier biscuits. The acid in the buttermilk works great with the baking powder to help them rise and fluff. Low fat buttermilk works better than higher fat buttermilk or whole milk because it has a lower fat content. This offsets the rich butter and provides the liquid without much additional fat.

honey butter biscuits being broke in half.

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Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in March 2016.

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