Flaky Butter Biscuits in Cast Iron Skillet
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Make Flaky Butter Biscuits in Cast Iron Skillet for Sunday brunch! It is so easy to make flaky and fluffy biscuits in 30 minutes.
serve these buttery skillet biscuits with jam
There is a nothing better than a buttery flaky biscuit with lots of layers. When I was younger my mom would let us by the Pillsbury biscuits for special occasions.
These homemade butter biscuits are just as flakey, but are made at home with simple ingredients. You need just flour, butter, milk, salt, baking powder and a bit of sugar to make this perfect flaky biscuit recipe.
Cook the biscuits in a cast iron skillet in the oven so that they are extra crispy on the top and bottom. When the biscuits come out of the oven, brush them over the top with melted butter for the perfect glistening biscuit tops.
Kitchen Tools
- Mixing bowls
- Cheese grater for grating cold butter
- Large biscuit cutter or cookie cutter – one that is 3.25″ in diameter
- 10″ cast iron skillet
- Wooden spoon for mixing dough
- Measuring cups and measuring spoons
- Liquid measuring cup
Why use a cheese grater to slice the butter?
To make flakey biscuits you need to have small pieces of butter mixed throughout the dough without it being melted into the dough. Using a cheese grater with frozen butter allows you to break the butter into small pieces without it melting.
Once you grate the butter over the cheese grater, gently mix it into the flour with your hands for the perfect dough. If you do not have a cheese grater you can cut the butter into small cubes with a sharp knife.
Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Salted butter – it is important to use salted butter for this recipe
- Whole milk
use baking powder to give this biscuit rise
There are many different ways to make sure that biscuits rise up and get fluffy. This butter biscuit recipe uses baking powder. Using a combination of baking powder and cold grated butter is an easy way to make a quick and fluffy biscuit recipe.
How to make flaky butter biscuits in a cast iron skillet
Step 1: prepare biscuit dough
To begin, preheat oven to 450F. Then, in a large mixing bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Remove butter from the freezer. Then, using a cheese grater, grate frozen butter into the bowl.
Next, gently mix the butter into the dry ingredients with clean hands until its evenly distributed. Pour the milk into the bowl and gently mix with a wooden spoon.
Do not over mix the biscuit dough! You want the dough to be crumbly.
Step 2: cut into biscuits and arrange in skillet
Then, dump dough onto a lightly floured counter top. Using your hands, gently press into a circle that is about 3/4 inch thick.
Use a large cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, about 3 1/4 inch in diameter, to cut out biscuits. Do not twist when you cut the biscuits. Just press down and up.
You should get about 7 biscuits. You can gently push scraps together to cut out more.
Arrange biscuits in a 10″ cast iron skillet so that they are all touching. I place one in the center and the rest on the outside.
Step 3: Bake and brush with butter
Finally, place the cast iron skillet in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. As soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, brush the tops with melted butter.
How to serve butter biscuits?
My favorite way to serve this flaky biscuit recipe is with creamy salted butter and mixed berry jam. It is the perfect thing to enjoy with a warm cup of coffee or tea.
They are great to serve as a part of a brunch spread alongside scrambled eggs, sausage, oven baked bacon, air fryer breakfast potatoes and fruit salad.
You can also serve this biscuits on a savory platter with some ham, cheddar, and pepper jelly and allow your guests to make their own biscuit sandwiches.
Storage and Reheating
Allow the biscuits to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or about a week in the fridge. Reheat in a toaster oven, air fryer or oven until warm.
Check out these other Great breakfast recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Flaky Butter Biscuits in Cast Iron Skillet
Flaky butter biscuits made with baking powder in a cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour (measured with scoop and level method)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) salted butter – frozen
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F. In a large mixing bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a cheese grater, grate frozen butter into the bowl.
- Gently mix the butter into the dry ingredients with clean hands until its evenly distributed. Pour the milk into the bowl and gently mix with a wooden spoon. Do not overmix! You want the dough to be crumbly.
- Dump dough onto a lightly floured counter top. Using your hands, gently press into a circle that is about 3/4 inch thick.
- Use a large cookie cutter or biscuit cutter (about 3 1/4 inch in diameter) to cut out biscuits. Do not twist when you cut the biscuits just press down and up.
- You should get about 7 biscuits. You can gently push scraps together to cut out more. Arrange biscuits in a 10″ cast iron skillet so that they are all touching.
- Place the cast iron skillet in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. As soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, brush the tops with melted butter.
Callee says
So easy!
★★★★★
Madeline says
thanks Callee!
Mary+Katherine says
Made this for dinner with sausage gravy and they were AMAZING!!! and pretty simple. Love the helpful video too
★★★★★
Madeline says
thanks! love sausage gravy, great pairing idea!
Aysegul Ekmekci says
I just made these tonight to accompany chicken strips and they turned out great! You couldn’t spot a difference between these and the ones you get outside, spot on!
Jennifer Templeton says
Oh my! I’ve made these twice now and they are perfect! My family was amazed. Definitely making on Christmas morning with chocolate gravy!
★★★★★
Madeline says
YAY!! that sounds fabulous!!
Caitlin says
Perfect with sausage gravy
★★★★★
Madeline says
yummm we’re doing the same for christmas!
Hannah says
Made these to go with our New Years black eyed peas!! So good!
★★★★★
Madeline says
oh that sounds perfect!! thank you!
Jenna says
I made these tonight for dinner. They came together quickly and everyone loved them. I had leftover buttermilk so I used that instead of whole. 10/10 would make again!
★★★★★
Madeline says
that’s a great idea! thanks Jenna!
Essence Slaughter says
Didn’t work for me. I followed the instructions to a T.
★
Madeline says
hey Essence, I’m so sorry this didn’t work – can you tell me more about what went wrong? I’ve made these many times with no issue so just want to know how I can help!
Anne says
These look great. Can you make the biscuit dough a day ahead of time and then cook the next day?
Madeline says
I haven’t tried this but i think it should work well! The most important part is not handling the dough too much so that they bake up super fluffy and light so try to keep that in mind.
Sarah says
Ended up making the dough a bit thinner than recommended and got a whopping 13 biscuits out of this recipe! I did think they were just a smidge dry, but otherwise SO delicious and will definitely be making again—will probably add a little more butter or reducing flour by a tablespoon or two
★★★★★
Madeline says
thanks Sarah!
Elizabeth Meyer says
Best biscuits I have ever made. I love the method of integrating the butter with your hands. So much faster and easier that using a pastry cutter. Will be my go to recipe.
★★★★★
Madeline says
thanks Elizabeth!
Ashley says
They tasted ok I’ve made biscuits before and this is my least one.
★★
Madeline says
I’m sorry you didn’t like them, Ashley. hate to hear when something doesn’t work out for someone!
Henry says
Made these a couple times with great results. They are perfectly flakey and delicious. Thinking about making them with cheddar and jalapeños, what changes would I have to make to recipe?
★★★★★
Madeline says
None! You can continue as is. I would just recommend dicing the jalapeños. 🙂 Sounds yummy!
Audrey says
Do you need to pre heat the cast iron before putting the biscuits in there?
Madeline says
Hi Audrey! Not necessary. Just arrange the biscuits in the pan and then place them in the oven.
Jack Blease says
Great
★★★★★
Bonnie Taylor says
Excellent skillet biscuits. Used Vermont Creamery cultured butter with 82% butterfat (found it at Kroger) + buttermilk instead of whole milk. I find it much easier to cut the frozen butter into small pieces with a chef knife (rather than using a grater) and I do this first, then chill the cut butter while preparing other ingredients. No need to fold and refold the dough like other recipes. Using a 12″ skillet, this recipe made 9 flaky biscuits 3″ wide and 1.5″ high, nicely crusted top and bottom (just like the pictures Madeline posted!). They were delicious.
★★★★★
Madeline says
Thanks, Bonnie!
Carmen says
Outstanding. I have tried many biscuit recipes. This one wins. My only addition was 1 Tbl of apple cider vinegar to my use of 2% milk. My cast iron is 9” so I used one 9” and one 5”. Worked great.
★★★★★
Madeline says
Awesome to hear. Thanks, Carmen!