Easy Blueberry Biscuits Recipe

Homemade biscuits with blueberries are a delightful recipe that you can serve as a side dish for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! This is one of our favorite recipes for the summer, and once you’ve had a bite of these flaky biscuits, it’s sure to be one of your as well.

Who doesn’t love warm biscuits straight from the oven? We sure do! This delicious blueberry biscuits recipe don’t result in overly sweet biscuits – they have just enough sweetness to compliment the buttery flavor of the biscuits but not enough that you can’t serve it with dinner. This recipe is a great way to use some fresh blueberries that you have from the grocery store, farmer’s market, or your own backyard!

Fresh, buttery biscuits are something that seem out of reach to most home cooks and bakers. Something that delicious has to be complicated, right? Wrong. All it takes to make an amazing biscuit is respect for the ingredients, a little patience and a couple of expert tips. Once you learn the basics, you can modify a biscuit to be whatever you want or need.

Since it’s summer and the blueberries are divine, I’ve decided to share how to make homemade blueberry biscuits, and I think it’s one of the easiest and tastiest treats I’ve made in a long time. It’s perfect for breakfast or brunch, or as a side at dinner, or whenever you’re lucky enough to find one in the kitchen. I promise, there are few things more delightful than fluffy blueberry biscuits.

This recipe works because it shows you the simple but important steps, and includes photos to help you understand the process of making the biscuit dough, along with advice on folding in the blueberries and getting the biscuit to have the right texture and color. If you follow the advice in this recipe, you’ll have the best biscuits in town, guaranteed.

What kind of flour should I use?

Having lived in the south for twenty years, I know people here, and all around, take their biscuit ingredients seriously. They swear by their brands, types, and more. And they’re not wrong. Using the right ingredients is the key to success with biscuits.

Different recipes call for different flours. Some specify regular, all-purpose flour. Others use self-raising flour. It is important to use what the recipe calls for, as it will impact the outcome of the biscuit. Self-rising flour already has baking soda or baking powder mixed in. This recipe calls for regular, all-purpose flour because it’s what most people have on hand, and the ratios work.

But there is one flour that works better, and is worth finding if you can: White Lily. It has a reputation among bakers as being better for biscuits, cakes, and cookies. It has a lower protein content, which allows the baked goods to rise better. If you can find it in your grocery store, it’s worth buying and using in all your favorite biscuit recipes. (Conversely this flour will not be as good in bread, which needs more protein to develop and create a well-structured bread.)

Fresh or frozen berries

For most baking recipes, you can interchange fresh or frozen berries. In this recipe, it’s better to use fresh, dry berries. This is a very thick, stiff dough. It’s difficult to fold in the berries, and frozen berries will be more difficult to mix than fresh, wild berries. Also, they will leak onto the mix, streaking it and turning it purple. This doesn’t change the flavor, but might be what you want.

Rinse the berries well, and let them sit to dry while you make the dough. It’s important that the berries are dry; they will be easier to fold in and they will not add extra water to the dough. The ratio of flour to butter to liquid is important, and adding wet berries will impact the rise a little bit.

However, if frozen berries is what you have, you should still make this recipe! Just rinse them to thaw, let them drain well, and toss them in two tablespoons of flour to absorb a little more liquid and keep them dry as you fold them into the mix.

Milk, cream, or buttermilk?

Like with flours, people have strong opinions about what liquid to add to the recipe. I generally use cream because it’s sweet and rich, but buttermilk is equally good (few can resist blueberry buttermilk biscuits), and still makes a great sweet biscuit.

Cream is thick enough and has added fat, which helps the rise, crumb, and great browning. Buttermilk has the enzymes that give it an incredible rise, nice air in the biscuit, and a tang in the flavor that will really stand out. Whole milk is an acceptable alternative – I do not recommend using a low-fat milk for this recipe.

More important than the actual dairy liquid going into the biscuit is the quantity, and not overmixing. Milk is thinner and will require less to get the mix wet enough to bake.

How to mix the dough

Making biscuits takes five minutes flat. Taking longer will actually lead to a less than stellar biscuit. Mix the salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder very well in a bowl. You can sift if you prefer, or mix thoroughly with a fork. Add the very cold, cubed butter and “cut” it in. Using apastry cutter, knife, or food processor, you chop the butter into fine bits that are covered on all sides by flour. The butter will quickly be broken into small pieces, about the size of peas. You don’t need to cut it in smaller than that, pockets of butter are essential to a light, airy biscuit.

After you’ve cut the cold butter into the flour, create a “well” or hollow space in the center of the bowl. Add 2/3 cup buttermilk and fold gently with a fork. The dough will feel dry and not seem like there’s enough liquid to hold it together. Scrape from the bottom to bring up the dry flour, and gently press into the liquid.

Do this a few times, and use your hands or a spoon to push the dough together. If the mix is still quite crumbly after a few turns, add a tablespoon at a time until the dough just comes together. It does not need to be wet and completely blended. It just needs to hold together.

You can do this in the bowl or on a floured surface. It will come together quickly. Do not overmix, and try to be quick. The longer you work the dough, the tougher it will get, and the warmer the butter will get. If the butter warms too much, it will melt out in the oven, and will be dry and flat.

How to add the blueberries

This can seem tricky. The dough is really stiff. Fresh blueberries are fragile, and you don’t want to break them all up getting them inside the dough. I just get my hands in there and mix them into the dough gently, it’s fast and easy. Alternatively you can use a spoon and gently press the berries into the dough while it’s laid out on a floured surface.

Supplies

• Large bowl
• Baking sheet (some people like to use a cast iron skillet)
• Wooden spoon
• Rolling pin
• Pastry blender
• Measuring cups

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 to 3/4 cups cream or buttermilk

Recipe

1. The key to success in this recipe is to keep the ingredients cold and get the biscuits in the oven right away.
2. Store the butter and cream or buttermilk in the fridge until they’re ready – they should not be room temperature. If the dough sits out for any period of time, chill them for a few minutes in the fridge.
3. Heat your oven to 425 degrees.
4. Add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder to a large bowl.
5. Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly or sieve them to ensure they’re fully blended.
6. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a knife or pastry blender, blending until the butter is pea-size.
7. Create a well in the center of the bowl and add 2/3 cup liquid and mix gently.
8. Add more liquid, one tablespoon at a time, if needed
9. The dough will barely hold together, and have chunks of butter. Place it on a lightly floured work surface and add the berries gently. If the dough is very soft and warm, chill for 20 minutes.
10. To shape the biscuits, you can roll the dough into a rectangle and cut into 12 pieces. Or, you can use a biscuit cutter. Or, you can scoop large spoonfuls of dough. There’s no wrong way to shape the biscuits, just ensure they are uniform in shape and size. If you want, you can brush the tops with milk, or sprinkle with turbinado sugar, or do both.
11. Bake the biscuits at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes. They will begin to become golden brown on top, and begin to crisp up. They should not be wet or shiny, but look light, fluffy, and delicious.

How long do these biscuits last?

These biscuits taste best the day they’re made. If you have leftovers (not likely!), they will last a few days stored in a container. They will freeze for a few months if wrapped. But because they are a light, crumbly biscuit, they won’t be as good frozen. So, just enjoy them when they come out of the oven!

Variations

There are lots of different things you can do or add to these biscuits to kick them up another notch! Here are a few fun ideas.

• Add mixed berries instead of just blueberries
• Make a sweet glaze to top them with – a vanilla glaze or lemon glaze would be especially delightful
• Make them with cold buttermilk instead of cream
• Top them with ice cream
• Add lemon juice or lemon zest to the batter
• Put melted butter tops of biscuit

Are these drop biscuits or cut biscuits

These biscuits are designed to be cut with a biscuit cutter or glass.

The simple ingredients – including sweet blueberries – make these easy blueberry biscuits a true winner in the kitchen – it is really one of the best 30-minute recipes. Next time you have some extra wild blueberries and are tired of making the same old blueberry muffins or pancakes, make sure you pull this recipe out of your recipe box!