Fluffy Butter Swim Biscuits
Visual learner? Watch me make these Butter Swim Biscuits from start to finish!
My husband and I text each other nonstop throughout the day. You’d think we both didn’t work from home. There are just so many cool, funny & useful things that I can’t let him miss. Like baby Axel getting his diaper changed, the grandma fart prank video, and every single thing on Pinterest that I want him to make for me
His texts are usually funny memes and gifs responses like this one that took me out or food pics. Last week he sent me a picture of Butter Swim Biscuits and nothing more but “Oh. My. God.”
Sweet surrogate mother of all things holy! I seriously just had to stare at my phone for a few seconds before sending a 600 Pound Life quote “I bet that taste like grease and freedom”. Anything swimming in butter has got to be unhealthy and something I don’t need for sure.
Nope. Get behind me dark spirits of temptation. Ha! Just playing, GIVE IT TO ME!!!! Give me all the BUTTERSSSS!!!!
Let’s Make Some Biscuits!
Thankfully Lilly over at Instrapix has an excellent tutorial for making butter swim biscuits that was easy to follow.
You may recognize these biscuits as butter-dip biscuits or skillet pan biscuits. I think they have several names actually, but Butter Swim biscuits get my vote!
It didn’t take long before I was in the kitchen, whipping up a batch of these hot fluffy biscuits and adding a few tweaks to tickle my fancy.
The results are piping hot biscuits that are super fluffy, full of tart buttermilk flavor, and yes, so so buttery!
My kids call these “feel-better-biscuits (yep we’re Big City Greens fans) or fast-food biscuits. That’s a compliment right? I do love a good Bojangles or Chick fil la biscuit! They definitely have that thick yet fluffy texture of a fast-food biscuit.
If the thought of biscuits swimming in a pool of butter turns you off then, relax, they won’t actually be dripping with butter. The amount of butter is actually the same amount used in regular biscuit recipes. It’s all in that “pouring the melted butter in the pan first” business.
The same way you do with cobblers and cornbread that result in a moist and heavenly texture.
You will, however, see a lot of butter sizzling on the sides of the pan when you take it out of the oven. Its a beautiful sight. Within minutes, it will have absorbed into the biscuits giving them a golden buttery taste.
How to Make the BEST Butter Swim Biscuits
- Be careful with the buttermilk. I’ve made this recipe 3 times, and each time I use a tad bit more or a tad bit less buttermilk (never any less than 1 1/2 cups but never any more than 1 3/4 cups. You may need more or less mmmkay.) You want to use JUST enough buttermilk so that the dough is slightly wet but not soupy.
- Add shortening. Adding a little bit of shortening really does give these butter swim biscuits a beautiful texture.
- Keep it cold. Biscuits like to go into a really hot oven as cold as possible, so make sure all of your ingredients are cold beforehand.
- Handle carefully. Once you start mixing in the buttermilk, make each stir count. You want to stir it up just until a wet dough forms. Too much stirring will undoubtedly result in a dense, gummy butter swim biscuit.
I love how quick these Butter Swim Biscuits make it to the table! Eat them plain, spread them with apple butter, strawberry butter or smother them in Southern sausage gravy!
Honey, you can do no wrong!
Get the Recipe: Butter Swim Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, Use White Lily flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter-flavored shortening
- 1½-1¾ cup buttermilk, cold
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
- Cut in the shortening until mixture is crumbly.
- Slowly add in buttermilk, a little at a time, JUST until a wet dough forms. (may need to use slightly more or less buttermilk as stated) Set aside.
- Melt 7 tablespoons of butter and pour it into a 8x8 glass baking dish.
- Spoon the biscuit dough on top of the butter and gently spread it out.
- Precut the dough into 9 squares. (this will allow the butter to get to all corners of each biscuit)
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden. (If the tops are still pale when almost done, flip the oven to broil to add some golden color to the tops but watch it carefully!)
- Remove from oven and allow the butter to absorb into the biscuits.
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with remaining tablespoon of butter.
- Serve!
Seriously Monic, these were some of the best biscuits that I’ve made. Thank you for helping me to look like a professional in the kitchen. May I please ask you how did you get the hairstyle on the cover of your cookbook, it’s so pretty? Thanks.
Poor biscuit substitute recipe. But you know going into it it is not going to be flaky layered old fashioned biscuits. It would be an oka bread if it weren’t for all of the butter making it so greasy. Perhaps if there was a way to eliminate all that butter that it’s swimming in. Perhaps I will try it without all that butter and lightly coat the bottom and add fruit. The addition of freight should help the taste of whatever this is supposed to be. For sure it is nothing near a biscuit. The batter is more light something you would use on top of a cobbler.
OMG! I have been testing biscuit recipes and have been so disappointed in the past. These are the easiest, most fluffy, delicious biscuits I have ever made. They rival my late mother-in-laws biscuits, with so much less work! My husband was so happy!. Thank you so much!
I love love your recipes. I first found you some years ago when my husband was diagnosed with gluten allergy. I made your Gluten Free Carrot Cake. It was the first gluten free cake I ever made & it’s my “Go To” now. No one knows it’s gluten free. Since then I keep coming back and have tried a number of your recipes. They are all fabulous. Thank you for being an incredible person & helping us out here cook better.
As always, you never fail me! These biscuits were so yummy and easy to make! Family loved them! Thank you!
These are my new “go to” recipe for biscuits and are perfect for biscuits and gravy.