Tea Biscuits Recipe – Homemade Comfort
Something truly special exists about Homemade Tea Biscuit Recipes. They’re simple, comforting, and may just be the most satisfying bite you’ll ever have. For me, tea biscuits are the ultimate comfort food. With their soft, flaky layers and warm, buttery flavor, they’re a classic I never get tired of.
Tea biscuits were one of the first baked goods I learned to make. The recipe is simple, but a few key techniques can significantly help. Let’s go over some tips and ingredient insights that will help you make the best tea biscuits you’ve ever tasted!
Let’s Breakdown the Ingredients
This recipe needs just a few ingredients. Each one is important for making the light, fluffy layers we enjoy in tea biscuits.
Frozen Butter: Frozen butter is the secret to creating flaky layers. When the cold, shredded butter meets the heat of the oven, it releases steam. This steam helps the biscuits rise and gives them a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Buttermilk: Butter milk adds moisture and acidity. This improves the flavor and helps baking soda make the biscuits rise. The result is light and fluffy biscuits.
Don’t have buttermilk? Simply mix one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into a cup of milk. Let it sit for a few minutes until it curdles.
Baking powder and baking soda are leavening agents. They work together to help biscuits rise. They create lift without a bitter taste. This helps the biscuits reach the perfect height and texture.
Flour is the main ingredient in this recipe. It holds everything together and creates a base that is easy to use. Be sure to measure your dry ingredients carefully to avoid a dense biscuit.
Tips for Nailing This Homemade Tea Biscuits Recipe
This recipe calls for a few simple techniques can help you make tea biscuits that are fluffy, light, and tasty every time.
- Use Frozen Butter: This is the most important tip for creating those flaky layers. Frozen butter releases steam as it melts, giving the biscuits their signature texture. You can use either salted or unsalted butter. Just change the amount of salt in the recipe as needed.
- Shred the Cold Butter: Using a cheese grater or food processor, shred the salted butter into the flour mixture. This ensures that the butter spreads out evenly and mixes in well. This creates a smoother texture in the final product.
- Use Buttermilk: Buttermilk is essential for the right flavor and lift. If you’re out of buttermilk, mix vinegar or lemon juice with milk as a substitute. This trick keeps the biscuits with buttermilk light and moist.
- Don’t Skip the Folding: Folding the dough is what creates the iconic layers in tea biscuits. Lightly roll the dough out, fold it over itself, and repeat a few times. This step may seem minor, but it makes a huge difference in the final texture.
- Cut Into Squares: To avoid wasting dough scraps, try cutting the dough into squares instead of rounds. An easy way to maximize the batch while keeping things simple exists.
- Brush with Buttermilk: Before baking, brush the tops of the biscuits with a little buttermilk. This adds a nice golden color and enhances the flavor. You could also use melted butter for a richer finish.
How to Make Homemade Tea Biscuits Step-by-Step
- Preheat the Oven: Start by preheating your oven to 425°F and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prepare the Flour Mixture: In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, tsp baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Give it a quick mix to distribute the dry ingredients.
- Add the Frozen Butter: Shred your frozen butter using a cheese grater or cut it into small pieces with a food processor. Add it to the flour mixture and mix lightly, so the butter is well-dispersed without melting.
- Add Buttermilk: Pour in the buttermilk and mix until just combined. Be careful not to overwork the dough—it should be slightly crumbly but hold together.
- Fold the Dough: Lightly flour your surface, lightly flour the dough, and roll it out. Fold it over itself a few times to create those signature layers, then gently roll it out to about an inch thickness.
- Cut and Place on Baking Sheet: Use a knife to cut the dough into squares or a round cutter for circles. Arrange the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet with a bit of space between each one.
- Brush each biscuit with buttermilk or melted butter for a golden finish. Do this before placing them in the oven.
- Bake for 15 Minutes: Place the biscuits in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until they’re puffed and golden brown.
Why These Tea Biscuits Stand Out
These Homemade Tea Biscuits are light, fluffy, and perfectly layered. Thanks to the frozen butter and buttermilk, each bite is tender with a hint of tanginess that keeps you coming back for more. The flaky layers give them a bakery-like texture. The simple, comforting flavors make them great for any time of day.
You can enjoy these tea biscuits warm from the oven with butter and jam. They also go well with your favorite soup. These biscuits will become a family favorite. And if you’re meal prepping, these biscuits freeze beautifully—just thaw and reheat in the oven for fresh-from-the-oven flavor.
Enjoying Your Tea Biscuits Anytime
These biscuits are versatile enough to serve as a side or even as the base of a breakfast sandwich. Perfect for meal prepor a spontaneous bake, this homemade tea biscuits recipe is an essential. Enjoy your biscuit with butter.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Flour plus additional for dusting
- 2 tsp baking power
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup frozen butter, shredded with cheese grater
- 1 cup buttermilk see above tip to make your own
- 2 tbs buttermilk for brushing top of biscuits
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 425F and prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray or parchment paper.
- In a bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in shredded butter and mix together to make sure butter is well distributed.
- Create a well in the flour (a small hole) and pour in buttermilk. Mix together until a shaggy dough forms. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface, lightly bring dough together and then and shape into a rectangle using a rolling pin. Using the rolling pin, roll the dough out until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Starting with the end of the rectangle closest to you, fold end to the middle. Repeat with end of the rectangle farthest away from you. You should now have a square. Turn the square a half turn and then roll back into a rectangle; repeat the folding process two more times. This is what creates nice flaky layers.
- Roll dough to about 1/2 to 2/3 of an inch thick.
- Using a knife, cut out biscuits. If you want to use a cookie cutter go for it, I have now started cutting the biscuits into a square share to avoid any waste.
- Place the biscuits onto the baking sheet and lightly brush the tops with butter milk. If you do not have a pastry brush just dip paper towel into the butter milk and lightly spread on top.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until tops are nice and brown.
- Now time to enjoy. Very few things better in this world than a freshly made tea biscuit with butter and homemade jam. Enjoy!
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Absolutely amazing!! The flavour and flakiness is perfect, I’ve never been able to make biscuits or anything requiring dough and I made these with ease…yummmm warm from the oven with butter and molasses
This makes me so happy!!