There’s so much I love about biscuits, especially honey butter biscuits. The nice part about biscuits is they’re considered a type of quick bread, which means they don’t require all the kneading and proofing you’d do with yeast rolls. Virtually all you have to do is mix the ingredients together and throw them in the oven (well, there’s a bit more to it than that, but pretty close!). But nothing beats biscuits that are made entirely from scratch. Frankly, I don’t understand why people bother with canned / frozen biscuits, because making them yourself (especially drop biscuits) is so easy! As much as you may have Church’s biscuits, you’re going to love this honey butter biscuits recipe I’m about to share!
Key Ingredients for Honey Butter Drop Biscuits
The biscuit dough is made from your standard ingredients: Flour, Baking Powder and Table Salt. That said, what makes this recipe stand out from the rest is the use of Heavy Whipping Cream and Melted Butter.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: What gives biscuits much of their flavor and tenderness is the fat content. In many recipes, this comes from adding butter as well as milk (even buttermilk). While biscuits made with milk or buttermilk are perfectly fine, they both contain a ton of water (upwards of 90%), which dilutes some of the fat. For that reason, I tested this recipe with heavy whipping cream as an alternative. This is because Heavy Whipping Cream also has a much higher fat content with much less water. The added fat in part prevents gluten development (which keeps biscuits from baking properly) by coating the flour. Also, with fat content not being nearly as diluted, the buttery flavor is really enhanced!
- Melted Butter: Most biscuit recipes call for the use of cold / frozen butter, and there are pros vs. cons to both. After testing both for this recipe, I ultimately settled on melted butter being the best choice. It’s true that cold butter gives biscuits their flaky layers, as the steam they produce while melting in the oven leads to nice air pockets that help to form those layers. However, flakiness is really a matter of aesthetics. These are drop honey butter biscuits, which are not meant to be pretty-looking (just pretty tasty). Besides coating the flour much more easily and helping to prevent gluten development, melted butter is just plain easier to mix with the other ingredients, saving time and effort.
- Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder: You’ll find that most biscuit recipes call for using baking powder, but there are a few out that are made with baking soda. It’s just plain easier to use baking powder for a couple reason. One, because you don’t want the honey butter biscuits to spread out (you want them to puff up), and since the Baking Powder is already activated before you put it in the oven, the dough doesn’t have a chance to spread before it rises. But also, baking soda by itself will give away to an awful metallic taste without an acidic ingredient to neutralize it (such as brown sugar or cream of tartar). Baking powder, meanwhile, has already been processed with an acidic ingredient.
The best part about these honey butter biscuits is unlike the traditional biscuit, this requires no kneading, no patting down with your hands, no flattening with a rolling pin and no biscuit cutter. This really saves time for preparation, which is what I love about them. Even for a novice cook, these are very hard to mess up. They can be enjoyed not only for breakfast, but they also go great alongside dishes for lunch or dinner (such as fried chicken, as Church’s Chicken famously sells his own version of honey butter biscuits). The only thing you have to careful about is not eating too many from a batch, as it will be very tempting with how good they are.
Tips for Making this Recipe
Ensure baking powder is fresh. You should always be mindful of the expiration date on your baking powder before you put it to use. Perhaps the biggest issue people encounter when they’re making biscuits or baked goods in general is that they’re using extremely old baking powder. While most brands of baking powder can remain active for months or even years, because many people don’t use it often, it can end up sitting in the cabinet and before you know it, the expiration date is in the past. When this happens, the biscuits will fail to rise properly in the oven because it is no longer active. That’s why you should always ensure your baking powder has not expired.
Use aluminum-free baking powder. Another mistake that people often make, although this is mostly from a lack of knowledge, is they’ll buy specific brands of baking powder at their grocery store without realizing it contains aluminum (aluminum is an acidic compound that can activate baking soda). Usually, if there’s a ton of sugar in the recipe, that will mask the metallic taste from the aluminum. But in baked goods such as biscuits (where there isn’t much sugar or honey), the metallic taste will be quite apparent and it can ruin the biscuits. This is why I recommend using baking powder that’s aluminum-free. A brand I recommend is Rumford, which is sold at most major grocery stores in the US.
Spoon + level your flour. This will ensure you’re not using too much in your recipe, as it’s easy to get too much to settle in there if you opt to scoop it with a measuring cup. Alternatively, you can use a scale to measure these ingredients (the exact measurements are listed below in the ingredients). If you measure these ingredients these ingredients correctly, it could negatively effect the flavor/texture of the honey butter biscuits.
Do not overmix the dough. You have to be really careful when you’re combining all of the ingredients for these honey butter biscuits (and baked goods in general). The reason why is because the flour tends to contain a fair amount of protein, and that protein can lead to gluten formation when combined with water (which is included in the heavy whipping cream and butter). Ultimately, you only want to mix the heavy whipping cream and butter with the flour and the other dry ingredients until they’re just combined, meaning until the flour is no longer visible to the naked eye. I recommend using a cooking spoon or plastic spatula for this, and avoid using a whisk or hand/stand mixer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you add Nuts or Chocolate Chips to this recipe?
I’m personally not a fan of having these extra ingredients in my honey butter biscuits (personal preference), which is why I officially excluded them from my recipe. That being said, if you prefer having these items in your honey butter biscuits, you can certainly add them while combining the ingredients.
Can you substitute the All-Purpose Flour for Pastry Flour?
This honey butter biscuits recipe has not been testing with the use of pastry flour, so I don’t recommend it.
Can you substitute the Butter with Shortening?
The answer to this question always gets tricky.
I do understand that not everyone is able to eat dairy products and that butter is simply not an option for such individuals. In such cases, you *COULD* replace the butter with a shortening, but with a couple of important caveats. For starters, while shortening and butter are both different type of fats that can be used in baked goods, their fat composition is not entirely equal. Shortening tends to have virtually no water in it (thus is 100% fat), whereas Butter typically has a water content of 20-25% (depending on the brand).
The other caveat is that the use of cooking oils will change the flavor profile of the biscuits. Seed oils (I.E. Vegetable Oil, Canola Oil, etc.), which shortening is made from, are known to be neutral-tasting (meaning they have no flavor). So you will be losing the subtle nuttiness / sweetness in your brownies that Butter offer.
All of that said, the short and sweet answer I can give you is I don’t recommend it. For a more detailed answer, see above.
Can you freeze the honey butter biscuits? And if so, for how long?
You can definitely freeze these honey butter biscuits! Once they’ve cooled completely, for the best results, wrap them in plastic wrap then place them in a freezer bag. They should maintain their freshness for at least 1 month. While they may still be safe ton eat beyond 1 month in the freeze, the biscuits will gradually lose their flavor and texture after 1 month has passed. You can then reheat them in the oven while still wrapped in foil for 10 minutes at 350*F.
How long can you store these honey butter biscuits without freezing?
As long as the honey butter biscuits are stored in a airtight container or bag, they should be safe to eat for at least 3 days. After 3 days, they may begin to lose their flavor & texture. Once 5 days have passed, I would advise that you dispose of the honey butter biscuits as they may no longer be edible.
Try These Other Sides
-
Best Homemade Baked Beans (NO Canned Beans)
-
Best Cornbread (Southern-Style)
-
Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits (Copycat)
Honey Butter Biscuits (Better Than Church's)
Equipment
- 1 Cooking Spoon
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- 1 Ice Cream Scoop
- 1 Cookie Sheet
- Measuring Cups/Spoons
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Biscuits
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 TSP Baking Powder
- 1/2 TSP Iodized Salt
- 1/2 Cups Melted Unsalted Butter
- 2 TBSP Honey
- 1 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
Honey Butter
- 2 TBSP Honey
- 2 TBSP Melted Unsalted Butter (HOT)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425*F
- In measuring cup, combine 2 TBSP honey with heavy whipping cream and mix until well combined (and honey is no longer visible).
- In large mixing bowl, add dry ingredients (Flour, Baking Powder, Salt) then mix until well combined.
- Add wet ingredients (Butter & Heavy Whipping Cream) then mix together with dry ingredients until just combined
- Using ice cream scoop, form the biscuit dough into individual balls and place then, evenly spaced out, on a cookie sheet (either greased or lined with parchment paper).
- Place biscuit dough in oven and bake for 12 minutes.
- In microwave safe bowl or cup, place 2 TBSP of melted unsalted butter in microwave and heat until melted (approx. 30 - 45 seconds).
- Remove melted butter from microwave, add 2 TBSP honey and mix until well combined.
- Remove biscuits from oven and immediately brush tops with hot honey butter