After hearing about Joanna Gaines’ labor of love on famous southern biscuits, I knew I had to try them out myself.
After a year of Saturdays dedicated to perfecting her southern biscuit recipe, Joanna bravely put it all on the line with her family as the taste testers. In the end, she decided to add eggs into the dough mixture, combined with baking the biscuits, all touching each other in a tray, for maximum moisture and lightness.
As an avid southern biscuit lover who has spent plenty of time trying to get that southern biscuit texture just right, I couldn’t wait to try Joanna’s southern biscuits. After one bite of these light and fluffy biscuits from Magnolia Table, it was clear that Joanna had succeeded!
Joanna’s Famous Southern Biscuits Recipe
Common kitchen staples go into Joanna Gaines’s famous southern biscuits:
- 4 cups self-rising flour, plus more for your work surface
- 2 large eggs, beaten, plus an additional egg for brushing
- 1½ cups cold butter, cubed
- 1½ cups buttermilk, plus an additional tablespoon for brushing
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Making the biscuit dough
Making southern biscuits, according to Joanna Gaines’ famous recipe, turned out to be a surprisingly simple and rewarding endeavor!
I began by putting the flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. I didn’t have self-rising flour so I used this substitute.
Then, to reap the rewards of an extra-flaky biscuit, I made sure to use cold butter. After cutting it into cubes, I popped it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
Next, add the cubed butter to the flour mixture and use your fingers to flatten and break the butter until the mixture resembles small crumbs. For this step you can also use a food processor or a pastry cutter. However, your hands work just as good.
In a large mixing bowl or measuring cup whisk two beaten eggs and 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk.
Next, combine the wet ingredients to the dry. Using a wooden spoon, or your hands, stir to combine until all ingredients are incorporated and a ball forms.
Finally, following Joanna’s instructions, I popped the dough into the fridge for at least 30 minutes. It can even sit overnight! Taking that time out while my southern biscuits were chilling assured me plenty of time to clean up my messy kitchen before rolling and cutting fresh southern biscuit goodness. Yum!
Prepping the biscuits for baking
After taking the dough out of the fridge and preparing the surface with some extra flour, I molded it into a mound—the buttermilk and eggs allowed it to stick easily together. Flatten the dough in a round shape with your hand to about a half-inch thick.
This process was so unusual because the recipe didn’t include any folding or manipulation of the dough, which is typically necessary for southern biscuit recipes. So taking this step away seemed intimidating, but against all odds, Joanna’s recipe proved that southern biscuits can be made with perfect ease and wonderful results!
With my trusty 2¾-inch biscuit cutter, I cut as many biscuits out of the round shape as I could. Reform the scraps and continue cutting until all the scraps have been used.
I felt like a southern biscuit-making guru when I got 20 perfectly-rounded southern biscuits from Joanna Gaines’ famous recipe.
It is time to put them together and prepare them for the oven. Place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Joanna’s directions state to have them touching each other. She said that would help make sure they stayed light and moist.
Next, brush on a mixture of egg and buttermilk, as Joanna suggests. Then place the tray of biscuits in the oven at 400ºF for 15-20 minutes.
You’re almost ready to taste southern biscuits with such fantastic flavor and texture right out of Joanna’s very own recipe – now that is deliciously divine!
You can easily half this recipe for a small batch of southern biscuits.
My Review of Joanna Gaines Souther Buscuit Recipe
I recently tried Joanna Gaines’s famous Southern Biscuits recipe, and it did not disappoint! The biscuits were light and fluffy, with the perfect amount of sweetness. They baked up golden brown and tasted just like a biscuit should–warm and comforting. Although the recipe wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, I was still pleased with the result. I would highly recommend this easy recipe to anyone looking to make delicious homemade biscuits.
Joanna’s Southern Biscuits Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups self-rising flour, plus more for rolling
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
Baking Finish
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp buttermilk
Instructions
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Make a well in the center.
- In a large measuing cup, whisk the eggs and buggermilk.
- Pour the eggs and buttermilk mixture into the well of the dry ingredients.
- Using your hands, or a wooden spoon, combine the wet and dry ingredients until a ball forms.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight.
- Preheat over to 400 degrees F.
- Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and flatten with your hand into a large round about a half-inch thick.
- Using a 2 3/4 inch biscuit cutter, cut out as many biscuits as you can. Reform the scraps and repeat until all the dough is cut.
- Put the biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet. Make sure the biscuits are touching either other.
- Whisk one egg with one tablespoon of buttermilk. Using a pastry brush, brush the mixture over the tops of the biscuits.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes.
