I Tried Reese Witherspoon’s Southern Biscuits and I’m Making Them on Christmas

Grandma always knows best — especially Reese Witherspoon’s grandma. While my grandma taught me the art of making the proper Italian meatball (still iconic!), Reese’s grandmother was teaching her all of her superior baking tips (swoon). Her sour cream cake is certainly one for the books, and now I’m also a huge fan of Grandma Dorothea’s buttermilk biscuits.

It’s the kind of recipe that you always want to have stored away in your kitchen. With six simple ingredients, this small-batch biscuit recipe is perfect for a simple dinner at home, or a lazy breakfast on the weekend. Knowing how iconic Reese’s grandma’s recipes are, I couldn’t help but give this buttermilk biscuits recipe a try. And let me tell you — it’s one you’re going to want to make every single night. 

Preheat the oven to 450°F. While the oven is preheating, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. 

Slice cold butter into small cubes. With clean hands, work the butter into the flour mixture until the dollops of butter are pea-sized or smaller. Pour in buttermilk and mix together with a rubber spatula.

Once incorporated, empty the rough dough onto a floured surface. It may be slightly dry and not sticking together, but don’t worry — you’ll combine it with your hands. Knead the dough with clean hands until everything is sticking together and the dough is slightly smooth. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangular shape.

With a 2.5-inch round cutter, cut out six to eight biscuits. You might not get all six in one go, so knead the dough back together and roll it out for another round, or until you have enough biscuits. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet.

Melt the rest of the butter. Using a pastry brush, brush the butter on top of each biscuit. 

Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. The biscuits should be slightly golden on top when done.

I didn’t grow up in a household that made biscuits often, so finding an easy recipe that works well kind of feels like dynamite. Plus, this recipe makes a smaller batch, which is perfect if I quickly want to throw together biscuits for just me and my husband on a weeknight.

While some biscuits are typically flaky and layered, this biscuit recipe is a little more crumbly — perfect for pairing with a brothy pot roast or a comforting bowl of soup. The biscuits would even work well as a side for a big breakfast with bacon and scrambled eggs. Butter and jam are always a staple when eating biscuits, but these are already so tasty that you could still enjoy them on their own. If you’re patient with cutting in the butter, these biscuits will be fatty and won’t get dried out, which is honestly ideal for the perfect biscuit, whether it has flaky layers or not.

I, of course, had to share these deliciously fluffy biscuits with some of my family, and one of them had a brilliant idea of slathering the top with butter and honey while the biscuit was still warm. Let’s just say it was an absolute winner.