![Southern Living Blueberry Biscuits in a basket to serve](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.southernliving.com/thmb/t31mvtbUQFvNxt7Zqd_686EXT0M=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Blueberry_Biscuits_020-474a74e3bcdf44eb8ee58d065c1b4466.jpg)
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Blueberry biscuits are super tender, flaky, and delicately sweet. They have a nice crunchy texture from the turbinado sugar on top, instead of a glaze. The blueberries add just the right amount of sweetness and additional moisture to the biscuit. The berries also release some of their juices, which caramelize on the outside for some sticky bites.
The final result? A delicious alternative to classic buttermilk biscuits.
A Fun Way To Use Blueberries
Juicy, plump blueberries are wonderful in recipes like Berry Tiramisu and Blueberry-Lemon Cake. But when they're in season, blueberries come in bushels—and you need another way to use them.
Enter buttermilk biscuits. Adding tender berries to the delicately sweet biscuit invite a hint of a sweetness to the breakfast bread. To elevate the sweetness, these biscuits are topped off with a hint turbinado sugar, a type of natural brown sugar.
You can serve these biscuits as they are, or put out butter and preserves for a DIY biscuit bar.
Ingredients for Blueberry Biscuits
Gather these items from your pantry and fridge to make homemade blueberry biscuits:
- All-purpose flour: We tested this recipe with self-rising flour, and the biscuits didn't have the right texture, so be sure to use all-purpose flour.
- Granulated sugar: This sugar melts into the biscuit dough and provides a little sweetness to meet the berries.
- Baking powder: This helps the biscuits rise, as does creating layers that will expand when baking.
- Unsalted butter: Butter, cream cheese, and buttermilk provide the richness to the biscuit. Butter also helps create the layers. As the pieces of butter melt during baking, they produce steam which makes the biscuits light and flaky.
- Cream cheese: Untraditional but still plenty delicious, cream cheese adds a richness to these biscuits.
- Blueberries: Look for berries that are firm, dry, and plump. The skin should be smooth and deep purple or nearly black-blue. A red tint on the outside of the berries means they aren't quite ripe.
- Whole buttermilk: Buttermilk helps bring all the ingredients together to make the dough. A little extra helps helps keep the sugar on top of the biscuits.
- Turbinado sugar: Instead of a sugar-milk glaze, these berries are topped with a brush of buttermilk and a sprinkle of this sugar, which won't melt and dissolve entirely during baking. It'll leave a hint of crunchiness.
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Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
How To Make Blueberry Biscuits
The full recipe for blueberry biscuits is outlined below, but here's a brief recap:
- Step 1: Make dough. If you've ever made homemade biscuits, you know the first step is often cutting butter into a flour mixture. In this case, it's all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt—and you're cutting in both cream cheese and butter.
- Step 2: Add blueberries. Once pea-size bits of butter and cream cheese are spread throughout the flour mixture, add the blueberries and some of the buttermilk. Fold until a loose dough forms.
Test Kitchen Tip
It’s important to not over work the dough. That will make the biscuit more dense.
- Step 3: Form dough disc. Roll the dough onto a floured surface, and gently shape it into an disc about 1 inch thick by 8 inches in diameter.
- Step 4: Cut biscuits. Use a biscuit or cookie cutter that is two inches wide to cut biscuit from the dough. Rework scraps to cut additional biscuits.
- Step 5: Chill biscuits. Place the biscuits on a parchment-line baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill the biscuits about 30 minutes.
Test Kitchen Tip
It’s also pertinent to allow the biscuits to chill before baking to ensure the flakiest biscuits possibly.
- Step 6: Bake: Brush tops of biscuits with buttermilk and sprinkle sugar. Bake in a 425°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool a few minutes before enjoying.
Variations for Blueberry Biscuits
You can split the fruit and do half blueberries and half diced strawberries. Adding too much fruit may make the dough wet though, so don't add too much.
If you want a glazed biscuit, hold the buttermilk and turbinado sugar. Instead, mix powdered sugar and milk, and drizzle it over the biscuits once they've cooled.
Use these as a base for blueberry shortcake biscuits—like these classic Strawberry Shortcakes.
Ingredients
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2 cups (about 8 1/2 oz.) all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
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1/4 cup granulated sugar
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1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
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1/2 tsp. kosher salt
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1/4 tsp. baking soda
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1/2 cup (4 oz.) cold unsalted butter, cubed
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4 oz. cold cream cheese, cubed
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1 cup (about 5 oz.) fresh blueberries
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1/2 cup, plus 4 Tbsp. cold whole buttermilk, divided
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2 Tbsp. turbinado sugar
Directions
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Prepare pan:
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
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Make dough:
Using a pastry cutter or 2 forks, cut butter and cream cheese into flour mixture until mixture is crumbly and pea-sized bits of butter and cream cheese are evenly distributed throughout.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
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Add blueberries:
Using a rubber spatula, stir blueberries and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the buttermilk into flour mixture until a loose dough forms.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
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Press out dough:
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Shape dough into a 1-inch-thick disk (about 8 inches in diameter).
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
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Cut the biscuits:
Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out biscuits from dough. Gently rework dough scraps back into a 1-inch-thick disk, and repeat process to yield 10 biscuits total.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
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Chill the biscuits:
Arrange biscuits 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Cover biscuits with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator until fully chilled, about 30 minutes.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425°F.
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Top biscuits with buttermilk and sugar:
Brush tops of chilled biscuits with remaining 2 tablespoons buttermilk.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Sprinkle evenly with turbinado sugar.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
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Bake biscuits:
Bake in preheated oven until biscuits are golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool 5 minutes.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox