Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe
Yummy Pumpkin Biscuits
These are some good biscuits, people! The pumpkin makes them moister, a warm fall color, and adds a very subtle flavor. Anyone that loves biscuits will love these, even if they don’t love pumpkin. 😉
These biscuits would be a great addition to a Thanksgiving meal. You don’t have to wait hours for the dough to rise – no rising needed at all for biscuits! They are tender, flaky, fast, easy to make…everything a biscuit should be, but with a little fall flair!
Ingredients for Pumpkin Biscuits
I added sugar, cinnamon, and a bit of nutmeg to the dough just to compliment the pumpkin and add a bit of flavor. (This is the best whisk, by the way!) These biscuits don’t have a prominent pumpkin pie flavor though, they are an excellent buttermilk biscuit with just a hint of fall goodness.
For a good biscuit, it is important that the butter stays cold, so I stick the butter in the freezer for 10 or 15 minutes before I cut it into the dough. Then cut the butter into the flour mixture until the pieces are about the size of a pea or slightly smaller.
Mixing Tip + DIY Buttermilk Recipe
You can also try mixing these ingredients in a large food processor – pulsing a few times to cut in the butter pieces. Or use a grater to shred frozen butter into the flour mixture. Each way will work fine as long as you can keep the butter cold and don’t over-mix the dough.
By the way, I often go the DIY buttermilk route with recipes like this one – by adding lemon juice (or white vinegar) to milk and letting it sit for at least 5 minutes before adding to the dough. The ratio is 1 tablespoon lemon juice for every 1 cup milk. Works great!
Shaping the Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits
When the dough starts to come together, it is thick and the ingredients are barely combined. Patting the dough with your hands, folding, then patting again a few times helps to mix it together better and also creates flaky layers. (Don’t use a rolling pin!)
After your final fold, pat the dough to about 1-inch thickness. I don’t know if you can tell from the photo, but the dough still has spots of butter throughout, it holds shape well, but is still slightly sticky. I use a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, but a 3-inch would work well too.
Baking & Serving the Pumpkin Biscuits
Placing the biscuits close together, nearly touching on the pan will help the biscuits to rise up instead of out. Also, using a cutter with a thin, sharp edge will help the biscuits to rise better. Just press firmly straight down, then lift straight up with the cutter – don’t turn it while pressing into the dough.
By the time I got all of the biscuits cut, the butter had started to warm up, so I stuck them in the fridge for about 10 minutes to chill. Cold butter and dough seem to get the best results for a tender, flaky biscuit.
Serve the biscuits with honey, honey butter, pumpkin butter (recipe below), cinnamon butter, or whatever sounds good to you! I’m a sucker for a warm biscuit with drizzled honey. Yum.
Pumpkin Butter Recipe
Here’s a quick, simple pumpkin butter recipe that brings out more of the pumpkin flavor in the biscuits:
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/3 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
Combine all ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until well combined.
More Biscuit Recipes:
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Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe
Ingredients
- 15 ounces all-purpose flour about 3 cups
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
- 9 tablespoons very cold butter cut into small pieces
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup canned pure pumpkin puree
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F/230°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. Cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until the butter pieces are about the size of a pea or slightly smaller.
- Stir in the buttermilk and pumpkin until just combined. Do not over mix. Dough should come together and will be thick.
- Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a lightly floured surface. Gently pat the dough with your hands until it is about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Then fold the dough in half or thirds and pat down again, repeating 4 or 5 times. Final thickness should be about 1 inch.
- Use a round biscuit cutter to cut the dough into circles. The edge of the cutter should be thin and sharp - press straight down firmly into the dough, then lift the cutter straight up and repeat. Pat the remaining dough together again and cut more biscuits, until dough is all cut.
- Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet, with the biscuits nearly touching each other. This helps the biscuits to rise up instead of out. If possible, chill the biscuits for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until the biscuits are lightly golden on top and bottom, but take care not to over-bake. Serve immediately.