Easy Butter Swim Biscuits Recipe

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This Butter Swim Biscuit recipe is one of the easiest biscuits that you can make. Buttermilk biscuits are baked in a pool of melted butter, resulting in a buttery biscuit with a tender crumb and crispy edges that melt in your mouth.

Make these scrumptious buttermilk biscuits and enjoy them with breakfast, lunch, or dinner! Perfect to serve as part of a brunch menu or on its own for any occasion! They are the quintessential Southern breakfast comfort food.

These melt-in-your-mouth homemade biscuits are perfect served alongside scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage links, fried chicken, and fresh fruit salad. They are also pretty awesome with strawberry jam or simply by themself.

These amazing biscuits are easier to make than typical buttermilk biscuits because you don’t have to grate or chop cold butter and work it into the biscuit dough. And you don’t need a rolling pin or biscuit cutter! Let’s look at how easy it is to make these biscuits.

Instructions

The very first thing to do is to create the “pool” of butter. That’s what the biscuit dough needs in order to “swim.” Get it?

1. To make the buttery pool, place a stick of butter in an 8×8-inch square baking dish or in a cast-iron skillet. Place the baking dish/skillet in your oven and let it melt while the oven heats up to 450 degrees.

Be sure to keep an eye on the butter. You don’t want it to burn. If it browns just a little bit, that will be fine. You can also remove it from the warm oven when it is mostly melted. The warm dish will continue to melt the butter even once it has been removed from the toasty environment.

1. Next, whisk together all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisking it together is a good way of getting the dry ingredients well blended.

Note: Some people like to add cracked black pepper to their biscuit batter. This would be the time to do so, if you’d like.

1. Pour buttermilk into the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. The dough will become “shaggy” as the buttermilk reacts with the baking powder.

It’s baking chemistry at its finest – baking powder is a base, and buttermilk is an acid, and when the two get together, they create carbon dioxide bubbles. That is what helps to make the biscuits rise.

1. Place 9 spoonfuls of biscuit batter into the pan of melted butter, aka butter bath. I place 3 rows of 3. This makes it easier for the butter to get in between the biscuits. Alternatively, you can place all of the batter into the butter and create one ginormous biscuit. You can later cut that biscuit with a sharp knife or bench scraper into however many biscuits you would like.

1. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven.
2. Carefully remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the biscuits are to your desired doneness. What do I mean by that?

Some people like their biscuits to be nice and golden brown. Some people define golden brown as being dark, while others like it on the lighter side. So, it all depends on how you define golden. The main test that you need to pass is the wooden pick test.

Wooden Pick Test

Insert a toothpick, wooden pick, or another food-safe device, such as a skewer, into the center of the baked biscuits. When you pull the pick out, it should come out clean. If there is still biscuit dough on the pick, bake for an additional 5 minutes, then re-test.

Enjoy these biscuits with a drizzle of honey on top, along with your favorite breakfast meat and eggs, or simply with some jam or jelly. They are also great at dinner, served with fried chicken.

If you can’t get enough homemade biscuits, you’ll love my Biscuits and Sausage Gravy for a true Southern breakfast classic. For restaurant-style flavor, try my Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Copycat Recipe or Keto Cheddar Bay Biscuits for a low-carb twist. And if you’re out of buttermilk, my Southern Biscuit Recipe Made Without Buttermilk has you covered!

How To Store Leftover Butter Swim Biscuits

Store leftover biscuits in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2-3 days.

For best results when eating later, reheat the biscuits in an oven or toaster oven at 350°F (175°C) for 5-10 minutes or until warmed through.

If using an air fryer, preheat it to 350°F (175°C). Place the biscuits in the air fryer basket in a single layer, ensuring they are not overcrowded. Cook the biscuits in the air fryer for 3-5 minutes, checking halfway through to ensure even heating.

FAQs

Last Bite

Did you bake these Butter Swim Biscuits? I’d love to hear what you served them with! Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to share or pin this recipe so you can enjoy these buttery biscuits again and again.