Recipe: Bomb Biscuit’s buttermilk biscuits

This week, we’re sharing the recipe for Bomb Biscuit’s popular buttermilk biscuit.

The last few years have gone exceedingly well for Bomb Biscuit founder Erika Council. In 2023, she published her debut cookbook, Still We Rise, which became a finalist for an International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) award. That same year, Michelin named Bomb Biscuit a Bib Gourmand, an honor the restaurant retained in 2024 and 2025. And last summer, Council relocated Bomb Biscuit to a larger space in Grant Park.

Council said her buttermilk biscuit recipe is inspired by her late grandmother, Mildred “Mama Dip” Council, who was also a legendary North Carolina restaurateur and cookbook author.

The six ingredients for this buttermilk biscuit recipe are easily found at a grocery store. Council insists, however, on using unbleached all-purpose flour.

“It’s aged naturally, with a more off-white tint and dense grain, which adds more structure,” Council said. The end result is a biscuit sturdy enough to hold layers of meat, eggs, and cheese without crumbling upon first bite.

Chefs often debate the merits of round versus square-shaped biscuits. While Council is on team round, she said shaping biscuits is a matter of personal preference.

“One thing to note is that square biscuits require a sharp cut around all sides of the dough. Otherwise, the biscuit will only really rise with layers around the sides of the dough that felt the sharp edge of the blade,” Council said.

“And for a circle-cut biscuit, using a drinking glass to cut out your biscuits often presses down and seals the edges of the dough, which will leave you with some very flat biscuits. Use a knife if you don’t have biscuit or cookie cutters,” she advised.

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Yields 6 to 8 Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, plus extra for folding and cutting
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp cold vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups cold full-fat buttermilk

Directions

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 450°F.
   • This rack position is ideal for baking since it situates the biscuits in the middle of the oven, allowing the hot air to circulate around the pan, resulting in even baking.
2. Combine dry ingredients: Place the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
   • This will evenly distribute the ingredients and aerate the flour, making it fluffier and easier to mix with the wet ingredients.
3. Add the shortening: Using your fingers, a pastry cutter, or a fork, work the shortening into the flour mixture until only pea-sized pieces remain.
4. Using the slicing side of a box grater, slice the butter into the flour mixture. Toss the sheets of butter in the flour and then lightly work the butter pieces between your fingers or use a pastry cutter to break them up and coat them with flour.
5. Stop when the dough resembles coarse sand and there are still some small visible pieces of butter.
   • Once these pieces of butter melt in the oven, steam will be released and will lift the biscuits, forming tender, flaky layers.
6. Place the biscuit mixture into the freezer for 15 minutes.
   • This helps ensure the butter doesn’t soften too much and that it melts only in the oven to create the layer effect.
7. Add the buttermilk: Add in the buttermilk to the chilled flour mixture and stir with a spatula until the dough forms into a ball and no dry bits of flour are visible. The dough will be shaggy and sticky.
8. Note: To avoid adding too much liquid to your biscuit mix, start with half of what the recipe calls for and gradually add in the remaining amount until the dough is almost the consistency of Silly Putty.
   • If you do add too much liquid to the dry ingredients, don’t just “add more flour,” as some recipes call for, because your biscuits will not rise as they should, since you’ve added more flour but not additional leavening ingredients (baking powder and baking soda).
   • Instead of trying to roll them out the traditional way, grab an ice cream scoop or spoon and make them into drop biscuits.
9. Before turning your biscuit dough out onto your work surface, sprinkle the surface with 2 to 3 Tbsp of flour. Then lightly dust the top of the dough with flour.
10. Note: Flouring your hands before working the dough also helps to keep it from sticking to you.
    • “I like to keep an additional 1/2 cup of flour off to the side in case I’m in need of some more,” Council said.
11. With floured hands, pat the dough into a 11 x 6 inch and 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Fold the ends of the rectangle toward the center, one end on top of the other, to create a trifold.
12. Lightly dust the top of the dough with the flour. Repeat patting dough into a rectangle and fold in thirds again.
13. Repeat this step for a third time. Then, pat the dough to ½-inch thickness.
14. Cut the biscuits: Cut out the biscuits using a 3 1/2-inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour.
    • It’s helpful to dip the cutter in flour before pressing it into the dough to keep the cutter from sticking. Flouring the cutter also helps prevent you from sealing the edges of the cut, which will hinder the biscuits’ rise.
    • Be careful to press straight down and do not twist the cutter.
15. Bake the biscuits: Place the biscuit rounds one inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Gather the scraps, reshape them, and pat out the dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut out as above.
16. Discard any remaining scraps or roll them into a “snake” to bake alongside the cut biscuits.
17. Bake 15 to 17 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through, until the tops are golden brown. Serve immediately.