Easy Cornmeal Biscuits

Cornmeal biscuits

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Prep: 12 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 27 mins
Servings: 8 to 10 servings
Yield: 8 to 10 biscuits

Buttermilk biscuits might be traditional, but cornmeal biscuits are unexpected and delicious. The cornmeal gives the biscuits a beautiful golden hue as well as a slightly crunchy texture. This particular recipe is for cornmeal buttermilk biscuits made with shortening, which has a higher melting point than butter. This makes the dough easier to work with, though you still shouldn't use your hands to mix—too much touching warms up the batter and makes for a dense biscuit. Serve the cornmeal buttermilk biscuits with extra butter and plenty of honey.

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients. Pre-heat oven to 425 F. 

    Easy cornmeal biscuits
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck
  2. Put a metal mixing bowl in the freezer. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or leave it ungreased.

    Line a baking sheet with parchment
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck
  3. Take the bowl out of the freezer. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and cornmeal into the mixing bowl. Sifting the dry ingredients helps ensure there are no lumps clogging up the dough.

    Sift
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck
  4. With a pastry blender or fork, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal.

    Cut in shortening
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck
  5. Add milk to the first mixture and stir with a metal spoon just until dry ingredients are moistened.

    Add milk
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck
  6. Knead just a few times on a floured surface, or until you have a cohesive dough. Don't overwork the dough.

    Knead dough
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck
  7. Pat or gently roll out about to a thickness of about 3/4 of an inch. Cut the biscuits out with a 2-inch biscuit cutter.

    Roll out biscuits
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck
  8. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

    Place biscuit dough on prepared baking sheet
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck
  9. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

    Bake biscuits
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Tips

  • To make buttermilk, add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice to 2/3 cup of milk.
  • If you don't have shortening on hand, use butter—but put it in the freezer first and grate it into the bowl for the best results. Cold dough makes the flakiest biscuits.
  • Use a chilled metal spoon to mix the ingredients, not your hands.
  • Avoid touching the dough as much as possible. The heat from your hands will melt the shortening and lead to a denser biscuit. If, at any point in the process, you feel like the dough has warmed up too much, take a break and put it back in the freezer.
  • Play around with adding herbs and spices, such as sage, chives, or rosemary, to the batter.
  • Freeze the biscuits in a single layer on a baking sheet and then put them in a freezer-safe plastic bag to keep for two to three months.

Recipe Variations

  • Drop biscuits: Instead of using a biscuit cutter, drop batter by the 1/4 cupfuls spaced 1 inch apart to create a freeform biscuit.
  • Cheddar biscuits: Add a half-cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the batter.
  • Southwest biscuits: Add a 4-ounce can of diced green chiles and a half-cup of corn kernels to the batter. If you like heat, add 1 teaspoon of finely chopped chipotle peppers in adobo.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
158 Calories
7g Fat
20g Carbs
3g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 10
Amount per serving
Calories 158
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 7g 9%
Saturated Fat 3g 14%
Cholesterol 4mg 1%
Sodium 261mg 11%
Total Carbohydrate 20g 7%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 0mg 1%
Calcium 90mg 7%
Iron 1mg 7%
Potassium 63mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)