My father loved biscuits. We always had plenty on the weekends for breakfast. He kept leftover biscuits to eat as snacks during the week or to turn into impromptu strawberry shortcake should the need arise. He was a southerner, but his biscuits weren’t sacred: He used biscuit mix ... every time. I never saw him make one from scratch. I tell you this because I firmly believe that in biscuits, much like in life, there is no right or wrong way, only different paths.

Still, the itch to test out the "best" way to make biscuits was not something I could ignore. I wondered how switching up the leavener, the liquid, the layering technique and more would affect how flaky, fluffy or tender a biscuit could be.

I used our Best Flaky Buttermilk Biscuit as a base, then changed an element in each batch to test the different paths the recipe could take. Along the way I learned my favorite way to make biscuits. I hope with my "scientific" findings you can find the best way for you!

Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Self-Rising Flour

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. It requires an acid and a liquid (in this case, buttermilk) to activate. Baking powder includes sodium bicarbonate, but also a powdered acid. It only needs a liquid (could be milk, cream or buttermilk) to activate. Learn more about the differences at in our article comparing the two.A third option for bakers is self-rising flour. It has a mixture of baking powder and fine salt mixed into the flour.

For the first batch of biscuits, I used baking soda and baking powder. In the second batch I removed the baking soda and changed the baking powder to 3 tablespoons (as per our baking powder biscuits recipe), and for the third I used removed baking soda, baking powder and salt, and used self-rising flour.

Results: The baking soda and baking powder biscuit is browned, flaky and moist. Baking-powder-only led to a higher rise, but a drier, slightly less browned biscuit. (Also, be careful of using baking powders with aluminum as, in higher quantities, it might lead to a tinny/metallic flavor.) Self-rising flour lacked a little of the rise and flakiness of the other two, but the overall texture and quality were good.

Butter and Shortening

I tried both butter and shortening — which can be used as a one-to-one swap for each other. Cutting cold butter into flour creates delicious layers and flakey texture by providing little pockets of fat. Shortening can also attach to the flour, but unlike butter, even when very cold, shortening doesn’t harden.

Results: Butter is the winner in beauty and flavor. The milk solids from the butter caramelize to create even brownness and the pockets of butter create delineated, flaky layers. But don’t count shortening out! While they are a little bland in flavor, the shortening biscuits are incredibly tender. If you are looking for melt in your mouth texture, consider using all shortening, or try a mix with butter. For extra tall, flaky layers, try grating frozen butter on a box grater instead of cubing.

Whole Milk, Heavy Cream and Buttermilk

Much like the fats, the liquid you use makes a difference in the biscuit's flavor and texture, both inside the biscuit and brushed on top.

Results: Buttermilk biscuits have a little tang from the acid, which also reacts with the baking soda to create a fluffy result. Brushing buttermilk on top makes for a shiny biscuit, but slightly uneven browning. Heavy cream makes for a denser, richer biscuit, and the top is as shiny as buttermilk, but with more even browning. Whole milk gave me the tallest biscuit without sacrificing flavor, but it was a little less rich. Brushing the milk on top gave the biscuit an even brown, but wasn't shiny. (Butter also gives a nicely browned, but not shiny, biscuit.)

Bare Hands, Pastry Cutter and Food Processor

This step is the key to a really great biscuit. Our base recipe calls for rubbing the cold butter into the flour with your fingertips. But people also use lots of different tools to cut in their butter, including butter knives, forks and stand mixers. I focused on using bare hands, a food processor and a pastry cutter.

Results: Fingers are a cook’s best tool, but they can be detrimental to biscuits if you aren’t careful. Work quickly when handling the butter, or the heat from your hands will make the butter too warm. The fingertip batch turned out lovely, with nice even layers, good rise and golden-brown color. Pastry Cutters and butter knives are similar in effect. You are still cutting the butter in by hand, but the tool won't get warm. The pastry cutter batch was the most evenly browned and layered. Food Processors are an easy way to quickly cut the butter into the flour, but it is also easy to over process the butter, which leads to a flatter, unlayered biscuit. You have to pulse in the butter lightly. The food processor batch was good and had layers, but they were not quite as layered and fluffy as the other two.

Round and Square

When you think of a biscuit, a round shape usually comes to mind. Biscuit cutters (or jam jars in a pinch) give the lovely round shape. A 2-3 inch cutter is ideal. But you can also choose to forgo the cutter and just cut the biscuit into squares.

Results: The Round Cutter biscuit rose and evenly browned all around. However, it is important to press the biscuit cutter into the dough and remove it without turning. Turning the cutter in the dough flattens the sides into each other and will keep the biscuit from rising as much as it should. You can see ours is stunted on one side. These cutters also produce lots of scraps that either need to be rerolled (to a lesser layered effect) or thrown out.

Cutting with a knife or bench scraper into Square biscuits is a great way to cut down on waste, and because it requires less handling, it also means crisp layers and lots of rise.

Laminated and Unlaminated

When I hear "lamination" I think of intricate French recipes for croissants and puff pastry, with lots of layers of dough and butter. But there’s also a simple biscuit way. From our recipe: "Lightly flour a cutting board or work surface, turn the dough out onto it and pat into a rectangle. Fold the dough in half and pat again into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Then fold the dough in thirds, as if folding a letter, and pat to an even thickness."

Results: Laminated biscuits have layers and height, resulting in a tall, beautiful biscuit. But unlaminated biscuits are more tender because of how little they are manipulated, so while your biscuit might be flatter, it will have less bite.

Baking Sheet, Cake Pan and Cast Iron Skillet

Finally, how are you baking your biscuits?

Results: A baking sheet offers even browning and can fit the most at one time.

A cake pan (9-inch is usually good for one batch) is a similar metal to a baking sheet, so it cooks the same on the bottom, but , the biscuits are touching on all sides. As they rise the biscuits help to hold each other up, leading to a higher rise. Also, because they are touching, the sides of the inner biscuits are soft and un-browned.

Cast iron skillets (try 9-inch here too) provide a similar shape and benefits of a cake pan, but additionally you can preheat the pan on the stove, melt butter for brushing (and the bottom of the pan), and then place in the hot oven. Because of the even heat distribution of cast iron, the biscuits are extra golden on the bottom and outer sides for a little crisp, but still soft on the sides they share with other biscuits.