Name: Sour Cream Biscuits
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 37 min
Ingredients: 2-¾ cups all-purpose or pastry flour** (330 grams); 2 teaspoons sugar; 1 tablespoon baking powder; ¾ teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoons salt; 1 teaspoon white pepper (or black pepper); 12 tablespoons butter (chilled); 1-½ cups sour cream; 4 tablespoons cream (melted butter, or an egg wash*)

Sour Cream Biscuits are flaky and extra tender with a rich, buttery flavor that is as delicious as it is nostalgic.

The sour cream gives these homemade biscuits a subtle, tanginess and a texture that just melts in your mouth! These take only 15 minutes to prepare before they’re ready for the oven. They are best warm, loaded up with your favorite sweet or savory toppings.

Three sour cream biscuits stacked on top of each other.

Why this Recipe Works

Sour cream adds that something extra to these old-fashioned biscuits. The recipe works best when using full-fat sour cream. It gives the dough a really rich flavor and makes them melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Sour cream biscuits are:

The sour cream gives the biscuits a rich flavor and tender texture.
Easy to make and require only 15 minutes of prep!
Folding the dough guarantees they will turn out light and fluffy with layers of flakiness.
Freezing the butter ensures it will stay cold when you work it into the dough.
These biscuits are tender and flaky, but sturdy (they won’t crumble or fall apart on you easily).
They are delicious any time of day!

These are no-fail sour cream biscuits! When it comes to preparing them, a few “secret” ingredients in this recipe are the trick to getting the fluffiest homemade biscuits yet.

A sour cream biscuit with strawberry jam.

Ingredients for Sour Cream Biscuits

Sour cream isn’t the only special ingredient that works wonders in this recipe! To get an extra tender, flaky biscuit, we recommend using pastry flour. It has a lighter texture than regular all-purpose flour, and it allows these biscuits to bake up extra fluffy.

We specifically love White Lily Flour, which has the same protein content as pastry flour but goes through a unique milling process that weakens the protein bonds. It will give you the BEST results for these biscuits and will leave you obsessing over how light and tender they are! If you don’t have it in your local grocery store, you can find it on Amazon.

If you only have all-purpose flour, don’t worry, these biscuits will still come out amazing. The trick to super fluffy, tender biscuits is more about the technique than the type of flour used.

You will need:

pastry flour or all-purpose flour (for extra, extra fluffy biscuits, use White Lily Flour)
sugar
baking powder
baking soda
salt
white pepper (or sub black pepper if that is what you have)
chilled butter
sour cream
cream, melted butter or an egg wash (to brush onto the tops of the biscuits)

The small amount of sugar in this recipe is only included to enhance the flavor of the sour cream, but we promise, the biscuits do not end up tasting sweet!

Ingredients needed to make sour cream biscuits.

How to Make Sour Cream Biscuits

This process is simple and the biscuits come together easily. To view the entire printable recipe card, scroll to the bottom of the page.

Here’s a quick look at how to make these no-fail sour cream biscuits:

Prepare: Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Grate the butter and pop it in the freezer to get extra cold.
Mix the ingredients: Whisk the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the cold butter and use your hands to toss it in, loosely combining the flour and butter. Add the sour cream and combine until the dough is loose.
Form the biscuits: Transfer the biscuit dough onto a flour-dusted surface and gently press the dough together to form a ball. Pat it into a 10″x6″ rectangle. Fold the outer thirds of the dough in, pat it out again, fold it again and pat it out (see the recipe card for the exact instructions and dimensions you’ll need for this step).
Slice and bake: Cut the dough in half lengthwise, then make three vertical cuts to create 8 biscuits. Transfer them to the baking sheet and brush the tops with melted butter, cream or an egg wash. Bake for 18-24 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.

Take a look at how easy this process is with our visual step-by-step below:

Six photos showing how to mix butter and sour cream into biscuit dough.

Remember to keep the ingredients cold. Where butter cakes need the ingredients to be at room temperature, flaky biscuits need the ingredients chilled.

It’s okay if it seems a bit dry when you mix in the sour cream. It will come together in the next few steps.

Six photos showing how to press dough together and shape it.

Folding the dough helps create layers of flakiness. You don’t have to get a precise rectangle before you fold it in thirds but make the rectangle long enough to fold it easily.

Six photos showing how to shape and fold biscuit dough.

Using a bench scraper helps keep the counter clean and prevents your warm hands from handling the dough too much…..warm hands will make the dough warm. Warm dough = tough, dry biscuits.

Four photos showing how to slice and bake biscuits.

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Tips for the best Sour Cream Biscuits

You can use self-rising flour in this sour cream biscuit recipe. Omit the baking powder and reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon. Keep in mind that results may vary based on the brand of flour you’re using.
Make sure the butter and sour cream is very cold. We like to grate the butter and then freeze it, which helps it stay cold when it blends into the flour.
If the dough appears a bit dry and loose when you combine all of the ingredients, that is okay. It will come together once you form a ball with the dough.
Folding the dough develops more flaky layers and prevents you from over-handling it.
If you use cream or egg wash rather than butter to brush the biscuits, they will be somewhat darker on top.
If you don’t have full-fat sour cream, you can substitute Greek yogurt or low-fat sour cream, but the biscuits will not turn out as flaky or tender.

What to Serve with Biscuits

These biscuits are delicious with a pat of butter or jam like our fresh peach preserves or Fig Jam. Here are some more ideas to serve with the biscuits.

Eight sour cream biscuits on a hot baking sheet.

What do we love most about these old-fashioned sour cream biscuits? They can be enjoyed any time of the day! Breakfast, on-the-go snack, dinner, another snack…

Since you can serve them in various ways with various toppings, any time the craving strikes is the perfect time for a biscuit.

Some Other Recipes We Are Sure You Will Love:

Studded with shredded carrot and spiced with cinnamon, these spelt carrot muffins are hearty and delicious.

These light and airy lemon buttermilk scones have a tender, moist texture and an extra tart flavor from lemon and fresh lemon zest.

Our Skillet Peach Cobbler is irresistible. Fresh, sweet peaches are baked until glossy and juicy and syrupy, with an amazing tender biscuit topping.

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A close up showing flaky layers in a sour cream biscuit.

Sour Cream Biscuits

Sour Cream biscuits are ultra-rich, flaky, and incredibly tender. Sour cream adds a rich, tangy flavor and tenderness. Full fat sour cream works best. You can use all-purpose flour with great results but pastry flour will make the biscuits lighter and fluffier.

The small amount of sugar enhances the flavor of the sour cream and does not make the biscuits taste sweet. You can eat these biscuits with sweet or savory toppings.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 22

Total Time: 37

Servings: biscuits

Calories: 215kcal

Author: Dahn Boquist

Ingredients

2-¾ cups all-purpose or pastry flour** 330 grams
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white pepper or black pepper
12 tablespoons butter chilled
1-½ cups sour cream

For the Top

4 tablespoons cream melted butter, or an egg wash*

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Grate butter and stick it in the freezer to get extra cold.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper to a mixing bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients until well combined.
Add the cold, grated butter to the flour mixture and toss to coat in the flour. Use your hands to briefly rub the flour into the butter. You don’t need to rub the butter in too much or your hands will melt the butter. Just give it a few quick rubs between your hands.
Add the sour cream and combine until the dough forms a loose, messy mass. It might seem a bit dry but it will come together in the next step.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured countertop and gently press the loose pieces of dough into a ball.
Pat the dough into a 10” x 6” rectangle.
Fold ⅓ of the rectangle toward the middle then fold the other end on top of the first section. Pat the dough back down into another 10” x 6” inch rectangle.
Fold the dough into thirds again then pat it back into an 8 x 4” or 9” x 5” rectangle. It should be about 1 inch thick.
Slice the dough in half lengthwise then make three short, vertical slices to give you 8 biscuits.
Transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter, cream, or an egg wash (see notes for the egg wash).
Bake for 18-24 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

Pastry flour will give the biscuits a finer, fluffier, more tender texture than all-purpose flour.
White Lily Flour has the same protein content as pastry flour but it goes through a milling process that weakens the protein bonds. It is a unique flour that will give you the BEST results for your biscuits. If you want to obsess over light, tender biscuits, purchase White Lily Flour.
If you only have all-purpose flour, the biscuits will still come out amazing. The technique is more important than the flour.
If you use self-rising flour, omit the baking powder and reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon. Results may vary slightly depending on the brand of self-rising flour you use.
The butter and sour cream should be very cold. If you grate the butter and stick it in the freezer, it will stay cold when you blend it into the flour.
The dough should seem a bit lose and dry before you transfer it to the counter. It will come together when you press it into a ball.
Folding the dough helps create more flaky layers and prevents the dough from being over-worked.
You can use an egg wash instead of cream for the tops of the biscuits. To make an egg wash: Whisk 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water to milk. If the egg wash is too thick to brush onto the biscuits, whisk in 1 to 2 teaspoons of additional water.
The tops of the biscuits will be a darker color if you brush them with cream or an egg wash rather than butter.
Full fat sour cream works best for this recipe. If you substitute it with Greek yogurt or reduced-fat sour cream, the biscuits will not be as flakey or tender, but the recipe will still work.
Recipe adapted and modified from Epicurious.