McDonald’s Biscuit Recipe

Every morning hundreds of thousands of people line up at McDonald’s drive-thrus to order off of the fast food breakfast menu, and one of the most sought after items is their beloved biscuit.

Sweet and tangy from the use of buttermilk, these biscuits are just as good with a smattering of butter and jam as they are as the backbone of bacon, eggs, and cheese sandwich.

An icon of baking in the American South, biscuits are easy to make at home and come together in less than an hour with our McDonald’s Biscuit Recipe!

How to make McDonald’s biscuits

As with any biscuit recipe, the key to making biscuits that are both flaky and tender is using very cold butter and buttermilk and handling the dough as little as possible.

The butter is cut into ½ inch cubes and then placed in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before it’s added to the flour, and it’s recommended that you use a pastry cutter to incorporate it.

If you don’t have a pastry cutter, using your hands is fine. Just make sure you work quickly to prevent the butter from warming up too much. The butter should be broken down into pea-sized pieces.

The star ingredient of this copycat recipe is, of course, buttermilk. The sweet and tangy buttermilk flavor is what makes the McDonald’s fluffy biscuit a breakfast favorite, and it should be kept cold until ready for use, just like butter.

When you combine the wet and dry ingredients, the biscuit dough will appear dry and crumbly; this is completely normal!

There will be just enough moisture from the buttermilk to bring the dough together, and the crumbly texture will result in perfectly tender and flakey biscuits.

When you roll out the dough and punch out the biscuits, any excess scraps can be carefully gathered together and rerolled as many times as needed to utilize all of it.

If you aren’t in a hurry, before you pop the biscuits into the oven you can place them on a tray in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill any butter or buttermilk that may have gotten too warm. This step is recommended but not mandatory!

Ingredients:

(6-8 servings)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• ⅔ cup (11 tbsp) very cold unsalted butter cut into ½ inch chunks, plus more for melting
• ¾ cup buttermilk, cold

Instructions:

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 400°F/205°C.

Line a baking sheet with greased parchment paper and set aside.

Step 2:

Cut butter into ½ inch cubes and place in the freezer until ready to use.

Step 3:

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder until very well combined.

Step 4:

Add cold butter to the flour mixture. Using a biscuit cutter, a fork, or your hands, cut butter into the flour until it is roughly pea-sized and the flour resembles wet sand.

It doesn’t have to be uniform. If some pieces are bigger than others it’s perfectly fine.

If you’re using your hands, work extra quickly so as to prevent warming up the butter too much.

Step 5:

Using a fork, stir in the buttermilk. Once a shaggy dough starts to form, place it on a clean work surface and gently knead until the dough comes together. The dough will dry and crumbly but should stay intact.

Using a rolling pin, gently roll dough into a rectangle. Then, carefully fold the dough onto itself in thirds like an envelope (this helps create more layers), and gently press down to compress the layers.

Roll out again until you have a roughly ½ inch thick rectangular slab.

Step 6:

Using a 3 or 4-inch round cookie cutter, punch out as many biscuit rounds as you can and place them on the prepared baking sheet.

Gather the dough scraps and gently press them back together and roll them into another rectangle. Punch out more biscuit rounds. Repeat this process until you’ve used up all the scraps.

Optionally, place the tray in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill down the dairy before baking.

Step 7:

In a small saucepan or in the microwave, melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter.

Lightly brush the biscuit tops with melted butter. If you’d like a sweeter biscuit, feel free to brush the tops with buttermilk instead.

Place the tray into the center rack of the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown.

Let the biscuits cool completely.

Slice and enjoy!

Ingredients substitutions

The great thing about these biscuits is the tender texture and wonderfully sweet tang of the buttermilk.

If you can’t find buttermilk there are a few swaps you can make without losing too much of the effect.

1. Heavy cream

Heavy cream can be easily swapped 1 to 1 for buttermilk and will yield a sweeter biscuit that will surely be a crowd-pleaser.

2. Whipping cream

Whipping cream has lower fat content than heavy cream which makes it a great alternative if you want a slightly lighter biscuit without sacrificing too much on texture.

You can also use any leftover whipping cream to make fresh whipped cream to enjoy along with your biscuits.

3. Homemade buttermilk

Buttermilk is easy to find but isn’t stocked in the same quantities as other dairy products. Luckily, if your local grocer has run out it is incredibly easy to make yourself.

All you have to do is add 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of whole milk, stir, and let it sit for 5 minutes at room temp.

The acid will cause the milk to thicken and slightly curdle, leaving you with a taste and thickness on par with buttermilk!

What to serve with McDonald’s biscuits

There is no shortage of delicious offerings to enjoy with McDonald’s biscuits. Sweet or savory, you can’t go wrong when finding things to enjoy with them!

Eggs

Eggs and biscuits are a match made in heaven.

When it comes to egg preparation there is no shortage of options. Scrambled, fried, poached, boiled, over easy… The list goes on, and these biscuits pair wonderfully with all of them!

Jams and Jellies

While intricate dishes have their place, the simple pleasure of a warm biscuit slathered with fresh jam cannot be beaten.

These biscuits go well with any fruit preserve and can be enjoyed as a quick and delicious breakfast or as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

And perhaps best of all, the flavor of these biscuits won’t be overpowered by the sweetness of the jam or jelly, so feel free to pile on as much as you’d like!

Shrimp and Grits

There are few dishes more iconic in the American South than shrimp and grits and a close second is buttermilk biscuits.

Shrimp and grits are traditionally served with a side of cornbread, but swapping it out for buttermilk biscuits is a dream combination.

Feel free to add some chopped jalapeños and cheddar cheese to the biscuit batter for additional savoriness and heat to the pairing.

How to reheat McDonald’s biscuits

Biscuits should be allowed to cool completely before cutting into them, but they are delicious when served warm.

While reheating biscuits, low heat is best, and giving them a light spritz of water will prevent them from losing moisture and drying out.

Here are the best methods to reheat McDonald’s biscuits.

How to reheat McDonald’s biscuits in the oven

Heat oven to 350°F/177°C and place biscuits on a tray lined with parchment paper.

Using a spray bottle, lightly spritz the top of the biscuits with water before placing them in the oven, or brush them with a small amount of milk.

Place in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until warmed through. Serve immediately.

How to reheat McDonald’s biscuits in the toaster

Biscuits are not traditionally served toasted, but a toaster can be used as a reheating method. When using this method, the goal is to warm them up with minimal amounts of toasting.

Simply cut the biscuits in half, and put them in the toaster using medium-low heat. Manually pop them up after 1 minute and check to see if they’re warm. Repeat this process until the desired temperature is reached.

How to store McDonald’s biscuits

Want to make a bigger batch of McDonald’s biscuits to eat for the rest of the week? No problem, these biscuits keep very well both outside and inside the freezer, so just follow our instructions below!

Store on the counter

Like most baked goods, biscuits store well in an air-tight container at room temperature. Store on the counter for up to 3 days.

They can also be stored on a plate or in a bowl covered tightly with cling wrap or foil.

Store in the freezer

Frozen biscuits keep well for up to 2 months. Place uncovered on a tray and let them sit in the freezer for 3-4 hours until completely frozen.

Once frozen through, cover tightly with plastic wrap or place in a freezer bag, eliminating as much air as possible.

To thaw, place on the counter overnight.

You can also freeze unbaked biscuits by following the same freezing and storing process and then baking them off as needed.

Bake them directly from the freezer (no need to thaw) by following step 7, and increasing the bake time to 20 minutes.