Everyone loves Popeye’s chicken, but have you ever had their biscuits?
These wonderfully flaky, perfectly dense baked treats may not be what they’re most known for, but one bite of these copycat Popeye’s biscuits, and you’ll wonder why they aren’t as famous as their chicken!
Crisp and buttery, this recipe makes the perfect buttermilk biscuits. Try it, and you’ll never make biscuits any other way again!
Copycat Popeye’s Biscuits
I know what you’re thinking. Any recipe that requires dough can be quite intimidating, especially if you’re starting from scratch and have little experience with baking.
Not to worry, though. I gave this recipe to a friend who almost never bakes, and her buttermilk biscuits turned out perfectly!
These copycat Popeye’s biscuits are pretty hard to mess up, and even kitchen newbies can make flaky, buttery biscuits in just 45 minutes.
You’ll be starting with the easiest part: mixing in all the dry ingredients. Next, you’ll be adding butter… be sure it’s COLD!
Cold butter makes biscuits extra puffy and soft, and you won’t get that perfect texture with melted butter.
Because your butter is going to be firm, you’ll want to cut it into smaller bits, the size of peas. And you don’t want the pieces to melt either, so be sure not to overmix.
Up next is milk and buttermilk. You’ll want to keep your butter cold even as it’s incorporated into the dough, so it’s best to use cold milk, too.
The flavor of buttermilk will be very subtle, but that slight hint of tanginess makes a whole world of difference!
If you don’t have it, you can just use regular milk, but I think it’s worth a run to the store if you want the best biscuits possible!
Once the dry and wet ingredients have been mixed together, you’ll have your dough. It’s going to be extra sticky, so be sure to flour your surface generously.
I even like to sprinkle more flour on top before rolling out the dough.
Before cutting up the dough with a biscuit cutter, you’ll want it to be ½ inch thick. It might seem too thin, but trust me, your biscuits are going to rise, rise, and rise in that oven!
When arranging your biscuits on the baking sheet, you’ll want them to be close together. This way, they won’t have much room to widen, and they’ll be thicker and fluffer once they’re done.
Get the butter ready because your biscuits are going to be light brown and ready to enjoy in less than 25 minutes. Top with butter, let them cool down a bit, and enjoy THE BEST buttermilk biscuits ever!
Tips and Tricks for the Best Buttermilk Biscuits
Here’s some buttermilk biscuits best practices you can follow so they come out of the oven PERFECT every single time!
- Use COLD butter! I can’t stress this enough. Cold butter creates steam inside the biscuits as it bakes, which then expands and makes those signature biscuit layers.
- Cut the butter into small, pea-sized pieces. The butter should remain cool and firm even within the dough. You can also use a grater.
- Use cold milk and buttermilk. Doing so will also keep the butter from melting.
- Use active baking powder and baking soda. Aside from the butter, these leaveners also play a big role in how tall your biscuits are going to get.
- Use good quality buttermilk. It’ll give the biscuits a bit of tanginess and a lot of tenderness. You can use regular milk in a pinch, but this will affect both the taste and the texture.
- Don’t overmix the dough. This can make your biscuits tough and can also end up melting the butter too soon. Only mix until combined!
- Follow this folding technique: For soft & flaky layers, fold the dough 3 times to make 3 layers, and then gently roll it out. It’s a simple trick that does wonders for your biscuits!
- Don’t seal off the biscuit dough edges. When using a biscuit cutter, simply press down on the dough and then lift. If the edges are a little rough, that’s okay! Avoid twisting the cutter, as this can seal off the biscuit edges and prevent the dough from rising.
- Place the biscuits close together. You can even let the edges touch! By doing this, your biscuits have no way to go but up, and you’ll have extra tall, extra soft buttermilk biscuits.
- Brush melted butter over freshly baked biscuits. It’s a must!
- Jazz up your buttermilk biscuits. For savory toppings, try sausage gravy, tomato gravy, or cheese. If you like them sweet, try honey, jam, or bourbon jelly.
I literally just made this and it is so goooood! It’s flaky, buttery, crisp around the edges and soft and fluffy on the insode just the way I like it. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Just tried your recipe, they’re seriously delicious. I tried another copy cat recipe for popeye biscuits, they were ok but nothing like yours.
When I read reviews and others tell of the their substitutions, it was annoying to me, but after some thought, a recipe is the base or guildline and should be made to your liking. I guess the reason I mentioned this is because I exchanged the 1/4 cup of milk with 1/2 cup of sour cream and it will be our only Tea Biscuit recipe going forward.
I would like to express my sincere thanks for your recipe.
Dean
Hi Dean, you are definitely correct! A recipe should just be used as a guideline. I love your suggestion of substituting sour cream for milk in these biscuits. I’ll have to try it next time!
These were delicious! Ours got a little too brown so next time, because there will definitely be a next time, we’ll just cook them less. And squish them closer together. Thank you!
Hi Rachel, so glad to hear you liked them! Spacing them out a little more and reducing the cook time should work wonders.