Gordon Ramsay Biscuits Recipe

Gordon Ramsay biscuits recipe makes tall, flaky buttermilk biscuits with frozen grated butter, all-purpose flour (plain flour), and cold buttermilk in about 25 minutes. The high-heat bake and laminated dough give them layers that steam apart like puff pastry.

This recipe is adapted from Ramsay’s Sausage and Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuit on gordonramsay.com, stripped back to a plain biscuit base. No exact plain biscuit recipe appears in his published cookbooks, so we’ve removed the sausage, cheddar, and hot honey glaze while keeping his core dough technique intact.

The move that makes these different from most recipes: Ramsay grates frozen butter on a box grater directly into the flour. Grating coats every thin shred in flour before it can soften, so you get dozens of distinct fat layers through the dough that puff and separate in the oven.

FAQs

Why does Ramsay grate frozen butter instead of cutting it in?

A pastry cutter creates uneven chunks, and your hands warm the butter as you work. Grating on a box grater produces thin, uniform shreds that get coated in flour instantly, so they stay cold longer and create more consistent layers through the dough. This is the same technique he uses in his cheese biscuits recipe on gordonramsay.com.

Why fold the dough like a letter instead of kneading it?

Each fold creates a new layer of butter between sheets of dough, similar to how puff pastry works but much faster. Three folds gives you roughly a dozen layers, which is enough to get visible flaking without making the dough too tight. Kneading would blend the butter into the flour evenly, which gives you a cakey crumb instead of flaky layers.

Why press the cutter straight down and never twist?

Twisting the cutter seals the edges of the dough by pressing the layers together, which stops them from separating during baking. A clean downward cut leaves the layers open so steam can push them apart. This is why re-rolled scraps never rise as tall: the layers have already been compressed.

Can you make these without buttermilk?

Buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to create extra lift, and its acidity keeps the gluten tender. If you don’t have buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 3/4 cup (180ml) of whole milk and let it sit for 10 minutes before using. The results are close, though the flavour is slightly less complex.

Why do the biscuits go on the baking sheet touching each other?

When biscuits press against each other as they rise, they push upward instead of spreading sideways. This gives you taller biscuits with soft sides. Ramsay uses the same principle with his Irish soda bread recipe, where the shaped loaf bakes in a contained skillet for a similar upward lift.

What should you serve these with?

These work as a breakfast side with scrambled eggs or alongside a hearty stew as a bread replacement. They’re also perfect split and loaded with sausage gravy. For brunch, serve them warm alongside American pancakes for a full spread.