Butter swim biscuits are biscuits baked in pan of melted butter. The insides are light and fluffy and the edges are crisp and buttery! YUM!

Want the easiest biscuit of your life? These butter swim biscuits are going to be your new best friend.

They are so quick and simple! And those crisp, buttery edges are definitely something to write home about.

Butter and raspberry jam on half of a swim biscuit.

One-Bowl Biscuit Dough

The biscuit dough (almost like a thick batter) for these easy butter swim biscuits is VERY straightforward.

  • flour
  • tiny bit of sugar
  • baking powder + baking soda + salt
  • buttermilk

I promise I didn’t leave out an integral biscuit ingredient from that list. If you’re wondering what happened to the butter, stick with me for a minute.

There’s no butter in the actual biscuit dough for these swim biscuits. The butter comes later!

Biscuit dough in glass bowl.

Making Butter Swim Biscuits

These biscuits are aptly named “swim biscuits” because the simple batter literally swims in a pan of butter.

As you press the batter into an even layer, it’s ok, and actually preferable, for the butter to push up and over the batter to pool around the sides and across the top.

Spreading biscuit batter in pan with melted butter.

Why Cutting Through the Dough is Important

Take a plastic knife and run through the biscuit dough to make nine squares (like a tic tac toe game).

If you don’t have a plastic knife, you can use another knife or a bench scraper.

The dough is very sticky, so you won’t get completely clean cuts. That’s ok!

The point of running a knife through the dough is to mark cuts so that the biscuits easily separate into squares after they are baked. This also helps the butter infiltrate all the nooks and crannies of the biscuit dough for a maximum buttery effect on every biscuit.

Running plastic knife through buttery biscuit dough.

Bake Until Golden

The biscuits need a higher oven temperature in order to bake correctly.

The edges should be sizzling with butter when pulled out of the oven, and the top and sides of the biscuits should be golden brown.

A lot will depend on the type of pan the biscuits are baked in and the exact oven temperature.

If the biscuits are turning out overly greasy and under baked, increase the oven temperature by 15-25 degrees and/or bake for longer. 

Baked pan of buttery biscuits.

Swim Biscuits are Best Served Warm

These biscuits aren’t flaky like a traditional buttermilk biscuit, but they are intensely fluffy.

And the bottom and edges are every so delightfully buttery.

These biscuits are definitely best served right away, piping hot, in order to maximize that buttery goodness.

They fare decently well reheated, but tend to lose a bit of of the sizzle and crisp around the edges and take on a slightly greasier hue (although, it doesn’t stop us from popping them in the microwave for a few seconds and devouring the leftovers).

Fluffy biscuit with buttery edges on parchment paper.

Easiest Biscuit Recipe

These easy swim biscuits have become our go-to “bread-y” side dish for any number of meals, and they are so easy, my kids can whip them up without my help.

My brother-in-law, Brad, is the one who introduced us to the recipe (sending me a text imploring me to make them right away). He probably doesn’t realize the legacy that has been created with this simple biscuit recipe.

We can devour a pan of these right out of the oven in mere seconds. They are SO good with a tad bit more butter (no judging) and raspberry jam.

We’ll be making these for years to come!

Bite taken out of biscuit smothered with butter and raspberry jam.

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Three Years Ago: Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Popcorn
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Six Years Ago:  Greek Meatball Stuffed Pitas with Easy Tzatziki Sauce
Seven Years Ago: Sesame Chicken Pasta with Thai-Style Peanut Sauce
Eight Years Ago: Delicious Caesar Salad {With Homemade Dressing}
Nine Years Ago: Slow Cooker White Bean Chicken Chili 
Ten Years Ago: Hearty Chicken Gnocchi Soup 

Raspberry jam and butter spread on half of a fluffy biscuit.

Butter Swim Biscuits

4.85 stars (53 ratings)

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups buttermilk

Instructions 

  • Cut the butter into pieces and place in an 8X8-inch or 9X9-inch baking pan. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (or 425 degrees F if using a glass pan, you live at high altitude and/or your oven bakes hot).
  • Place the pan with the melted butter in the oven while it preheats to let the butter melt (it will only take a few minutes – watch carefully so the butter doesn't burn). Alternately, you can avoid all the fun and melt the butter in the microwave and spread in the pan.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
  • Pour in the buttermilk and stir with a spatula or spoon just until no dry streaks remain – don't over mix!
  • Tilt the pan of melted butter so the butter evenly coats the bottom of the pan.
  • Dollop the biscuit batter in heaping spoonfuls over the melted butter. Use a spatula to even out the batter. It's ok, and actually preferable, for the butter to pool up, around and on top of the biscuit dough.
  • Use a plastic knife (I've found this works best, but you can also use a bench scraper or other knife) to cut through the biscuits to make nine squares. The batter is sticky, so you won't get super clean cuts – that's ok. You just want to mark cuts in the biscuit dough so that the biscuits easily separate into squares after they are baked. This also helps the butter infiltrate all the nooks and crannies of the biscuit dough.
  • Place the pan on a larger aluminum-foil covered baking sheet (in case of spillover) and bake for 25-35 minutes until golden around the edges and the middle is baked through. Serve warm!

Notes

Oven Temperature: it’s really important for the biscuits to bake at a high oven temperature to ensure crisp, buttery edges. If the biscuits are turning out overly greasy and under baked, increase the oven temperature by 15-25 degrees and/or bake for longer. 
Doubling: I haven’t doubled this recipe, but if doing so, I would suggest 1 1/2-ing the recipe for a 9X13-inch pan.
Serving: 1 biscuit, Calories: 223kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 27mg, Sodium: 542mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g

Recipe Source: based off a recipe sent to me by my brother-in-law, Brad (similar to this recipe and this recipe)