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Overnight Honey Wheat Angel Biscuits

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Overnight Honey Wheat Angel Biscuits are your answer for replacing store-bought refrigerated biscuits. Ditch the tube and enjoy these golden, fresh-baked, fluffy homemade biscuits instead!

Drizzling honey over a honey wheat angel biscuit.

Make Ahead Angel Biscuits with Honey + Whole Wheat

I had no idea what angel biscuits were when I first came across a recipe for them in an old fundraising cookbook. 

You know the kind of book I’m talking about right? They’re usually a collection of tried and true family recipes, spiral bound and sold by schools and churches. Mine is circa 1984 and it’s a treasure trove of midwestern recipes from my youth. 

I was intrigued after reading the recipe that calls for multiple leaveners and instructs the baker that the dough ‘should not be allowed to rise’ and can be kept in the refrigerator ‘for a long time’. 

After a Google search, I had a better understanding…sort of. (Do your own search and you’ll see what I mean!) There are many origin stories, but one thing is certain: these southern-style biscuits crossed with dinner rolls, are fluffy, soft, easy to make (if not a little messy) and SCRUMPTIOUS!

A cast iron skillet filled with baked honey wheat angel biscuits.

Fluffy Angel Biscuit Ingredients 

I’m breaking with tradition here and making one significant alteration to the classic angel biscuit recipe — white whole wheat flour. I’m also omitting vegetable shortening in favor of an all-butter biscuit.

  • All-purpose flour — to maintain a soft texture.
  • White whole wheat flour — for a sweeter, higher fiber dough.
  • Leaveners — baking powder, baking soda + yeast.
  • Kosher salt
  • Unsalted butter — cubed, cold butter.
  • Low fat buttermilk — feel free to use full fat.
  • Honey — granulated sugar is traditional, but honey is less refined and delicious.
Ingredients for making honey wheat angel biscuits.

How to Mix Honey Wheat Angel Biscuit Dough

This is a rather wet, sticky dough, but can be mixed by hand. Just be prepared for doughy fingers!

Proof the Yeast — Combine active dry yeast with 2 tbsp of warm water and set it aside. I simply let the tap run until hot, then measure out the water. You’ll know it’s ready when the surface is foamy.

Combine the Dry Ingredients — In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt. Use a whisk or a fork to distribute the ingredients. 

Cut in the Butter — A pastry cutter makes easy work of this step. You can also use your hands or a couple of forks. Add the butter to the flour mixture and begin cutting it in. You’re just breaking the butter down into smaller bits that will distribute and adhere to the flour until it creates a pebbly texture. 

Using a pastry cutter to combine butter into flour mixture.

Add the Wet Ingredients — Pour in the yeast mixture, buttermilk and honey. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to begin bringing the wet and dry ingredients together…do your best to get as much of the flour incorporated. With clean hands, reach into the bowl and give the dough a final few kneads while mixing in the last stubborn bits of dry mix from the bottom of the bowl.

A bowl of craggy honey wheat angel biscuit dough.

Refrigerate Overnight — Cover the mixing bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight. 

Turn That Dough Into Biscuits

Ok…your dough has been chilling overnight. At this point, you can portion out just what you want to bake and leave the remaining dough in the fridge, or bake a full batch. 

Flour Your Work Surface — liberally dust your bench with flour (I used all-purpose). Turn the dough out onto the bench and use floured hands to shape the blob into a rough square. 

Raw dough on a floured wooden board.

Roll, Fold + Repeat — Dust a rolling pin and gently roll the dough out into a rectangle. Fold it in half, turn it 90 degrees. Roll it again, fold it again, turn it again. Repeat one more time. On the last turn, roll it out to about 1” thick. 

Cut Into Biscuits — Dip a biscuit cutter (mine is a 2.5” round) into some flour and cut out biscuits with a down and up motion; no twisting. Dip the cutter in flour as needed throughout this process. Gather up the dough into a ball, re-roll and cut again. Continue until you’ve used up all the dough. 

If you’d rather not re-roll, use a sharp knife or bench scraper to cut rectangular biscuits instead. No matter the cutting tool, remember to cut straight down and don’t drag or twist the tool which can seal the biscuit edges and prevent them from rising during the bake.

Using a biscuit cutter to cut biscuit shapes.

Bake the Biscuits — Transfer the biscuits to a 12” cast iron skillet (this will fit 16, 2.5” biscuits).  If your skillet it well seasoned, there’s no need to grease it. Allow the biscuits to hang out on the counter while the oven preheats to 425°F.

Bake them for 25-28 minutes, checking the spots between biscuits to see that it is not underbaked. Somewhere around the 15-18 minute mark, check on your biscuits for color. If they are already a golden brown, place a sheet of aluminum foil flat across the top of the skillet. Don’t tuck or seal it around the pan.

NOTE: If you are not baking the whole batch, arrange biscuits in a cluster in the center of your cast iron skillet.

Raw biscuits arranged in a cast iron skillet.

Common Questions About Angel Biscuits

How long will the dough keep in the fridge?

If you plan to bake just a few biscuits at a time, keep the raw dough tightly covered in your fridge for up to 5 days.

Can I freeze angel biscuits?

Sure! Bake and cool the biscuits completely. Separate them on a sheet pan and pop that in the freezer for an hour or two. Transfer them to a zip-top bag or airtight container and store in the freezer for up to one month. Remove as many as you want, and thaw before reheating them in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes. 

Do I have to refrigerate them overnight?

Well, no. I do recommend refrigerating them for at least 2 to 3 hours before baking. The longer the dough rests, the more developed the flavor will be. Also, it’s much easier to work with cold dough when it’s time to cut out the biscuits. 

Do I have to bake them in cast iron?

I’ve also baked these on a sheet pan, but prefer the results when baking in cast iron. If using a metal baking pan, line it with a Silpat or parchment. I recommend checking it for doneness anywhere from 15-18 minutes if you space them apart, or around 20-23 minutes if you space them close together. 

A basket of fluffy honey wheat angel biscuits.
A basket of angel biscuits and a split biscuit with butter and jam.

Serving Suggestions

  • Serve with butter and a drizzle of honey, or some Summer Berry + Moscato Jam!
  • Use them for little breakfast sandwiches, or make ham biscuits for lunch.
  • Serve them as a side with soup, stew or any meal that calls for a sweet, tender biscuit or roll.

Try These Other Dough-Based Recipes, Too!

Overnight Honey Wheat Angel Biscuits

Drizzling honey over a honey wheat angel biscuit.
Overnight Honey Wheat Angel Biscuits are your answer for replacing store-bought refrigerated biscuits. Ditch the tube and enjoy these golden, fresh-baked, fluffy homemade biscuits instead!
Sip + Sanity | Linda Feller
Prep Time 12 hours 35 minutes
Cook Time 28 minutes
Resting Time 10 minutes
Total Time 13 hours 13 minutes
Serving Size 16 biscuits

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg active dry yeast (or 2¼ tsp)
  • 2 tbsp warm water
  • cups all-purpose flour
  • cups white whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) very cold, cut into small cubes
  • 2 cups low-fat buttermilk or full-fat
  • ¼ cup honey

Instructions

  • Mix the active dry yeast into the warm water. (I just run the tap until it's hot and measure it out into a bowl.) Set aside to bloom; it should become foamy on top.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a whisk. Using your fingers, a fork or a pastry cutter (my favorite method), cut in the butter until you achieve a uniform pebbly texture.
  • Add the buttermilk, honey and yeast mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon or spatula. Once all but the most stubborn bits of flour are combined, I find it helpful to use clean hands to knead the dough together right inside the bowl. The dough will still be rather sticky and that's okay!
  • Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and refrigerate it overnight (or for at least 2 to 3 hours).
  • When ready to bake, dust your bench liberally with flour and turn out the dough. Use your hands to form it into a rough rectangle and sprinkle the surface with flour. Use a floured rolling pin to gently roll the dough into a rectangle. Fold it in half, turn it 90 degrees. Repeat that 2 more times. On the final roll out, roll to approximately 1" thick.
  • Use a 2.5" round biscuit cutter, dipped in flour, to cut out as many biscuits as you can. Use a straight up and down motion, don't twist. Collect the scraps into a ball, re-roll and cut additional biscuits. Continue until all the dough has been used. (I did this a total of 3 times and had just a tiny scrap of dough leftover.)
  • Transfer the biscuits to a 12" cast iron skillet. Let the biscuits rest while the oven preheats to 425°F.
  • Bake for 25-28 minutes. Check them at the 15-18 minute mark. If they are already getting really golden on top, lay a sheet of aluminum foil flat over the top. Don't tuck it around or seal it.
  • Remove the biscuits to a cooling rack or trivet to rest for 10 minutes before removing them from the skillet.

Nutrition

Calories: 265kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 373mg | Potassium: 97mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 369IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 1mg

Notes

Alternate cutting method: If you don’t feel like re-rolling the dough, use a sharp knife or bench scraper to cut the dough into rectangular biscuits, using the same straight up and down motion.

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