Fluffy, warm biscuits are almost irresistible. Top them with butter for a side dish with your meal, smother them with sausage gravy, or use them as the bread for a sandwich.
A biscuit can serve just about any need you have for a snack or a meal.
If you have leftover biscuits by any chance, how can you store them so that they are as delicious and appealing as they were the first day?
Generally speaking, you can store cooked biscuits for up to 2 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Place the leftover biscuits in a zip-top bag, or wrap them in plastic wrap or foil. Cheesy biscuits will also be good for 2 days in an airtight container at room temperature. However, you should place ham and cheese biscuits in an airtight container in the refrigerator within two hours of cooking.
Continue reading for different ways of storing biscuits, varieties of biscuits and storage options, and a couple of biscuit recipes to try for added interest and convenience.
Storing Cooked Biscuits At Room Temperature
Whether you make biscuits from scratch, from a biscuit baking mix, or frozen or refrigerated biscuit dough, you can keep baked biscuits at room temperature for 2 days.
Let the biscuits come to room temperature before you package them for storage. Then place them in a zip-top bag and squeeze out as much air as possible.
Another option is to wrap the biscuits in plastic wrap or foil as tightly as possible to keep out the air.
Cheddar Cheese Biscuits
Cheddar cheese biscuits (or any other kind of cheese) are also good at room temperature for up to 2 days in an airtight container.
This kind of biscuit is where the cheese is grated and mixed into the dough before baking.
You may be puzzled by leaving cheddar biscuits out at room temperature because we are accustomed to refrigerating our cheeses.
However, humans have been making and storing cheese without refrigeration for thousands of years before refrigerators were invented.
While refrigeration does extend the life of your cheese, it is not strictly necessary for food safety.
If you were to leave a block of cheese out on the counter all day, you would notice a change in the texture of the outer layer, but after cutting it away the cheese in the center would be just as good as refrigerated cheese.
According to the USDA, hard cheeses, like cheddar, processed cheeses, and parmesan are safe to store at room temperature.
Therefore, it is safe to store cheddar cheese biscuits at room temperature for a few days. The biscuits will go bad before the cheese does.
Ham And Cheese Biscuits
If you incorporated chopped ham into your biscuit dough, you should not keep those biscuits at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
Foods with meat included are more likely to grow bacteria that can cause illnesses when left at temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, those foods should be refrigerated to preserve them safely.
Biscuits And Gravy
Much like the ham and cheese biscuits, the gravy should not sit out longer than 2 hours at room temperature because it will likely grow bacteria that may cause food-borne illness.
Store the gravy in a separate container from the biscuits in the refrigerator.
Gluten-Free Biscuits
You can keep gluten-free biscuits out at room temperature for 2 days.
However, gluten-free biscuits are likely to dry out more quickly than their wheat cousins, so be sure to put them in an airtight container or zip-top bag as soon after baing as possible to preserve the freshness.
Reheating Cooked Biscuits
The fastest way to reheat cooked biscuits is to pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
Because keeping biscuits moist is essential to their deliciousness, try wrapping each biscuit in a damp paper towel before microwaving to help retain the moisture.
You can reheat a large batch of biscuits in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes.
For easy clean-up, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the biscuits evenly on the baking sheet.
A toaster oven is an excellent tool for heating a few biscuits at a time. Set it to 350 and line the baking tray with parchment or foil. Bake the biscuits for 6-8 minutes.
Storing Cooked Biscuits In The Refrigerator
You can keep cooked biscuits soft for longer than two days by storing them in an airtight container and placing them in the refrigerator.
Wrap cooked biscuits tightly in plastic wrap or foil or store them in a zip-top bag with the air pressed out, and they will remain soft and fresh for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Regardless of whether you made cheddar cheese biscuits, buttermilk biscuits, homemade biscuits, canned biscuits, or gluten-free biscuits, they all store the same way in the refrigerator. Use an airtight container and keep them for a week.
Ham and cheese biscuits that have chopped ham and grated cheese mixed into the dough must be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
These savory biscuits will stay fresh and delicious for up to 5 days when refrigerated.
Freezing Cooked Biscuits
All of the varieties of cooked biscuits can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Homemade biscuits, cheddar biscuits, biscuits made from refrigerated dough, and ham and cheese biscuits all freeze beautifully. In fact, this is a great way to make quick breakfasts ahead.
Simply wrap biscuits separately in plastic wrap and place all of them in a large container or zip-top bag.
Then you can pop an individual biscuit into the microwave in the morning for a warm breakfast on the go.
Refrigerating Raw Biscuit Dough
When you make biscuits, you may have more dough than you want to use immediately. The good news is that you can save the raw dough and have fresh biscuits later.
For homemade biscuit dough and gluten-free biscuit dough, roll out the dough and cut out your biscuits.
Then, dust the biscuits with baking mix or flour and place them in a zip-top bag. Biscuit dough will keep in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
You can follow the same method for canned biscuits. Place any raw biscuit dough you are not using immediately in a zip-top bag and store it in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
When you cook the refrigerated biscuits, you may need to add 1-3 minutes to the cooking time, depending on your oven. Keep an eye on the biscuits at the end of the cooking time.
Freezing Raw Biscuit Dough
Another way to save your excess biscuit dough is to freeze it as individual biscuits.
For homemade biscuits and gluten-free biscuits, roll out the dough and cut out the biscuits.
Lay them out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet so that they are not touching. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap to trap the moisture and place the baking sheet in the freezer for 3-4 hours.
Once the biscuits are frozen, you can move them to a zip-top freezer bag or rigid container. You can store frozen biscuit dough for 3 months.
Canned biscuit dough will work just as well in the freezer. Separate the biscuits on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap.
Freeze for about 3 hours, then move the biscuits to a zip-top freezer bag or rigid airtight container. Frozen, canned biscuits will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months as well.
Before Storing Raw Biscuit Dough
Before you add the frozen biscuits to your zip-top freezer bag, write the contents of the bag and the cooking instructions on the bag.
Plain biscuits and cheddar biscuits look pretty much the same when they are frozen. Be sure to note if you are making both gluten-free and regular biscuits as well since they look the same when they are mixed up.
Cooking Frozen Biscuit Dough
Cooking individually frozen biscuits couldn’t be easier. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place frozen biscuits one inch apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Place the frozen biscuits in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. As a general rule, when you cook frozen biscuit dough, it takes about 5 minutes longer than the original recipe called for.
Simple Biscuit Dough Recipe
Making homemade biscuits is easy, but you have to learn some baking techniques if you have never made pastry before. For the best fluffiest biscuits, you want the butter and milk to be as cold as possible.
Also, you don’t want to over-work the dough, or the biscuits will not be as tender. Finally, you have to make layers as you work the dough.
Basically, you are folding the dough over itself and pressing it flat to make the layers.
You will need to cut the butter into tiny pieces. You can use a pastry cutter or freeze the butter and grate it with a box grater or a food processor. Just remember that you want it to be as cold as possible.
Place 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl mix 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt.
Either use a box grater to grate the frozen butter and add it to the flour mixture, or use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Add ¾ cup of very cold milk and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined.
Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and gently work the dough together. Sprinkle with flour as needed so that the dough is not sticky.
Once the dough holds together, flatten it out with your hands, then fold it in half and flatten again.
Rotate the dough 90 degrees, fold in half and flatten again. Repeat this process 5-6 times. (This process is called laminating, and it makes the flaky layer in the finished biscuits.)
Flatten the dough to 1” and cut out the biscuits. Rework the dough and continue cutting out biscuits.
Place ½ inch apart on the baking sheet, brush the tops with butter and bake for 12 minutes.
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Recipe Substitutions and Additions
If you have a milk preference, you can choose whole milk, 2%, or buttermilk.
If all you have at home is salted butter, reduce the salt in the recipe by about ¼ teaspoon.
Make cheddar cheese biscuits by adding 1 cup of grated cheese. You can also add 1 minced garlic clove and a ¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to spice it up.
For ham and cheese biscuits, add 1 cup of shredded cheese and ¾ cup of chopped ham. For additional flavor also add 1 minced garlic clove and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper. Ham and cheese biscuits may work better as drop biscuits than rolled-out biscuits.
Simply use a large spoon to scoop a biscuit-sized scoop of dough onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet, flatten slightly with the back of the spoon, and bake as usual.
Concluding Thoughts
You can keep freshly baked biscuits out at room temperature for about 2 days if they are wrapped in plastic wrap or saved in an airtight container.
The main thing to watch for is stale, dry biscuits after the first day or two. To keep biscuits fresh longer, store them in the refrigerator or freezer.
My name is Keren Tayler. I am a stay-at-home mama to three lovely girls, Sarah + Rachel + Hannah. Prior to becoming a mom, I had a successful career in the accounting field, steps away from becoming a CPA. I decided to give up on my career in order to raise my own kids (as opposed to letting a nanny do it, no judgment here :)) I learned a lot and I love sharing it with other moms. Along the way, I also became a Certified Food Handler.