Masa Harina Biscuits

5 from 3 votes

Flaky, light, and buttery masa harina biscuits are made with masa harina and honey for a nutty and slightly sweet corn flavor.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Side

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix together the flour, masa harina, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Shred the butter with a box grater, add it to the flour mixture, and mix it together with a wooden spatula until it's crumbly and loosely mixed together.
Stir in the honey and whole milk until just combined.
Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface, and using your hands, knead and fold the dough until it comes together. The dough will not be completely smooth, and should still have lumps.
Lightly pat the dough and shape it into a small rectangle. Fold it in half and use your hands to gently flatten the layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 3-4 times but making sure not to overwork the dough.
Using your hands, flatten the dough to a ½-inch thickness.
Lightly dust a 3-inch round biscuit cutter with flour. Press the biscuit cutter straight down into the dough and drop the biscuit onto your prepared baking sheet. Rework the scrap dough together, but do not create additional layers, and continue cutting biscuits until all the dough is used. This recipe should yield 8 biscuits.
Brush the tops of the biscuits with the beaten egg.
Bake for 14-16 minutes or until the tops are beginning to just turn lightly golden brown.
Brush with melted butter immediately after baking if desired. Serve warm and enjoy!

Milk: For a creamier and richer flavor and texture, use buttermilk instead of whole milk.
Butter: For an extra rich and salty flavor, you can use salted butter instead. Just omit the salt called for in the recipe.
Keep the ingredients as cold as possible. Using very cold milk and frozen butter will give you the best results. I like to place the butter in the freezer for at least 20 minutes beforehand. This will give you extra flaky and light biscuits.
Shape with your hands. I do not recommend using a rolling pin since it can be very easy to overwork the dough. You want the dough to be cold and still have visible chunks of butter throughout.
Dough too wet? Add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough comes together.
Dough too dry? Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until the dough stays together and isn’t overly crumbly. Just be careful adding too much milk, or the dough won't be as flaky as it should be.