Copycat Popeyes Strawberry Biscuits

Prep: 25 mins

Cook: 20 mins

Chilling/Cooling Time: 15 mins

Total: 60 mins

Servings: 7 to 8 servings

Yield: 7 to 8 3-inch biscuits

Just when you thought one of the great fast food havens couldn’t get better, they take their divine, already-buttery biscuits and turn them into an irresistible sweet confection. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen reigns supreme in many categories: sides (mainly the biscuits), fried chicken, red beans and rice, cajun fries, fried chicken sandwiches, and everything else under their bright orange rooftop.

Tell Me More About These Strawberry Biscuits

The OG Popeyes biscuit stands out from the rest because of its airy, flaky layers. It tastes like a buttery cloud easily consumed on its own, but is next-level with a schmear of warm honey butter. So, why mess with something that’s already a standout? Because why just have savory biscuits when you can have dessert biscuits too?

The menu addition features the biscuit recipe, but studded with pieces of strawberry and finished with a simple icing drizzle. Imagine if a Strawberry Toaster Strudel had a biscuit cousin—but she’s clearly prettier and the life of the party. They’re not too sweet with the just right amount of each ingredient.

How To Make Popeyes Strawberry Biscuits at Home

When recreating this recipe I used strawberry preserves over fresh strawberries or frozen strawberries because it’s budget-friendly, always available (unlike out-of-season strawberries), and full of concentrated flavor. Much like Popeyes version, I wanted these to be biscuits with pockets of strawberry flavor instead of strawberry biscuits—this ensures they aren’t overly sweet or overpowering with strawberry flavor, and the integrity of the biscuits is not compromised by overmixing.

To do this I folded in the preserves much like you would fold a laminated dough like croissants or kouign-amann. After each fold, I popped the biscuits into the freezer briefly to resoldify any melty butter pockets and firm up the preserves to make folding easier.

After a few folds, you can either cut out biscuits or simply use a knife to cut squares, avoiding the fussiness of rerolling dough scraps (my personal preference). Pop them in the oven, then brush with melted butter for an even richer texture. While the biscuits cool, make the icing and drizzle as much as you like on top. Serve with even more preserves on the side or as-is. These are wonderful for a spring or summer potluck, but they’re even better as a sweet brunch treat.

Tips for Making Strawberry Biscuits

Make sure your butter and buttermilk are cold — The pockets of butter will create steam that lead to airy, flaky layers. Cold buttermilk will help preserve the cold butter.
How to mix in the butter — You can use a pastry cutter or gently rub the butter into the flour with your fingers. Using your fingers allows you to feel the size of the butter, but the heat from your hands can cause it to melt slightly so just be aware.
Overmixing can cause dense, dry biscuits.
Don't twist the cutter — If using a cutter for the biscuits, dip the cutter in flour then press down on the dough but don’t twist. The flour will help the dough to not stick and easily release from the cutter. If you twist when cutting, you will seal off the edges and prevent them from properly rising in the oven.
Use a knife to avoid scraps — Instead of using a round cutter, just cut the biscuits into squares or rectangles. You won't have any dough scraps to worry about.
Crowd the pan for softer, taller biscuits — Placing the biscuits closer together or even allowing them to touch will force them to rise higher rather than outwards, making them even softer because of the air pockets.

«These delicious Copycat Strawberry Biscuits come together quickly and have a short chilling time, which means you’ll be able to eat them in just about 1 hour! I cut the biscuits into squares with a serrated knife to avoid having dough scraps.» —Diana Andrews

A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

2 cups (253 grams) all-purpose flour, more as needed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (4 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup cold buttermilk
5 tablespoons strawberry preserves, divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon milk

Steps to Make It

Gather the ingredients. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 425 F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
Add the cold cubed butter and with your fingertips work the butter into the flour, flattening the cubes between your fingers until the butter pieces are about the diameter of walnut halves (bigger butter pieces = flakier biscuits).
Add the buttermilk and mix until it just comes together into a shaggy dough (not all the flour will be incorporated yet). Be careful to not overmix as this will melt the butter.
Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and use your fingers to press it quickly into a rough rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. With a long edge facing you, fold the left side of the dough into the middle and the right side of the dough over the left, like folding a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so a long edge is once again facing you.
Now, we will fold the strawberry preserves into the dough. Roll the dough out into a rectangle again, about 1/2-inch thick. Spread 3 tablespoons of the strawberry preserves evenly over the dough.
Fold the short left side over the preserves to the center, then fold the short right side over the left. Use a bench scraper to help you transfer the dough to a baking sheet or plate and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Roll the dough again into a rectangle, about 1/2-inch thick (it’s ok if some of the preserves ooze out the side—you can work it back in on this step). Spread the remaining 2 tablespoons of preserves over top.
Fold the dough once more over the preserves like a letter. Freeze for 5 to 10 minutes (the longer amount of time if your kitchen is warm).
Roll the dough into a rectangle that is 3/4 to 1 inch thick. You should not have to roll very much—you can use a rolling pin to tap the dough down to a scant 1 inch thickness. Cut the biscuits as close together as possible using an approximately 3-inch cutter or the mouth of a round glass about the same size. Do not twist the biscuit cutter—press straight down. You can push together (do not try to knead the dough together) any scraps and cut out more biscuits until you’ve used up all the dough.

Alternatively, you can cut equal size square biscuits with a knife.
Transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet. It’s ok if the biscuits are close together or even slightly touching. Bake until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown, 16 to 20 minutes.
Brush the biscuits with the melted butter as soon as you take them out of the oven. Let the biscuits cool for 5 minutes.
Make the icing by whisking together the confectioners’ sugar and milk in a small bowl until combined.
Drizzle the icing all over the biscuits as desired.

How To Store and Freeze Strawberry Biscuits

Store any leftover biscuits in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Reheat in the microwave for 10 second spurts until warmed through.
To freeze the biscuits, leave off the icing and place in a resealable bag or airtight container for up to 2 months. Let thaw in the fridge, then gently reheat in the microwave or oven. Drizzle with icing when ready to serve.

Recipe Variations

You can swap the strawberry preserves for other fruit jams or paste like blueberry, guava, apple butter, and more. You can even leave off the icing and use a savory preserve like pepper jelly or tomato chutney.

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 7 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories	324
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15g	19%
Saturated Fat 9g	46%
Cholesterol 39mg	13%
Sodium 516mg	22%
Total Carbohydrate 44g	16%
Dietary Fiber 1g	4%
Total Sugars 16g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 8mg	40%
Calcium 110mg	8%
Iron 2mg	10%
Potassium 103mg	2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.