Buttery, soft, and made completely from scratch, this easy homemade biscuit recipe deserves a permanent place in your recipe repertoire. This recipe is made with all butter, no shortening!
With just 6 ingredients that I bet you already have on hand, these homemade biscuits are so simple to make and I’ve included plenty of tips (and a video!) to make sure you end up with perfect biscuits every single time.
Two reasons I’m super excited to share this homemade biscuit recipe with you today:
One: because homemade biscuits are delicious (obviously) and they’re so easy to make. So many people buy the canned version without realizing that they already have all of the ingredients to make them from scratch in their pantry.
The taste of a pre-made biscuit doesn’t hold a candle to a homemade biscuit. Not. even. close. Preservatives and artificial flavors, you aren’t welcome here.
Two: because ever since I started working on this biscuit recipe a few weeks ago, “Mind Your Own Biscuits” by Kacey Musgraves has been stuck in my head and I’ve been singing it off-key relentlessly.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Kacey Musgraves and her music, but every time I start singing my dog starts actually crying. It’s sad and hilarious, and if I wasn’t so embarrassed by my terrible singing voice I would have shared a video of it by now. Hopefully, by publishing this recipe I’ll release myself from the endless refrain and the animal abuse will finally stop.
But let’s talk more about the first reason.
Homemade biscuits call for just six ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, butter, and milk. And then more butter once they’re finished baking because of course we need more butter.
I mentioned that these biscuits are easy so do not be alarmed by all the tips that I have for you below. These biscuits are easy, but technique matters and I want to arm you with all the information that you need so that you can make these easily and have them come out perfectly the very first time.
The tips are simple but important, and while some more seasoned bakers already know them, I want to give everyone an even playing field.
Tips for Making Homemade Biscuits
- The butter and milk for this recipe need to be as cold as possible for fluffy and soft biscuits. I freeze my butter before using it and recommend keeping the milk in the refrigerator right up until it’s time to add it to the dry ingredients.
- Don’t overwork the dough! Keep in mind that you want your butter to stay as cold as possible when making these biscuits, and the more you have your hands on the dough the softer the butter will become. Definitely don’t use an electric mixer for this recipe.
- We’re going to do a little bit of laminating. This means folding the dough over itself multiple times (5-6 times here) to encourage flaky layers in our biscuits. You can watch the video below to see exactly how this is done.
- Don’t use a rolling pin, use your hands to gently work the dough into a flat rectangle before cutting out your biscuits.
- Don’t be afraid to add flour to the dough if it’s too sticky while you are handling it (and make sure to work on a lightly floured surface).
Visual clue: If you look at the pre-baked biscuit below, you’ll see that you can actually see the butter pieces in the dough. This is what you want, the ingredients won’t be well-combined like with a cookie dough and seeing bits of butter means you’ve actually done everything right here. Hooray!
A Few Notes on Butter in Homemade Biscuits
The butter is possibly the most important part of this recipe, and the way you handle it can make or break your homemade biscuits.
While you can certainly use a pastry cutter to cut your butter into the dry ingredients, I recommend freezing your butter for about 30 minutes before beginning. Then, use a box grater to grate the butter before combining this in with your dry ingredients.
I use this technique in my scone recipes and highly recommend it with these biscuits, too. Not only is it much easier than using a pastry cutter, but it does a great job of finely shredding and distributing the butter throughout the mixture without overworking the butter (remember, you want to manage the butter as little as possible so that it’s as cold as possible when going into the oven).
Alternatively you could also use a food processor (like I do with my pie crust recipe), but it’s just so easy to grate in the butter that I always use this method instead.
And yes, I do recommend using unsalted butter in this recipe and then adding salt. If you want to know more about why I write my recipes this way, you can read all about it (and an easy substitution if you only have salted butter on hand) in this post that I wrote about salted vs unsalted butter.
I know I’ve mentioned to you guys a few times that I’ve been working on a baking contest/challenge/I’m really not sure what to call it, but I’m planning a post where I encourage all of you to bake along with me. The goal is to get people baking recipes they may have not tried before, and I’m encouraging everyone to share their results for a chance to win a small prize.
Well, today’s homemade biscuit recipe is essentially the base for the baking challenge that I’ll be sharing in exactly one week, so take this as a hint that making today’s recipe is a great way to get a jump start for the challenge!
To make sure you’re among the first to be notified of all new recipes and baking challenges, make sure you’re subscribed to my e-mail list. It’s free, and you get a free e-book of 8 of my favorite cookie recipes.
Enjoy!
How to Make Homemade Biscuits
I know I talked a lot in this video, but I really feel that the tips are so important, and will help ensure your biscuits come out perfectly!
Homemade Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter very cold (85g), unsalted European butter is ideal, but not required
- ¾ cup whole milk¹ (177ml) buttermilk or 2% milk will also work
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- For best results, chill your butter in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before beginning this recipe. It's ideal that the butter is very cold for light, flaky, buttery biscuits.
- Preheat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with nonstick parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt
- Remove your butter from the refrigerator and either cut it into your flour mixture using a pastry cutter or (preferred) use a box grater to shred the butter into small pieces and then add to the flour mixture and stir.6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- Cut the butter or combine the grated butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add milk, use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir until combined (don't over-work the dough).¾ cup whole milk¹
- Transfer your biscuit dough to a well-floured surface and use your hands to gently work the dough together. If the dough is too sticky, add flour until it is manageable.
- Once the dough is cohesive, fold in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 5-6 times but taking care to not overwork the dough.
- Use your hands (do not use a rolling pin) to flatten the dough to 1" thick and lightly dust a 2 ¾" round biscuit cutter with flour.
- Making close cuts, press the biscuit cutter straight down into the dough and drop the biscuit onto your prepared baking sheet.
- Repeat until you have gotten as many biscuits as possible and place less than ½" apart on baking sheet.
- Once you have gotten as many biscuits as possible out of the dough, gently re-work the dough to get out another biscuit or two until you have at least 6 biscuits.
- Bake on 425F for 12 minutes or until tops are beginning to just turn lightly golden brown.
- If desired, brush with melted salted butter immediately after removing from oven. Serve warm and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Penny likes to supervise the photography process. Fortunately, this setup got her vote of approval.
Tiffany
I would love fo try this, we only have 2% mil on hand…any idea if it will work ?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Tiffany! 2% milk will work fine. Enjoy! 🙂
TRISHA BEHARRY
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this recipe. Today I added some cheddar cheese, pimento peppers and chives to the dough. It’s in the oven and I can hardly wait!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for using my recipe, Trisha! I am so glad that it has become a staple in your home. Thanks for commenting. Enjoy! 🙂
Denise
This recipe was so simple and easy to make. It was not time consuming at all!! My family LOVED them!!!!
The best tip was freezing the butter. I didn’t think it would make a difference but IT DOES!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you found the recipe easy and delicious, Denise! The frozen butter makes all the difference. Thanks for trying my recipe. I am so glad you loved them! 🙂
Ralph Hatcher
This is a killer & easy recipe! I’ve been making biscuits for the family for many many years, and wanted a change. These are the best ever! Ohh, sausage gravy, you now have the perfect vehicle! Christmas mornings are even more special now! THANK YOU!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you now have a new favorite recipe, Ralph. These pair perfectly with sausage gravy for sure. Thank you so much for trying my recipe. I am glad it was a hit! 🙂
Glynis B
These were scrumptious! I made jumbo sized & had butter & honey on mine.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Glynis! Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Rosalina
Wow, they’re delicious and flaky. Love them. 👍🏼
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you for trying my recipe, Rosalina! I am so glad they were such a hit! 🙂
Amber
So good and easy! First time making biscuits and wow! I love all your recipes, Sam. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us all!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you found this recipe easy to follow and delicious, Amber! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Gloria Haughey
This recipe looks great! I would like to use this as a topping for a chicken pot pie (instead of rolled dough). Any idea how I should adjust the cook time or if I should put these on halfway through heating the pie? I’ll be warming the pie filling in a Dutch oven.
Sam
I actually do this a lot when I make pot pie. I cook most everything on the stovetop then add the biscuit dough (I cut it into about 6 pieces) on top and bake in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes. It works great 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Gloria! I would put them on top about halfway through and bake until golden brown. I also have a turkey pot pie recipe that you can use as a reference. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Jennifer davis
Very good and easy!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you, Jennifer! I am so glad that you enjoyed them. 🙂
Karen
Can’t recall if I’ve reviewed prior or not but here’s one just in case!. This southern girl’s fave biscuit recipe. I’ve made them several times and always perfection whether slathered in butter and jam or hosting a big ole helping of milk gravy! Have some in oven now, just wish I had remembered I have buttermilk in the fridge a few minutes ago as I would’ve tried with it.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that this recipe has become a favorite of yours, Karen. I greatly appreciate the feedback, thanks for commenting. 🙂
Gus
Not sure if the actual person who made this recipe will read this but this is the Lords work! I followed this step by step and it altered my life forever! As a male I am biscuit connoisseur an this was amazing! Sunday breakfast with my son was out of this world! Try this
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Gus! Thank you so very much for trying my recipe. I am happy to hear that this recipe exceeded your expectations and you enjoyed the biscuits. Thank you for commenting, I appreciate the feedback. 🙂
I’m stuck at home and I only have self rising flour. Can I use this and if so how would I do so?
Hello! I’m stuck at home and I only have self rising flour. Can I use this and if so how would I do so?
Sugar Spun Run
Unfortunately, I do not recommend using self-rising flour here. 🙁
JoEllen
If we want to double the recipe, is there any special tips or differences we should do?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, JoEllen! This recipe doubles easily with no additional adjustments needed. 🙂
Debra Walling
WOW! What a pleasant surprise. These were easy to make and delicious. Thank you, thank you for sharing the recipe!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits, Debra! Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Keren
Can I do without sugar? The only ingredient I’m missing!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Karen! That should be fine. Keep me posted on how they turn out. 🙂