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.
Treat yourself to a FREE E-BOOK!
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
- 3/4 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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 3/4" 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 1/2" 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
Penny likes to supervise the photography process. Fortunately, this setup got her vote of approval.
Tiffany says
Ok so I just made them. I haven’t fed them to my husband yet. I have tried one. But they didn’t fluff. I followed your recipe bexcept for salted butter and 2% milk. They are basically just bread cookies. What did I do wrong?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Tiffany! I am so sorry that you experienced issues with this recipe. If all of the ingredients were measured as indicated then I would guess either your baking powder was bad or the dough was over-worked (this would keep the biscuits from rising properly). I do have a video above the recipe that might be helpful, as well. I really hope this helps!:)
Sydneh says
I had great luck with this recipe! Don’t give up. Maybe mew baking powder? Let us know next time you make them!
Allie says
Super easy recipe to follow. The biscuits were light and flaky. I cooled the biscuits a bit in the fridge, before putting in the oven, and adjusted the baking time for that. I would definitely make this again.
The family loved them!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that they were a hit, Allie! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Cindy says
Traveling to visit family and didn’t bring any recipes with me. I found this recipe for biscuits and WOW. They are wonderful. Light and fluffy. This may very well be my new biscuit recipe. Thank you!!
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you came across my site and your family enjoyed the recipe, Cindy! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Carlene says
Made these 2 days ago, served with beef stew. I used 2% milk and salted butter as that is what I had available and also doubled the recipe. They turned out great, my family loved them…. keeper recipe
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that they were such a hit, Carlene! Thank you so much for commenting. 🙂
NiNi says
These biscuits are so simple and delicious! My family has declared that I should stick with this recipe. I use the scraps to make fried biscuit donuts shaken in powdered sugar and cinnamon. My granny use to do this when I was a little girl and my kids love it too!
Thank you for sharing.
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that this recipe has become a family favorite, Nini! Thank you so much for trying it and for taking a moment to leave me a comment. I appreciate it! Enjoy! 🙂
Paulette Brooks says
This was the first time I ever made biscuits and they turned out perfect. I followed your ingredients but used a whole stick of butter (8 Tbl.). I grated my butter first using a food processor, then put it in the freezer until I was ready to make them. I cut the dough into squares rather than rounds. It was fast and easy. Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I took a photo of my flakey biscuits and I wish I could post it to show you all.
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that they turned out perfectly for you, Paulette! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Kate says
Can this be doubled?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Kate! Yes, this recipe doubles nicely. I hope that you enjoy the biscuits! 🙂
Terri says
Can I double the recipe? I have a large family and everybody is home!
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Terri! Absolutely, it doubles nicely. I hope that your family loves them! 🙂
Tonisia G. says
These are delicious. Can these be frozen before baking? I am starting to make meals ahead and want to add these for quick breakfast!!
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Tonisia! Yes, you can easily freeze the dough or the baked the biscuits and then freeze them. Please keep in mind that if you’re baking the frozen dough, it will take longer to bake than what is listed. Enjoy! 🙂
QueenBinSD says
I buy my butter from a local dairy in one pound blocks. If I’m shredding it w/ a box grater (which I love the idea of), how will I know when I’ve shredded enough? I don’t have a kitchen scale.
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi! You need 6 Tablespoons of butter for this recipe which shredded is about 1/4 of a cup. I hope that helps. 🙂
Sydney says
I’d never made biscuits before this recipe. It was so good! A hit with the whole family. I didn’t have parchment paper so I used the convection setting on my oven with a butter flavored cooking spray at 425. I only had 5 tablespoons of butter, but they turned out great! I pressed the scraps together to make a few more biscuits. They looked a little lumpier than the others, but we enjoyed them just the same!
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Sydney! Thank you for trying my recipe. 🙂
Jenn says
Has anyone tried using 2% milk. That’s all I got. 🙁
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Jenn! Yes, others have used 2% milk and have had success! I hope that you do too. Stay safe. 🙂
Rosalina says
I used 1% milk and worked very good.
Elizabeth says
My biscuits didn’t really rise in the or end. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? They were a little dense.
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Elizabeth! If all of the ingredients were measured as indicated then I would guess either your baking powder was bad or the dough was over-worked (this would keep the biscuits from rising properly). I do have a video above the recipe that might be helpful, as well. I really hope this helps!:)
Pat Griffith says
Used your recipe; had to use bread flour , not enough all purpose, came out really good . A little more dense but very good. Loved the tip of grating the butter! Saved time instead of using fork or pastry cutter! Will use your recipe again! Thanks !
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Pat, and I am happy that the turned out well with the use of bread flour. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Sara says
I don’t have whole milk, can I use half n half or almond milk or a combination of both?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Sara! I am not certain how they turn out with either milk substitution as I have not tried it myself. Given the situation, I’d say that it’s worth a shot. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Sara says
Hi! I used half n half and they turned out great! Super easy recipe, I am a terrible baker lol. I also added rosemary, garlic powder, and shredded cheddar to the dry ingredients before adding the butter and dairy. They were great. Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run says
That is wonderful, Sara, I am so glad that they turned out wonderfully! Thanks for the feedback. 🙂
Erika says
All I can say is WOW!!!! You are a delight. Not only is this recipe easy, with your tips a must, the biscuits themselves are delicious. Thank you so much. Can not wait to try your other recipes. Every one stay healthy and safe…eating your creations!
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much for your kind words, Erika! I am so glad that you found the recipe easy to follow and delicious. Thanks for commenting. 🙂