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.
shawna
I made these this week and could not be happier!!! They were beautiful and tasted amazing! Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Shawna! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Paulette
I love cheese biscuits. Could i “fudge” a little and add skme grated cheese
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy that you have enjoyed this recipe, Paulette! Yes, others have also added grated cheese to theirs as well. I also have a garlic cheese drop biscuit recipe that you may also want to try. Those… those are amazing! 🙂
Natalie
These buscuits were easy to make and amazing! Made them a couple times already. This will definitely be my go-to recipe.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you have enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for trying it and for commenting, Natalie! 🙂
Nicholas
How long in advance before baking can I prepare the dough?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Nicholas! You can make the dough a day or two in advance and store it in an airtight container in the fridge until you are ready to bake it. 🙂
Blair
Made these for the 2nd time. They are SO tasty! We love these biscuits!!
I had to come back and re-rate because they are just THAT good….and super simple to make.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you for trying my recipe, Blair! I am so glad that they have been a hit! 🙂
Alane
LOVED these biscuits! They were perfect for my cream of chicken soup – true comfort food in these crazy times. And your method of using the box grater for the butter – genius!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Alane! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Becca
Made these this morning for my family, and they were the best biscuits I’ve ever made! They came together so quickly and loved the tip of using a box grater. Thanks for the recipe!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the box grater butter tip, Becca, and that you enjoyed the biscuits. Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Reagan Charkhtabian
Easy and delicious recipe ..wish I could post a picture
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Reagan! Thank you for trying my recipe. You can share photos with me by tagging me on Instagram (@sugarspun_sam) or by joining my Facebook Bakers Group. 🙂
Kiesha
Can you use something other than whole milk? I don’t have any and don’t want to the store if I can use 2%.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Kiesha! 2% milk will work fine. Enjoy! 🙂
The Dad
I just made them with oat milk – they worked out great.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that they turned out so well for you and that you enjoyed! 🙂
Des
I’m lactose and only use almond or coconut milk, will that still work!?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Des! Others have used almond milk and reported success. I hope that you do as well. 🙂
Dani
These were simple to make and turned out well! They were soo good with a fried egg and tomato. I did not have a biscuit cutter so bent a cookie cutter into a circular shape. I also only had salted butter on hand so did not add salt and they were a little bland; next time I’ll add just a pinch!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Dani! Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Tina
My kids wanted biscuits and gravy this morning. First time I’ve made homemade biscuits. Very good recipe, used a grader for the butter! Awesome 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad they were enjoyed and a hit with your kids, Tina! Thanks for trying my recipe. 🙂
Barbara Serwin
Great instructions, great outcome. I made everyone VERY happy with these biscuits.
Thank you Sugar Spun!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that they were such a hit, Barbara! Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Kristina Snipes
A godsend! We are staying home at this time and got a craving for biscuits and luckily had all these ingredients on hand!! They were delicious, even with me accidentally forgetting to premix the dry ingredients and balling them up and throwing them on a cookie sheet! We put honey on top and had the most delicious dessert that lifted our spirits! Thank you so much for sharing this yummy recipe!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that this recipe could brighten your day during this time and that everyone loved the biscuits, Kristina! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Sarah
I couldn’t agree more!!!!! I’ve tried multiple recipes since we’ve been home and they have been a tremendous amount of work and a less than desirable result. What a breath of fresh air your video and wonderful recipe was for us!!!! Thank you soooo much!!! God bless you and stay safe!!!
Sam
Thrilled to hear that the recipe was such a success for you, Sarah! Thank you so much for commenting, I really appreciate it.
Megan
Hi Sam,
Thank you for sharing this recipe with all of us. I am so eager try this recipe! My only random question is we have sticks of margarine instead of butter at home. Can this be used as a substitute? I know you stated the butter is the most important ingredient, so I thought I would ask the expert. 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Megan! Someone else recently used margarine but had a hard time grating the frozen stick. It still turned out well, so hopefully, you have the same success. 🙂
Megan
Thanks so much Sam, I will give it a try. I may just sneak a couple sticks of butter from my office 😉
Heather
Hi Sam, I’ve been looking for a good homemade biscuit recipe for a couple of years and tried yours today and LOVED IT! I love the idea of using a cheese grater with a frozen stick of butter – I think that is key. I also used these for strawberry shortcake and it was delicious. Thanks for sharing. 😉
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you LOVED the recipe, Heather! Thank you so much for trying it and for commenting. 🙂
Kristy Bavaro-Ahmed
Hi there
Wondering if you can pre make the biscuits and chill in the fridge before baking to be able to serve warm when cooking dinner?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Kristy! Yes, that will be fine. 🙂