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.
Deanna Carter
Can you use buttermilk?
Sam
Yes you can! Enjoy!
Preed1
I would recommend sifting dry ingredients to ensure no lumps (specifically baking powder). Next time I would reduce sugar by half and add half a tsp more salt.
Grating butter and then putting in freezer makes for a quick assembly.
Loren
I want to try this recipe. Would I be able to add cheddar cheese to make cheese biscuits? Thanks!
Sam
Definitely, that sounds delicious! Enjoy!
Scott W
Love, love, LOVE this recipe!
Can the biscuits be frozen after being cut, but before they’re cooked?
Sam
Hi Scott! Glad you enjoyed the recipe! Yes you can freeze them, just do so in an airtight container. They may need a bit more time in the oven when baked from frozen.
Alecia
My first time making biscuits from scratch. These were so easy to make and my family loved them!!
Sam
So glad to hear this! Thank you for commenting, Alecia!
Gena
First time I’ve ever made biscuits and they were easy and so delish! I got great lamination and I’ve doubled the recipe with no problems. Thanks for the recipe.
Sam
You’re very welcome, Gena! So glad it was such a hit!
Scott
Mom was the baker… until Dad said he would make the biscuits. She would vacate the kitchen, his biscuits were #1 in our household… and when we went camping (made in his “special” Dutch Oven)!
Both have passed, but his recipe was almost identical to yours.
Thanks for bringing back the memories of 60+ years!
Sam
Aw, thank you for sharing your memories, Scott. I’m so happy the biscuits were a success and brought back these sweet memories.
Faith
Can this dough be made a day ahead of time and refrigerated overnight for using the next morning?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Faith! As long as it is well wrapped that will be fine. Enjoy! 🙂
Joan
I’m making stew this morning and want to make these biscuits. They look so good. I only have 2% milk not milk. Will that work!
Sugar Spun Run
That will be fine to use, Joan! Enjoy! 🙂
Charli
Mine turned out beautifully! I used evaporated milk as an experiment and it worked out.
Kendra
Hello from MO! First time making biscuits ever and my sister and I are taking a moment today to do this “together” (in our separate homes) for a fun activity together 🥰 Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I love that you both will be making them together despite not being able to do so in person, Kendra! I hope that you enjoy them! 🙂
Julia
Oh my stars! These are wonderful! They rose sky high and have wonderful flaky layers! I’ll never use any other recipe from now on!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you for commenting, Julia!
Theresa
Thank you, thank you!! Absolutely delicious and soooo easy to work with. It’s not a sticky or wet dough. I didn’t have a 2″ biscuit cutter, so I used an egg round. It only made four biscuits. While they were baking, I measured my egg round and discovered it is 3″ in diameter! Whoops! Well, that explains the missing two biscuits. It did take an extra few minutes in the oven, as a result of the larger size. Now, that my family has had the larger biscuit, I don’t think I’ll be able to scale them down to a smaller biscuit. We loved your recipe! Thank you again. Stay safe.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting, Theresa! I am so happy that your family enjoyed them. 🙂
Cecily
They came out perfectly and I’m not a good baker! My sister says they were the best biscuits she’s ever had- flakey, rich and buttery, but not too heavy. I recommend using them to make an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich… it was heavenly!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that everyone enjoyed them, Cecily! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Barb
P.s. how do I best store the left over biscuits? How many days outside of the freezer?
Sugar Spun Run
Homemade biscuits will usually keep for up to one week if stored in an airtight container. You can freeze cooked biscuits for up to one month.:)
Emily
Great recipe! Mine were a little sweet as I only had almond milk instead of whole milk, but the recipe still worked perfectly and was delicious! I brushed on butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar – will definitely be making again😊
Barb
Woke up this morning craving biscuits the way my great Aunt made them for me in the 90s. I never attempted to make them myself as I thought it would be too complicated. But wow! This recipe was so easy to follow and the biscuits turned out perfectly. I live in Singapore and it is hot so I had to move quickly to make sure the butter didn’t melt. I cut three at first and put them in the freezer as I fixed the remaining 3. I think keeping the butter cold made all the difference.
I don’t have a grater so I just cut the butter up with a knife, worked fine. Thanks for letting me experience my great Aunt this morning when I am so far away from home 💕
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that I could bring that experience to you, Barb, and you found the recipe easy to follow. Thank you so much for trying it and for commenting. Enjoy! 🙂
Vi
Easy, delicious and I got eight biscuits. Will make them again.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy that you enjoyed them, Vi! Thanks for trying my recipe. 🙂