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 recipeย a few weeks ago,ย “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.ย 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.ย And then more butter once they’re finished baking because of course we need more butter.
I mentioned that these biscuits are easy soย do not be alarmedย by all the tips that I have for you below. These biscuitsย 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 ofย 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:ย 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.ย 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 andย 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 encourageย 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
- ยพ cup whole milkยน (177ml) buttermilk or 2% milk will also work
Recommended Equipment
- Biscuit cutter
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 ยพ" round biscuit cutter with flour.ย
- 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 ยฝ" apart on baking sheet.ย
- 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.
CKDub
Relatively easy for a new biscuit maker! I made these at altitude with no changes, and they came out beautifully. They are a bit sweeter tasting than this southern girl is used to, but they are very tasty! I might cut some of the sugar next time, or swap the salt for sugar ratios. They are a little more dense than expected. Not a super light biscuit like, say, Hardeeโs or Carlโs Jr. However, they are delicious!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the biscuits! They shouldn’t be very dense, be careful not to overwork the dough. ๐
Jada
Wow!! Just wow! These were the absolute BEST biscuits my family has ever ate. They are super easy to make and tastes delicious! I totally recommend grating the butter because it made the biscuits very moist and fluffy. I couldnโt believe they turned out that good. This is my new go-to recipe!!!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Jada! ๐
Lisa
Your recipes are fool-proof and wonderful! I never thought I would be making homemade bread recipes, but here I am! My family appreciates it as well!! These biscuits are to die for and so easy!!!
Sam
Thank you so much, Lisa! I am so glad everyone enjoys them so much. ๐
Lj
I am either rummaging through old cookbooks or scouring the internet in search of recipes and ways to make meals less routine. For the most part I have done well to diversify my kitchen portfolio, that is except for baking. I am horrible at it, fumbling around making a huge mess and end up with polite smiles from the family begging me with their eyes to not make them eat my latest confectionary catastrophe. What complicates things even worse is I canโt have most, if not all , of the ingredients in what I am baking due to a long list of allergies I have which fortunately my Wife does not. So when she mentioned she was craving fresh home made biscuits I once again activated the online recipe roulette wheel hoping my next bet would pay off. What caught my attention to Samโs approach was 1) from scratch, which as my family and I are currently assigned outside the US, if the recipe starts out with having to start with a box of something, forget it and 2) her additional tips, like freezing the butter for an hour. These are the true treasures of a recipe, gathered through time and effort which if your like me donโt have time to develop before mentally committing to Motherโs Day morning baking spree. I watched the video over and over, carefully prepared the dough as instructed, punched out the biscuits and waited 12 anxious minutes for them to be done. Slapped the butter on top and Bam served them to my hard working wife mother of my children. Her eyes big as saucers amazed that they actually LOOKED like biscuits, then came the final test ( I am sweating profusely at this point, which is not the best serving condition to be in I admit). She took a bite, and closed her eyes while emitting the sound of joy I had been hoping for. Success! As this is an eggless recipe it can easily transferred to vegan, I used bio vegan butter, and almond milk which thankfully did not alter the taste so much, or so I have been told. I used a type 405 flour mainly used for cake batter as this was all I had in the pantry but will try my gluten free stuff and see how it works out. Thanks to you Sam and your Sugar Spun Run for making this Motherโs Day a success. I have already spotted my next recipe on your website to try, which is now booked marked and prioritized as our first to go for my baking needs. Well Done and Happy Motherโs Day!
Sam
Your comment just absolutely made my day. Thank you so much for this sweet comment and letting me know how the recipe turned out for you, I sincerely appreciate it. Thank you!! <3
morgan
iโve made these before but i was wondering if it would be good with buttermilk?
Sam
Yup! Lots of people have made with buttermilk and enjoyed! ๐
yacob
how do you think almond milk would work as a replacement for the milk in the recipe?
Sam
I’ve never tried it personally and would be a little worried it might make the biscuits dry, but other people have commented that they’ve used it with success ๐
Taylor
Wonderful! My go-to recipe! Love your adorable pup in the pictures, thanks for including them!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy them so much, Taylor! ๐
Charlotte
Excited to make these for Motherโs Day! What can be used in place of a biscuit cutter if I donโt have one?
Sam
Hi Charlotte! You can use a drinking glass to cut the biscuits. ๐
Charlotte
Perfect – Thank you Sam!
Tachi
These come out perfect every time. My 14 year old son makes these for himself as he can eat a whole batch on his own.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys it so much, Tachi! ๐
Ashley
Hi there! Do you have any recommendations of substituting baking soda if we donโt have baking powder in the pantry?
Thank you for your help!
Sam
Hi Ashley! Unfortunately I haven’t tried any substitutions for the baking powder so I can’t advise, but I don’t think the baking soda will work. ๐
Jasmine
If, I don’t have parchment paper can I use aluminum foil?
Sam
Hi Jasmine! Yes, or you can just bake directly on an ungreased cookie sheet, that will work as well.
Kellyn
Hi! Can I double the recipe or would it be better to just make 2 batches?
Sam
Hi Kellyn! This recipe doubles very well, so no need to make two separate batches. Enjoy!
KM
Could I use 5% light cream or 2% milk instead of whole milk? And would adding some shredded cheese be a good addition to the recipe? Thank you
Sam
A lot of people have commented that they have used 2% with success. And YES I think some cheese would be delicious! Enjoy! ๐
Gretel
I made these with dinner this evening. They are the best biscuits I’ve ever made. Grating the butter is a game changer. This is my new go to biscuit recipe. Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you loved them and that they complimented your dinner nicely, Gretel. Thanks for trying my recipe. ๐
Jennydots
I’m looking to make these for dinner but I have a question. Can the dough be cut then refrigerated until you’re ready to bake them?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Jenny! Yes, you can make the dough, cut, then refrigerate to bake later. You just want to make sure they are well wrapped so they do not dry out. I hope that you enjoy them! ๐