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.
Kayla
I made these for my family and they loved them… Delicious…
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them, Kayla! 🙂
Malinajoe
So delicious! The family devoured them! Saved the recipe for future use!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Katherine
I made this tonight as a topper for my turkey pot pie (husband decided to have thanksgiving in July and we are drowning in turkey).. they were excellent! My 11mo son also loved the biscuits !
Maybe because I baked them on top of the pot put mixture, but they took maybe 20min to bake, instead of the 12min in the directions. Either way, will definitely make them again
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Katherine! 🙂
Donna Cabiness
These are the BEST biscuits I’ve ever made. Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Donna! 🙂
Anne Armstrong
I want to make ahead and is the dough for doughboys during a camping trip. What is the shelf life for the dough?
A Doughboy is a biscuit molded over the end of a stick and baked over an open fire. When they are done, you have a funnel for any number of goodies.
Sam
Hi Anne! The dough will be good for a few days in the refrigerator! A dough boy sounds awesome! 🙂
Sandy Bull
Tried this recipe this morning and so far they look amazing in the oven. I’m sure they will be delicious.
Sam
I think you’re going to love them! 🙂
Jason
I just made these in Guatemala and they were great! For our high altitude I added another tablespoon of baking powder and a little more milk. Being from Kentucky, it’s great to have a taste of home!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Jason! 🙂
Athoub
hi! thanks for the recipe, it looks great.
I think I’ll be making this one today. I was wondering if there was anything I could use other than the biscuit cutter as I don’t have one 🙁 A cup perhaps?
Thanks!
Sam
A cup would work great. I use a glass some times, really anything that is circular and you can push down through the dough. 🙂
Jeanine
These biscuits came out great! I added some chunks of cheddar cheese to some of them. They were very easy, especially in comparison to some of the recipes I’ve tried before. I haven’t made biscuits in a couple years because I remember them being rather labor intensive, but this recipe changed all that! I’ll make them again!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Jeanine! 🙂
Tomekia
DELICIOUS!!!!! I truely enjoyed making these biscuits. The receipe was easy to follow and the biscuits were soft, buttery, and tasted oh so right!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Tomekia! 🙂
Steve
I don’t have unsalted butter and don’t want to buy it just for this recipe.. I thought there would be some information on why this is so important but I don’t see it. It seems the one thing that is not common in kitchens so I wonder why it is so important. What would be the implication or substitution to use regular butter, thank you
Sam
Hi Steve! You can find out more about your question in the paragraph right above the last picture where I mention using unsalted butter and adding salt. There is also a link there that leads you to an article on how to substitute salted for unsalted butter. 🙂
Isabel
These are the best biscuits. I made them with your sausage gravy recipe and it was delicious!
I can’t wait to try these for strawberry shortcake! Yum.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Isabel! 🙂
Brenda
I love these biscuits and make them at least once a week. I put bacon, cheese, dill and onions flakes in for variety. My son says its the best he has ever tasted. Thank you
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys them so much, Brenda! 🙂
Betty
I used this recipe to make the biscuits this morning and they tasted yummy but they didn’t look alot like a biscuit ( sad face )
Where did I go wrong before I put them in the oven [help ! ]
Sam
Hi Betty! There are a few things I would check here: Make sure your butter doesn’t get too warm while you are working the dough, and make sure to not over-work the dough when making the biscuits. These are the main things that keep your biscuits from having those nice flaky layers. 🙂
Kayla
Hi I am about to make these, but I want to use them as a base for Cheddar Bay Biscuit copy cat. Do you think they will be fine if I mix some cheddar cheese into the batter prior to folding and baking them?
Sam
Hi Kayla! You should be able to mix some cheese in these without issue. 🙂
Mama Duck
Mmmm!!! These biscuits were so easy to make and taste so delicious!! I was looking for a simple yet scrumptious recipe to make for a dinner side, and I stumbled upon this one! The biscuits are delicious! They are best when eaten warm from the oven with a slab of butter! I’m not much of a chef, but the recipe was easy to follow and the biscuits look and taste like they came from a bakery! I am so proud to have made these treats! Many thanks! 🙂
Sam
I am so glad everyone has enjoyed them so much! 🙂