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.
Francesca Sanchez
Seriously the best biscuit recipe I have ever tried!!!! I didn’t freeze the butter, but my fridge keeps food super cold. I think the grating is the trick to the flavor and lightness!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Francesca! 🙂
Paula Hagemeier
I was wondering if these could be made ahead and then frozen. Going camping and would like to take these for breakfast
Sam
Hi Paula! That should work just fine. Enjoy your trip! 🙂
Anna
WOW! why have I never known about grating the butter?! So brilliant. Thanks for a great recipe
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Anna! 🙂
Ana B
I have always been so intimidated to make biscuits from scratch. I used this recipe last weekend and these came out perfect!! Light, fluffy, and airy with all the beautiful layers. And it truly was easier than I thought. This recipe was perfect. I did not have a biscuit cutter so I just dipped a glass into a little flower and it worked just fine.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Ana! It’s always great when you can perfect something that has intimidated you for so long. Now you can have fresh homemade biscuits all the time! 🙂
Lara
I absolutely love this recipe! It’s so easy (shredding the frozen butter with a cheese grater really is the key), and it’s so delicious. I’ve made it twice now and it’s easily is new go-to for a breakfast treat. They taste like they should require way more effort to make than they do. 🙂
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Lara! 🙂
Ari
Just have to say, when you accidentally double the butter but not the rest of the ingredients (attempting to make a double batch and pregnancy brain do not go well together) and they STILL turn out this delicious (if not a LOT extra buttery tasting and a little extra brown on top) you know you’ve got a great recipe! I wondered why I was needing to add so much flour while folding, turns out it was pure user error! Your tips are awesome, will definitely be making again! I always add a bit of sour cream to my milk if I don’t have buttermilk on hand and it gives it that great little acidic kick, which definitely helped this time around 🙂
Sam
🤣 O no! I’m so glad they turned out for you! Congratulations on your little one. 🙂
Christy
These are heavenly. I followed all the tips to a T (grating butter–who knew?) and they came out delicious. Was hesitant about adding sugar but it doesn’t make them sweet, just cuts that baking powder taste biscuits sometimes have. Used 2 percent, cut them with the rim of a measuring cup, added about 4 minutes to the bake. I can’t wait to try them with fancier butter and whole milk. This is a keeper of a recipe, thank you!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Christy! 🙂
Cathy
I’ve been making biscuits for a while now. I am always searching for the “better recipe” Some don’t rise as well as they should, some just disappoint. These by far are the best biscuits I have ever made! I am using this recipe from now on and tossing all others!! My only concern was I thought my dough was a little bit too dry at first, but after folding it over many times, it improved. I knew about the not handling a lot and the cutter not being twisted, but even then, I have had them not rise well. These were perfect. I did use buttermilk in mine. Thank you for this recipe!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Cathy! 🙂
Maura
Really good.58 years old and I have tried many, many times to make homemade biscuits with little success. I bake bread so I think I have a heavy hand. Followed this but subbed out milk for low fat buttermilk. Dough was really dry so increased milk by 1/8 cup. Cooked in cast iron skillet at 450 degrees for 16 minutes. Delicious !
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Maura! 🙂
Molly
Delicious!!!! I wanted a Best recipe and this came up. And they are the best! Very easy to make. I didn’t roll them out I used a kitchen scoop and did them that way. So very easy!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Molly! 🙂
Cathy
This is the easiest and best biscuit recipe I have ever made. I have even added 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese into the mix before I added the milk. AMAZING! I have taken the uncooked biscuits to dinners and bbq’s Just keep the dough cold until the last minute. There are never any leftovers. I do not use a biscuit cutter though. When the dough is prepared and ready to be cut, I use a sharp knife and cut the dough into the same size pieces. The edges and corners become a bit browner and very tasty.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy them so much, Cathy! Adding a little bit of cheese is an excellent idea. 🙂
Rebecca
Heavenly! So light and fluffy, just amazing! Thanks for the recipe
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Rebecca! 🙂
Amy
Can you make these without a round biscuit cutter?
Sam
Hi Amy! There are many ways to cut out the biscuits. You can use the rim of a glass instead. 🙂
Jake
I used 2% and they turned out great. Thank you. Also, had to cook mine for 4 more minutes. Probably just an elevation or humidity issue or the 2% milk, lol. Anyway, still awesome
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Jake! 🙂
Angela
First time making these, and basically first time making biscuits, they turned out great! They’re hearty “sopping” biscuits that went great with my stew. Daughter likes them so I must keep this recipe.
I got 10 out of the dough and cooked about 8 minutes in the toaster oven.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Angela! 🙂