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.
SStack
Easy and delicious. I’m wanting to make extra dough for the freezer, do you have advice on baking from frozen?
Sam
They typically just need an extra minute or two from frozen, but you will be able to tell while baking them. ๐
Diana Frawley
My family loved the biscuits! Thank you and your beautiful Penny.
Sam
Thank you so much, Diana! I am so glad you enjoyed them. ๐
Katherine Yoder
This recipe was so easy to make and turned out so fluffy and perfect! My dough started out super crumbly but as I laminated it it become more cohesive and was perfect by the last fold. The biscuits rose nicely and showed off lovely flaky layers! I also made the sausage gravy from your site and we thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Katherine! ๐
Anna
Hi Sam, I haven’t tried making my own biscuits before and was searching the internet for a good recipe. Your’s sounds great and I appreciate all the tips. Can’t wait to try it out this weekend!
As I’m living by myself, there is no way I am gonna eat so many biscuits at once though ๐ So I’m thinking about freezing half the badge. What would you think is best: freezing them unbaked, baked half-way-through, or fully baked?
Sam
Hi Anna! I would prefer freezing them unbaked that way you can have fresh baked biscuits whenever you’d like. ๐
Sharlene
Mine were a big flop & I did exactly as you said:( They are flat- didnโt rise at all & heavy! Could it be that my baking powder is old??
Sam
Hi Sharlene! I am so sorry that happened, but yes most likely your baking powder is expired if they didn’t rise. ๐
Lindsay Abramowitz
Mine came out like oatmeal, it’s not cohesive. Followed the recipe. Is it because I used almond flour?
Sam
Hi Lindsay! Unfortunately the almond flour was probably the issue. I believe other alterations would need to be made to use almond flour.
Dave
This morning we made a double batch of these biscuits in anticipation of greatness. We were not disappointed. Our entire family is now hooked. They are hands down the best biscuits ever! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Dave! ๐
Bobbie
Could you use evaporated milk for this recipe?
Sam
Hi Bobbie! I haven’t tried it but I think it could work.
Cincyrn
LOVED THIS RECIPE!…I’ve never made biscuits in my 43 years of living and tried this recipe and LOVED IT! The recipe was so easy to follow….and Sam…you’re right…I had all the ingredients on hand. Emailed to me daughter in college and she loved it as well. My 2 big boys think those biscuits taste better than the chicken joints. Thank you so much for sharing!๐ This recipe has become the family fav!
Cincyrn
Also…I used a 1/4 measuring cup as my biscuit cutter for the first ones I made were huge but still tasted great! This time the size was perfect! Wish I could add a picโบ
Sam
Unfortunately there isn’t a way to add a picture here. If you have an instagram you can tag me @sugarspun_sam or join my facebook group. ๐
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! ๐
Tim
Best ever. Thank you so much. ( I added cheddar cheese to the 2nd batch)๐คซ. Amazing
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Tim! ๐
Lu Anne Johnson
Best biscuits ever!!! I am not by any means a biscuit baking expert, not even an intermediate! I am a beginner who has tried several times with various recipes to bake the perfect biscuit! This biscuit fit the bill and everyone loved them. I followed the recipe exactly and I know that grating the butter with a grater, was the best thing for the perfect biscuit. The biscuits were soft and buttery. The layers were wonderfully flaky. This will also be my go to recipe and I will be baking biscuits more often. Thank you so much.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Lu Anne! It’s always so rewarding to have something homemade. ๐
Karen
They are in the oven as we speak. I didnโt have a biscuit cutter so used a regular mouth canning ring instead. Worked great! Easy recipe.
Sam
I hope you love the biscuits, Karen! ๐
Karen
They were delicious, Sam! Easy and a huge hit. Thank you.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Karen! ๐
Kim
I’ve struggled with homemade biscuits and had all but given up on getting that light, fluffy, tender result. No matter what method I tried they would turn out tough, or flat, or too crumbly – you name it. But this recipe came through with flying colors! I did use buttermilk (just added a tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk and let it sit til I was ready for it), and froze the butter as suggested. AMAZING! They rose up so high and light – you could see all of the beautiful tender layers and they absolutely melted in our mouths! We smothered them in lots of melty butter and some farmer’s market apple butter that put them completely over the top. This will be the go-to biscuit recipe from now on. Highly recommend! ps – A few side notes: When I added the wet to the dry and started to mix, it seemed as though the dough might be too dry and wasn’t going to hold together. I turned it out onto a floured piece of waxed paper and used the paper to repeatedly fold the dough over itself until it came together enough to shape. Also, I know it says not to use a rolling pin, but I did because I wanted to get it fairly flat in order to fold it over on itself to create those beautiful layers. I felt as though I was working it too much with my warm hands so I used the pin. As I said, they were PERFECT!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kim! ๐
Monique Smith
Usually I see butter/margarine option and but don’t see that here or anywhere on here in your notes. Since Butter is so important to these biscuits I feel I must ask. Is Margarine good to use with this recipe or would you not recommend it?
Sam
Hi Monique! I would not recommend it with this recipe, while it would work and your biscuits would still be tasty, you just won’t get those same beautiful flaky layers if you use margarine instead.
Bryan
Just curious – is there a reason they need to be round ? I don’t have a biscuit cutter, so can I just make them square biscuits ? ๐
Sam
Hi Bryan! You can certainly make them square if you’d like. ๐