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.
Em
I made these today after making pumpkin butter yesterday & I couldn’t be happier. 🙂 Thanks for this super simple & yummy comfort food recipe!
Sugar Spun Run
The flavor combination had to be amazing, Em! I am so glad that they paired perfectly and you enjoyed them! 🙂
Julia
These were excellent. I didn’t pay attention to how many servings and cut 10 instead of six. They were still large enough for sausage biscuits and delicious.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Julia! Thank you for trying my recipe. 🙂
Ann
This is my go to biscuit recipe. My only problem is that there are so many ads I can literally barely read it on mobile. I understand everyone has to make a living but when I don’t even have room to scroll that’s a problem.
Sugar Spun Run
I am really sorry that you had an issue with this, Ann! You can click the “Jump to Recipe” teal bottom just under the title and it will take you directly to the recipe card, avoiding most of the ads. I am glad that you have enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Heidi
Yummy and some! So tall and flaky, thank you for sharing this recipe.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Heidi! Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Shelly
I love love love this recipe 💜
My granddaughter helps me!!!
This is the only biscuit recipe I use
Thank you from all of my family
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy to hear how much your family has enjoyed the recipe, Shelly! I hope that your granddaughters had fun making it too! 🙂
Krissy
Delicious! We loved the taste! They needed a bit longer to cook and stayed a bit softer than I liked. Served with mushroom and sausage gravy. Next batch when done I turned off the oven and left the door ajar with the biscuits in for a few more mins and they got that harder crust that I enjoy! Quick question: how do I store the leftovers?
Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for trying my recipe, Krissy! I am glad that you enjoyed them and were able to achieve your desired crisp exterior. As for the leftovers, I recommend storing them in an airtight container at room temperature. 🙂
Heather M Pederson
Just made them at home because I was craving biscuits. No trip to the store, no crazy waiting hours on dough, just quick and easy cooking. They came out perfect and flavorful! Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed them, Heather! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Russ
I’ve never made biscuits before but this recipe was fantastic and they turned out great! Thanks!
Sugar Spun Run
Congrats on making biscuits for the first time, Russ! I am happy that they turned out perfectly for you! 🙂
Phoebe
These biscuits are PERFECT every single time.
We brush the tops with a mixture of heavy cream, maple syrup & kosher salt before they go into the oven (an idea from Chrissy Teigen’s biscuits and gravy recipe) which adds an extra touch of sweetness. 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that everyone enjoyed them, Phoebe! 🙂
Liz Stahl
Hello! Thank you so much for this recipe. For the first time ever my biscuits look like yours!!! I have tried many biscuit recipes and mine always look like hockey pucks. But this time they are tall and flaky and so yummy.
Sugar Spun Run
That is wonderful news, Liz! I am so glad that they turned out perfectly. Enjoy! 🙂
Michele
Super easy and tasted pretty good. I will be making these again.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that they were a hit, Michele! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Rachel
I have been able to use unsweetened almond milk(plain and vanilla) and they turn out delicious each time. I’ve made them about 10 times or probably even more than that now and it always has worked for me as I can’t have dairy. But the recipe is really easy and works with the almond milk, but even better is the taste is spectacular. The only time I have ever had an issue while making these is if I accidentally added too much milk and they were really wet when I went to take it out of the bowl to knead the dough rather than it no longer sticking to the bowl, but I just added a little more flour and didn’t have any issue after that.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for sharing, Rachel! I am happy that it has worked so well for you and you have enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Brenda Guastella
Wow! Only 2nd time ever making biscuits and I’m from the south!! LOL. These were so easy and came out picture perfect. Tasted great and my husband (who only likes Pillsbury Grands) thought they were great!! I did sub all purpose flour for self rising as I had no baking powder. Thanks again for a great, easy recipe!!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy to hear how much you enjoyed them, Brenda! Thank you for trying my recipe and for the 5-star review! 🙂
Annette
I loved them my husband wanted a tab sweeter.
The best thanks
Annette
Barbara
Can I leave out the sugar and still have tasty biscuits?
Sam
Hi Barbara! The biscuits would not have quite as much flavor but they should still turn out. 🙂
Barbara
Thank you. I hope to try them soon.