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
- 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 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.
Dottie Sanders
Going to make them tonight
Sam
I hope you love them! 🙂
Gwen
The butter bits and lamination made a big difference. Taste great.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Gwen! 🙂
Leslie Kuczewski
Can I make the biscuits a head of time and keep in the refrigerator until I’m ready to bake ? I would be baking relatively soon
Sam
Hi Leslie! You can make the biscuits ahead of time. I would recommend cutting the biscuits out and wrapping tightly to store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. 🙂
Rachel
Delicious biscuits! I used my Ninja to make these and it was so much easier! Not sure how anyone can grate frozen butter without making a melty mess. The food processor makes it so easy to cut butter into flour; just cut the butter into small cubes and it to the flour mixture.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Rachel!
Daniel
I’m not sure why but I followed therefore and it had an off taste, like a pretzel. Not sure what I dis wrong but honestly that taste was kinda off putting. Thats not how this recipie is supposed to turn out is it?
Sam
Definitely not! Did you accidentally use baking soda instead of baking powder? That could do it…
Dana
So good!
Mary
I did it!!! I actually made layered biscuits, I mean pull apart delicious layers! I was always so intimidated to make biscuits but now I’m not! This is by far the easiest and best biscuit recipe I have found…thanks!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Mary! 🙂
Jane
Looks yummy!! Can I put raw biscuits on top of chicken pot pie filling to bake together at 425?
Sam
Hi Jane! Yes I do it all the time. It works great. 🙂
Jane
Biscuits were AMAZING on the chicken pot pie! The kids favorite part of the meal, for sure. Thanks for the awesome recipe. 😄
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them! 🙂
Kate
Turned out great! Thank you for explaining how to do the laminating. It made a big difference! I also used a food processor with a grater attachment to grate the butter and then mixed it in. It did mean more dishes…. But they were layered and even worked great with the whole wheat flour I had available!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kate! 🙂
George
Can I double or triple this recipe?
Sam
Definitely! Others comment that they do it frequently. 🙂
Andrea
These were excellent! I was so impressed with how high they rose; I could see all the beautiful layers in there! I felt like I was on the Great British Baking Show or something 😆 They were super easy to make, came together really quickly, and tasted delicious. Thank you for an easy, yummy recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Andrea! 🙂
Mike Butto
Can i make this recipe in advance? Keeping the dough cold and baking when ready to serve? Or keeping individual biscuits cold and baking when ready?
Sam
Hi Mike! They can be made in advance. I typically cut out the biscuits and then wrap them tightly so they don’t dry out. 🙂
Amy
I did it!!! 30+ years of cooking and baking, and this is the first time I made delicious biscuits! Thank you for the cooking lesson!! Frozen butter makes a world of difference!!
Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely, Amy! I am so glad that you enjoyed them. 🙂
Erin
This was my first time ever making biscuits from scratch and they turned out great! I only had salted butter and 1% milk but they were still delicious. Everyone loved them. Thanks for the recipe!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that they turned out well and everyone loved them! Thanks for trying my recipe, Erin! 🙂
Beth Eubanks
I made these biscuits for the 3rd time today. I can’t get over how easy they are and how delicious! My mother-in-law made the best homemade biscuits with lard and I think these are just as good. For a different twist try rolling them thin – about 1/4 -1/2 inch and cutting into 2 bite size, serve with Trader Joe’s Maple butter – amazing!!
Thanks so very much for sharing !!!!
Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for the tip, Beth! I will have to try that the next time I make these. I am happy that you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Joann
This recipe was excellent. My biscuits turned out really good. Had all the ingredients on hand. Will definitely be making this recipe often. Thank you for your recipes and great tips!!
Sugar Spun Run
You are very welcome, Joann! I am glad that you enjoyed them! 🙂