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.
Amy
I’m excited to try this recipe. I’ve always heard that biscuits should be placed on the baking sheet with their sides touching to make them rise tall. Is that the case with this recipe?
Sam
Hi Amy! These don’t need to be touching. You can put them together, it may make them a little bit taller. They would probably just need a little bit longer in the oven. 🙂
Tom W.
The best biscuits I have ever made!
Isabel Canfield
Hi! Can you make these the night before and refrigerate them? Just trying to the least amount of work possible the morning of Christmas 🤣
Sam
Hi Isabel! The biscuits can be made the night before. You should make the dough, cut out the biscuits then store them in an air tight container so they don’t dry out and bake in the morning. 🙂
Stacie Koeppler
So glad I found this recipie! I thought if it last minute for dinner and they turned out perfectly! I used 1% milk instead and there the best biscuits I’ve made so far! Thank you
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Stacie! 🙂
Tom
Can I make these the night before and refrigerate?
Sam
Hi Tom! That will work just fine. Make sure to store them in an air tight container so they don’t dry out. 🙂
Clara
i feel so dumb! i remade them with baking powder and they were fantastic! had to bake 14 minutes instead of 12, but they were awesome. 😂
Sam
We’ve all been there, no worries!! I’m glad you enjoyed the second time around 😉😂
Adam
This recipe is great, I’ve used it three times this month each time tweaking it just a little. I ended up using a half tablespoon of salt, a half tablespoon more of sugar along with a full cup of milk.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Adam!! Thank you for letting me know how they turned out for you, I appreciate it! ☺️
Courtney T
Never buying store bought biscuits again! These were too easy to make and delicious! Crispy on bottom and top from the butter yet soft and fluffy on the inside. My husband loved them. He ate three in one sitting.
Clara
these were almost great, but i think the recipe has too much baking soda. a tablespoon seemed like too much, but i did it anyway, and you could taste it a lot in the biscuits. i almost feel like it may have been a typo and it was supposed to be a teaspoon. but the texture was great. they browned a little quickly so i covered them with foil after 10 minutes.
Sam
Oh my, that is far too much baking soda! The recipe actually doesn’t call for any, if you use baking powder next time I think you’ll have much better results 😉
Terri
I love this recipe and make it often. I would like to make it ahead of time and freeze. Is that possible and any recommendations?
Thanks you
Sam
I’m so glad you love the biscuits, Terri! Yes they can be frozen, after preparing store in an airtight container. They can be baked right from frozen but most likely you will need to add a couple minutes to the bake time (depending on your oven). I hope that helps!
Marissa
Can I refrigerate the dough to bake the next morning?
Sam
Yes! Just store in an airtight container in the fridge 🙂
Wendy
Thank you! I finally made good biscuits with this recipe!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this, Wendy!! 💜
SEEMA
Can the dough be made the night before? and kept refrigerated? Or can you even cut out the biscuits to pop them in the oven the next morning?
Sam
Hi Seema! You can make the dough, cut out the biscuits, and store them in an airtight container in the fridge to bake the next morning. Enjoy! 🙂
Donald E Null
I am a 79 year old male. My wife is recovering from Covid and she was wanting biscuits and gravy. I tried this recipe and was delighted with the outcome. It turned out great. I only got five biscuits instead of six but the ones I did get were tall and flaky. Just wonderful.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Donald! 🙂
Marlene
We only buy 2% milk will that work?
Sam
Yup! Enjoy 🙂
Evie
The first time I made them…they were so moist and flaky! Then 2nd time I added cinnamon to my sugar…so good with a hot cup of coffee!
Dave
Looks good but what if I have no parchment paper?can I use vegetable spray?
Sam
Hi Dave! You can just bake directly on an ungreased baking sheet and you won’t have any issues. Enjoy! 🙂