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 Cramer
I veganized this recipe and it was flawless. I used Myokos vegan unsalted butter and oatmilk. Thanks for writing a perfect recipe!!
Sam
So glad to hear it turned out so well! Thank you for commenting, Amy! 🙂
Kandice
Was looking for a quick and easy recipe on the fly with things I had on hand and this was a winner! The family loved them! That melted butter on top just seals the deal 😋
Teddy Treschow
Hello, can you chill the biscuits the night before and bake in the morning?
Sam
Yup! Store in an airtight container in the fridge 🙂
Marie
Should I separate my biscuits I cut out the night before I bake them, in layers separated by wax paper in the airtight container? If not, what is your preference? Tks!
Sam
That is what I do 🙂
Jackie
Made for the first time this morning. So easy and so good. Thanks for recipe. Can they be made, then freeze them?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Jackie! You can definitely make these ahead of time and freeze them. 🙂
Pennie
I made these biscuits tonight to go with our strawberries. I followed the directions exactly as written except for when you cut the dough. My easy little shortcut is to make the large round disk as specified but then just cut it as you would a pizza. This saves having to reshape the little scraps to make the final biscuit or two. Worked great (and tasted so good) with Strawberry Shortcake tonight. Thanks for the recipe!
Pamela Reed
These were delicious. I melted some honey butter and poured it on top before cooking. So yummy. 😋
Sally
I made these and my family LOVED them. I used 1% milk and they turned out great! Very flaky!
Whitney
Haven’t tried these yet but I’d like to make them for my family. Do you have any recommendations for preparing these the night before to be baked in the morning. With two under 3 I know this would be hard for me to do in the morning all at once.. thank you!
Sam
Hi Whitney! You can make them the night in advance. You will just want to place them in an air tight container and store in the refrigerator over night and then bake in the morning. 🙂
Michayla
Would almond milk work with this recipe?
Sam
Hi Michayla! I haven’t tried it myself, but I know others have done it with success. 🙂
Rachel
I use cashew milk no problems
Kisha
I made these tonight and used almond milk. These biscuits were light, flaky and delicious. I’m only using this recipe from now on (and I’ll use almond milk 😉).
Dottie martin
These are the best! Very easy and do not end up like bricks!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Dottie! 🙂
Mia
My 9 year old son just helped me make these biscuits and it was quite simple and hard to mess up. We cut them like a pizza since we didn’t have a biscuit cutter and made it into 8 servings instead of 6. They were perfect and we just wolfed down 4 of them. I have no regrets. They were delicious and we will definitely use this recipe from now on! Tomorrow we will try them with oat milk and vegan butter and compare results!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! I hope your substitutions go well. 🙂
Rachel
Is it possible to use skim milk?
Sam
Hi Rachel! Other people have used skim milk with success. Enjoy! 🙂
Dakota
I made biscuits for the first time ever last weekend and my family LOVED them!! Thank you for all the excellent tips and tricks!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Dakota! 🙂
Lina
These are Soo good and easy! My 12 year old helped me make them. He mostly did the work. Breakfast was delicious.
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Lina! 🙂
Cecilia
I’ve made this biscuit recipe numerous times. I love how easy it is! Only difference I make is I add more salt than recipe calls for. Now one mistake I have made is not scraping the baking powder/flour mixture off the sides of the bowl well enough. So when I am scooping out the dough and putting it on a floured surface, some of the baking powder from sides of the bowl gets on the dough and can make a random bitter flavor in spots 😕. My fault though.
These biscuits always turn out great!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Cecilia! This bitterness can also occur if your baking powder is bad so if you haven’t replaced that recently it might not be a bad idea to do so. 🙂
Ophelia
Hi! Thank you for the great recipe and the very useful tips! My first try was a success! I have always loved biscuits and your recipe is certainly the one for me…Anyway, can I use almond flour instead of the regular all-purpose flour? Again, thank you!
Sam
Hi Ophelia! While I don’t have much experience working with almond flour, I would be concerned that the texture would be ruined if using almond flour.
Esther
Hi..could I add a bit of spelt flour?
Sam
I have never tried with spelt flour but I think it’s worth experimenting!