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.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.
Rachel
They are delicious and pretty easy to make
Shelley Wherry
Making these for the first time for Thanksgiving dinner. Wow, they WERE easy, and they’re rising up so nicely in the oven. Can’t wait to taste them!
David Dorsey
This is my go to recipe, simple and consistently the most efficient , and best tasting biscuits around!
Linda
This is pretty much the same biscuit recipe I have used for 30 years. I will mention that if you want to take this recipe over the top to be sure to sift all ingredients together. The more you sift the better the biscuit.
Tom
Used buttermilk. Best biscuits ever.
Melissa
I made this recipe exactly as written. Easy to follow directions and delicious! Our new family favorite. Thanks for sharing!
Barbara Dimakos
Can these be made ahead of time and baked later in the day?
Sam
Sure thing Barbara! I would cut out the biscuits then store them in an air tight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. 🙂
PD
Easy and awesome!
Dee Dee
I just made the biscuits as a last minute choice, and my only disappointment was the bottoms were a bit too hard/dark/cooked. Otherwise, I have no other complaints. I used fat-free milk and they tasted just fine. Thank you for this! I will save this in my recipe bookmark and maybe try to refine the bottom issue. Maybe I should skip the parchment paper? 👏😊
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much Dee Dee! Is your oven running a bit hot that could cause the bottoms to brown a bit quicker? They may also have just needed a minute or two less in the oven. The parchment paper shouldn’t cause any browning. 🙂
Crystal Bruno
Did you use a nonstick, or dark pan, they brown things faster than regular pans so you usually cook things about 25 degrees lower
Jen
The wife here.
The “for dummies” books were popular back in my day.
I would say this recipe could aptly be titled,
“best homemade biscuit recipe for dummies”!
When I first tried to make biscuits 29 years ago for my husband, he said, “Don’t do that again.”
He eats those nasty canned biscuits.
I followed this recipe today (using whole fat buttermilk), and he wouldn’t stop bragging on how good they were.
Thank you! This recipe and your eloquent, easy-to-follow instructions are spot on!
Sam
🤣 I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Akire
I made 2 pans at the same time and the ones on the lower rack came out that way but the top rack were perfectly soft. Could the rack location be a reason for this outcome? Honestly though, the ones with the crispy bottom where delicious. The crunch was a nice addition and I liked having both options.
Rgb
I have made these biscuits twice. They are super easy and sooooo delicious! They remind me of my Grandmama’s biscuits.
Lisa
Just made these! I’m NOT a baker but OMG! My family is over the moon with how great they turned out. Definitely will be making these weekly!
Thank you again for such an easy & detailed recipe!
Celia
Oh my goodness, Yessss!
Best biscuits for sure! I’ve tried different recipes, but this is the best recipe by far.
Thank you very much for sharing. Oh you just made my day!
Kashrae
I needed the closest biscuit recipe because I love Chick-fil-A breakfast sandwiches but got tired of spending the money these are so good! I just added some extra seasoning to kind of make it more of my own style
Mike Bray
These biscuits are simply the best ever. I had tried to make biscuit sooo many times and they were closer to hockey pucks than biscuits. I stumbled onto this recipe and I am so glad I did. I now have requests to bring biscuits to gatherings with friends. People ask me for the recipe and I direct them to Suger Spin Run since I certainly can’t take credit for them as some of these people also tried to eat my hockey pucks before. Thanks Sam!!
Wendy
I’ve tried many biscuit recipes but this truly is the best!! They are delicious, flakey and best of all easy!! These are the only biscuits I will make now. Thanks!
Mollie
Used a stick of (salted) butter (because that’s all I had) right out of the freezer onto the grater. Best biscuits I’ve ever made. Decreased the salt by a pinch or so. Thanks!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Mollie! 🙂
Summer
My biscuits came out doughy. I’m not sure where I went wrong! I checked my baking soda and it’s not expired. Any insight? We still devoured them but would love to perfect the recipe.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hmm, it sounds like they may have needed just a few more minutes in the oven. We’re happy to hear you still enjoyed them regardless! 😊
Wendy
I was so excited to make these – I love baking and working with dough – but I was so sad about the results. I followed the directions perfectly and now know that I would have to change things up if I ever used the recipe again. I would reduce the amount of baking powder as the biscuits had a bitter taste from it. The biscuits rose too much so clearly didn’t need the whole tablespoon. One teaspoon would probably suffice. And because I made them 1 inch thick as directed the biscuits did not get done on the inside by the time the tops were quite browned. I ended up having to cut them in half and keep baking them. So, reducing baking powder and making them less thick would have resulted in a much better biscuit, I am sure. As it was, we ended up having to toss the bitter biscuits in the garbage. I’m not sure how others have had success when I didn’t. Would love some thoughts on this.
Sam
Hi Wendy! If your biscuits were bitter, most likely your baking powder is bad. If you reduce the baking powder your biscuits won’t really rise too much. Did you make any other substitutions or additions? The biscuits should rise nicely but not be overly tall so that they can’t finish baking. If they are burning before finishing baking you may need to double check your oven temperature.
Kay
Baking powder picks up flavors and odors from cupboards. I tend to smell mine, or even taste it if I’ve had it very long. I just made them for the first time (really liked grating the butter). They were very good. I will cut down the salt a bit next time.
Abbs
This is my go to recipe for biscuits!! So in my opinion, this one star review is completely inaccurate haha. I’ve had nothing but amazing results from this recipe–the same from the family members I’ve shared it with! I have no clue how this person had such bad results if they followed the recipe.