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.
Delma
These are the best biscuits by far that I have ever made from scratch. Thanks for the recioe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Delma! 🙂
Sandy Farnell
These turned out great!
Nick
Thanks for the frozen butter tip. I’ve been working on my biscuit game and have a long way to go, but this could help. thanks!!
Sam
I hope you love them! 🙂
Traci D Watkins
Delish! I used this recipe in breakfast for supper last night. BISCUITS & SAUSAGE GRAVY WITH EGGS. my family LOVED these biscuits, even my hubby who isn’t much of a biscuit fan (because they are too dry for his taste). The tiny chunks of the frozen grated butter and the layers created by folding dough at least 7 times before cutting them, were a MUST. Don’t over knead the dough, just as mentioned in recipe. As they baked, they doubled in size. This will be my go to recipe for the best biscuits ever! Next creation, individual Strawberry Shortcakes ❤🍓🍧
Sam
Hi, Traci! I am so glad everyone enjoyed them! I actually have a recipe for Strawberry Shortcakes! The biscuits are very similar with a few tweaks but have the same great result. I hope you love it! 🙂
Curt
I made this recipe using buttermilk, my wife asked me to make these again the next morning
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Curt! 🙂
Ali
These are the best and easiest recipe I’ve found by far!
Sam
Thank you so much, Ali! I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
debbie burton
Just made these this evening they are the best i have ever made!! thankyou for sharing your recipe. I think what helped make them so delicious was the technique you used
thankyou again
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Debbie! 🙂
Dustin
My first attempt at biscuits, and they came out great, although not as pretty as yours. Been working at it and getting there. Take it from a guy who has been battling with the oven for decades, this has become my secret weapon! Thanks for all tips and for the great biscuits!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Dustin! 🙂
Shawn
Just made your recipe and they turned out great!! I made the dough about 1/2” so my buscuits were a bit thin but the tast was great!!
I love the simplicity and look forward to perfecting the recipe in the future!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Shawn! 🙂
Caroline
I am an accomplished cook, but I have never made (what I consider) perfect biscuits.
I made these tonight and they were PERFECT.!!
Thank you for the tips and the recipe. I must confess that I used a food processor, but carefully pulsed the dough. Then went on to the laminating and I think that is the key, delicate handling of the dough I will use less sugar next time.
Perfect recipe,
Thank you again
Caroline
Sam
Thank you so much, Caroline! You are correct, probably the two most important things are the really cold grated butter and the laminating. I am so glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Tracie Ann
You really don’t need to fold the dough like this if you get the right flour. Always choose a soft wheat flour like White Lily or King Arthur. You will have pillowy soft biscuits every time. The main reason you need to do these layers is if you use hard wheat flour. Take it from a southern girl. My husband was an avowed biscuits and gravy hater his whole life. Now he’s first to the table when I make biscuits and gravy. Or biscuit of any kind really.
Sam
Hi Tracie! Laminating the dough like this is also important for incorporating the butter properly to create those fluffy, flakey layers (regardless of the brand of flour). Using the best quality ingredients is always a great idea, though! 🙂
Tracie Ann
True, I forgot to say I freeze my butter and grate it into the flour so you manipulate the dough as little as possible to keep the butter as cold as possible.
Oscar Axume
Tried out recipe for tonight’s fried chicken dinner! My wife and daughter loved them! Great recipe and video!!
Sam
Thank you very much, Oscar. 🙂 I am so glad you enjoyed them.
Kip
I’ve never made a recipe so many times in such a short period of time. These are so great! I love how super easy they are to make, and they always turn out fabulous! Thanks for sharing this! It is now a staple in my home. 😊
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy them! They are a staple in my house too. 🙂
Nina
I really like this recipe. It has turned out great every time I make it and has become my go-to recipe. Perfect flavor and texture, although I do brush them with milk before putting them in the oven for extra shiny and crustiness on top. My family is all about the crust.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys them Nina! I am a crust person myself. 🙂
Sheila Hume
I tried your biscuit recipe.
The worst recipe I haver made .I have made many biscuits in my day ,and this was the worst.
Sam
So bummed to hear this, Sheila! What was wrong with them? Maybe I can help troubleshoot what went wrong.
Ash
These turned out great. I am definitely a beginner when it comes to dealing with dough, yet this biscuit recipe was easy and produced great results. (And using a box grate to cut the butter…GENIUS.) I will be making these again in the future!
Thank you!
Sam
Thank you so much, Ash! I am so glad you enjoyed them and I hope you enjoy them for years to come! 🙂