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 recipeย a few weeks ago,ย “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.ย 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.ย And then more butter once they’re finished baking because of course we need more butter.
I mentioned that these biscuits are easy soย do not be alarmedย by all the tips that I have for you below. These biscuitsย 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 ofย 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:ย 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.ย 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 andย 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 encourageย 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
- ยพ cup whole milkยน (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 ยพ" round biscuit cutter with flour.ย
- 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 ยฝ" apart on baking sheet.ย
- 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.
Grace
This is my go-to biscuit recipe!
Katie
I live this recipe and have used it several times! Can I cut and then freeze these biscuits to go ahead for Christmas?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That’s great to hear, Katie! You sure can, just make sure to wrap each biscuit individually and store in an airtight container. They will just take a few extra minutes in the oven when baking ๐
Sharon
The best biscuits I have ever made! (And I have made a LOT!) I have been searching for several years for a good biscuit. Tried every recipe I could find. My search is over! This is the only one I will make from now on! They have a wonderful flavor, tender yet a little crisp, just perfect! Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Sharon! We’re very proud of this recipe and absolutely love receiving comments like yours. Enjoy โค๏ธ
Stephanie Schmidt
Okay – these werenโt just the most delicious and flakey biscuits Iโve ever made, theyโre the best Iโve ever eaten! I made a couple modificationsโฆ.1.) I used buttermilk. 2.) dough was kinda dry – so I ended up adding about 1/4 -1/3 cup more buttermilk to the dough. 3.) Rather than make them round, I just created the 1โ think rectangle and then cut it into 6 equal (or pretty equal) squares.
I needed a little extra time in the oven – about 5 minutes – but that is likely due to my oven, not the preparation or recipe. This recipe is a keeper and one that will likely become and heirloom in my family!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Stephanie! ๐
Daniel M
Iโm not a baker. I rarely do anything more than eggs. My wife is the cookie genius and takes very good care of us. In contrast, I had to ask her how much flour was used in a โwell-floured surfaceโ. But recently I had a strong desire for homemade biscuits and decided that I would take it on. I found your recipe and it seemed like the one I wanted. I followed your instructions and found it to be very easy. I doubled the recipe to get 12 biscuits and they turned out so great. We had them with molasses or honey or different jellies. Thank you for a great recipe, and for making this non-baker look good. I saved it in my Internet favorites.
– A grateful dad
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Daniel! ๐
Hollie
I actually used this biscuit dough for dumplings for chicken soup yesterday. What a yummy, buttery biscuit dough! And it made some wonderfully tender dumplings.
Dawn
These biscuits were amazing! So light and fluffy with a perfect crisp exterior. They looked like something out of a magazine. The best biscuits Iโve ever made!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Dawn! Thank you so much for trying my recipe! ๐
Sandra
These were by far the best recipe I have tried and the instructions are not at impossible to follow. I am definitely going to be making these again as I was already approached by my husband and given the an empty plate asking where the rest were.lol
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy to hear they were a hit for you, Sandra! Thanks so much for commenting. โค๏ธ
Ron
Too salty. Would make with 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt if I make them again. Other than that they were quick and easy to prepare and bake. Looked great but way to salty.
Sam
Hi Ron! Did you use salted butter by chance? That would require a reduction in salt added.
Christina J
I love this recipe! I think I’ve used it 3x and each time the biscuits were a hit. Very easy to make with straightforward instructions. Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much for letting us know how much you like them, Christina! We appreciate you trying our recipe โค๏ธ
Bernice Saysay
I’m so glad I used this recipe. It was amazing, although, I forgot to measure out the butter and just used a whole stick instead of 6 tablespoons:( it wasn’t bad just made it a little chewier that’s my bad. Overall the best recipe I’ve used. The other one I used didn’t even rise and it was just terrible. Totally recommend
Bernice Saysay
i forgot to but 5 stars
Julie
This biscuit recipe is the best. It’s quick, easy, and produces delicious biscuits. We make these to go with crockpot chicken pot pie! Thanks for the recipe.
Sam
So happy to hear this! Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Julie! ๐
Wanda Varnado O'Bryant
I am a bisquit expert. This is a perfect and verrrrry good recipe. Light and fluffy for real. Some recipes boast but this is really the one. I did add an additional tablespoon of sugar, just me, but other than that this is by far the easiest and best recipe. also, I did not use a rolling pin just to see how it would work, and I think that is truly the key to the soft and flackyness…..Gotta to eat……lol…..Thanks.
Peggy C.
Delicious and easy recipe! Definitely a keeper!
Dan
Do you think I could substitute milk for unsweetened soymilk?
Sam
Hi Dan! I haven’t tried it to be sure. The soy milk may dry the biscuits out a little bit but it’s worth a shot if that’s all you have. Let me know how it goes. ๐
Nancy Berg
Loved this recipe so easy. Light and fluffy.
My new favorite baking powder biscuit recipe.
Thanks
Lindsey
These are amazingly simple to make and turn out light and fluffy every time! Iโve made them several times and they have not let me down!
Debbie
I made these biscuits this morning. I have never made biscuits before, but they turned out great! I thought I made them too thin, but they popped right up & were delicious!! I did not have a cutter so I used a glass. I am so inspired by how great they turned out I am going to get a proper biscuit cutter. Thank you!
Jeff
Love this recipe! Used it a few times now and turn out amazing every time!!