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.
Ann
I can’t believe how easy this was and sooooo good. This was my first time making biscuits and they came out perfect!
Brianna
Soooo good! I used this with a homemade gravy and sausage. These are so much better than store brought and I know every ingredient that goes in! No preservatives or junk! So good with some butter and jam too 🤤❤️
Suzie
Simple recipe that is super flakey and delicious!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you like the biscuits, Suzie! Thanks for the review 😊
Casey Gondek
These are so amazing and I will be making these ALL the time, have you ever used a flour substitute for someone whose gf?
Sam
Hi Casey! I haven’t personally tried it, but other commenters have had success with gluten free flour. 🙂
FiddlersThree
Fabulous recipe! I cut the flattened round of dough into 6 or 8 wedges so there is no waste or need to reroll. Not the traditional round biscuit shape but it’s easy & they’re still delicious!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Great idea! We’re so happy you liked them 🥰
Elita
So glad I was out of buttermilk. In an attempt to make some homemade biscuits for breakfast, to my finding my buttermilk was expired. In search of a recipe that I could replace for the one that I have for the buttermilk biscuits I came across this recipe. It was so easy and all the ingredients were every day things you normally have at home without having to run out to the store for anything special. The biscuits were so easy and delicious, so grateful for the recipe . These will be my go to from now on.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you stumbled upon our recipe, Elita! Sounds like you were meant to find us. Thanks so much for the review–enjoy the biscuits 😊
Brandy
I have tried to make biscuits for 42 years and have always failed miserably. Thank you for this recipe, the detailed instructions and video. I made a batch this morning and the only thing wrong is I didn’t press the dough thin enough and I have super tall biscuits (but is that even a problem 😂). I think I’m going to print, laminate and frame this recipe.
Sam
I am so thrilled to hear your biscuits turned out so wonderfully, Brandy! Thank you for trying my recipe, and for commenting and letting me know how they turned out! 🙂
Mary
I have an old recipe from my mother in law where you lightly cook a few minutes until they hold their shape and then cool and freeze to pull out small amounts at a time. Do you think these will do well with this method?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Mary! No need to cook them before freezing! Just wrap them tightly and store in an airtight container. When you’re ready to bake, you can bake them from frozen; they just may take an extra minute or two. 🙂
Amber Ng
So easy to make and so delicious!!!!
This is my go to biscuit recipe now!
Claudia Duke
I just found your recipe and plan to try it. Sounds really good. On a side note, I use my salad shooter to grate my butter. I don’t have to hold it in my hand and works great if the butter is frozen really hard.
Kylee D
Absolutely delectable biscuits, fast and easy! I had to substitute bread flour because we were out of all-purpose so I added just a little extra milk and butter. These may be the best I’ve ever had and the whole family agrees!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for trying our recipe, Kylee! We’re so happy you enjoyed the biscuits ❤️
Eric
I use a non stick baking sheet and have an issue with the bottoms being very crunchy from melted butter any suggestions? Followed the cook time and temp.
Sam
Hi Eric! Your oven may be running a bit hot, or they may just need a minute or 2 less in the oven. Also make sure you are not placing them on a hot pan. 🙂
Matt
Excellent! Do you have any advice in time of bake or temp adjustment if we want to make larger biscuits?
Sam
Hi Matt! The temperature will remain the same, but they may need a few minutes longer. 🙂
Jen
I love this recipe! They taste almost like a cross between KFC and Hardee’s biscuits!!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you love them, Jen! 🥰
Charli
I followed the directions step by step and had delicious biscuits very quickly and easily. Definitely saving this recipe! I doubt I’ll buy store bought ever again!
Laurena
I use 2% milk and they are amazing every time! Definitely a crowd pleaser, my kids ask for these all the time!
Mercedes
The most delicious biscuits ever. Used up some buttermilk I had in the fridge. Paired with my homemade peach jam, heaven.
Birgit
Delicious every time
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy they’re a hit for you Birgit! Enjoy ❤️
Irina
Can you make the batter ahead of time and store in fridge?
Sam
Sure thing! I recommend cutting out the biscuits and storing in an air tight container. 🙂