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.
Donna
I have made these several times and they are the best. If I freeze the uncooked biscuits do I thaw before baking or bake from frozen? Also do I have to adjust the time or temperature? Thank you. I have never tried a recipe of yours that has not been fantastic.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Donna! No need to thaw from frozen, but they might need a minute or two longer in the oven. Enjoy!
Jan
Should you measure the butter before you grate it or can you grate it then measure?
Sam
Hi Jan! I find it much easier to measure before grating. 🙂
Krystal
Absolutely delicious! My 1st time making bisquits and these turned out golden and crispy on the top and bottom. Had to bake 17 mins because my dough was little thick. Yummy. Thank you!
tobin teichgraeber
I found that I needed another ounce of milk to get the dough right. Also an additional 2 mins in the oven.
Overall, easy and delicious.
Jennifer
Made these for breakfast this morning and they turned out great! This is now my “go to” biscuit recipe.
Blu Ginko
Can I use almond milk for this recipe? That’s the only kind I have, unfortunately.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yes! Several others have used almond with success. Enjoy 😊
Blu Ginko
Awesome, thanks!
Julie Hoffman
Can I use oat milk instead of whole milk?
Sam
Hi Julie! Others have reported doing so with success. 🙂
Christina Evans
My go-to recipe for biscuits 💕
Kathy
Can this recipe be doubled
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely! Enjoy, Kathy ❤️
Courtney
Biscuits came out so delicious! I was lazy and used my food processor to mix the flour mixture and frozen butter into a nice crumble. Then mixed milk in with my spatula.
I also cut biscuits into squares with a knife. Round biscuits are pretty but squares taste the same and are much faster (and you don’t have to worry about reforming any scraps)
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! We’re so happy they turned out so nicely for you Courtney ❤️
Karla Olson
Easy recipe. I basically followed the ingredients and recommendations and they turned out tender and flaky. Definitely will make these again.
Sarah
This recipe is amazing, so quick, easy, and delicious! I will definitely be making these again!
Isi
I didn’t follow exactly, I just threw the ingredients in and mixed. I tossed it in a heart shaped muffin pan and when they were done, broke them up and put them in a bowl with chicken and sausage with some honey. PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT. My new go to breakfast, as a sleepy mom of 2 under 2!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them! 🥰
Clint McIntyre
Absolutely great recipe. I use a little more milk since we buy 2%, but my whole family loves these biscuits. Thank you.
Nancy Hernandez
I made twice the amount and added sharp cheddar to the recipe it was so good!
Lauren
Wow!!!!! These are sooooo easy to make and absolutely delicious! My whole family loved them!!!
KS Biscuit
I’ll have to try again. These came out tough. The dough was very dry, I suspected I needed more milk, but wanted to try the recipe as written. Because they were dry I probably overworked the dough trying to get it laminated and thinned to 1 inch.
Heidi Williams Bertrand
Can I make the biscuits ahead and bake the next day?
Sam
Hi Heidi! Absolutely! I would just store them in an air tight container in the refrigerator overnight. 🙂
Donelle Omer
I have made these a few times and the last time I paid better attention to the instructions which say to fold the dough and not use a rolling pin. I didn’t have whole milk so I used a 50/50 mixture of almond milk and heavy whipping cream and I measured the flour properly but still needed a little less than 1/4 cup more liquid for it to hold. They turned out great!
Margaret Richmond
I made these biscuits and they were amazing! I also used the grater for the butter and that was an awesome idea. I can’t wait to make more for the freezer!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
It’s a game changer, right?! So glad you enjoyed the biscuits Margaret ❤️