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.
S. Moore
So easy to make and the biscuits were delicious. I’ve avoided making homemade biscuits forever and I finally did it. Thanks for the great recipe and wonderful tips.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you used our recipe! Enjoy those homemade biscuits 🥰
Sarah
How about using some amount of whole wheat flour?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Sarah! That should work. We don’t recommend substituting all of the flour for whole wheat since whole wheat flour is typically “thirstier” 🙂
Lala B
This recipe was AMAZING! I have a household of food allergies….aka: can’t do milk,eggs or peanuts. So I made one batch of regular biscuits as done in this recipe (OMG YUM!!!!), and used the recipe for a secondary batch that was allergy friendly for the other family members (subbed unsweetened soy milk and country crock non dairy butter)….and they still turned out deliciously fluffy and flavorful. I now have a go-to recipe and I couldn’t be more excited!
Tawna
Im getting ready to make this recipe again for the second time. My family absolutely loves this recipe. It makes delicious biscuits for biscuits and gravy!
Storm
That’s exactly what I’m about to go make. My family loves these biscuits
Jameka
The best simple biscuit recipe ever. I make these every week for my family. 🥰
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for the review, Jameka! We love knowing that our recipe is a staple in your kitchen ❤️
Becca
Getting ready to try this recipe…2 questions if you could help. 1) could these be made night before and put in frig overnight and cooked in morning?
2) can the biscuits after being cut be frozen and then baked later(like the frozen ones in grocery store)? Ty
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Becca! Yes and yes 😊 Just make sure to store them in an airtight container either way. Also, when baking them from the freezer, they might need a minute or two longer in the oven (no need to thaw first). Enjoy!
Proud amateur baker
I added a tad bit more salt and sugar and since we had no buttermilk I sub. With greek yogurt and water. Let me tell you! They are 👌 fabulous!!!!!
Made biscuits and gravy from scratch.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad they turned out so nicely for you! Enjoy ❤️
Leslie
So easy and SO good! I’ve been terrified to try making biscuits from scratch until finding this recipe. I’ll never go back to using baking mixes again!
Amber
Delicious! I doubled the recipe and I’m so glad I did because I can’t stop eating these biscuits!! Using frozen butter and really cold whole milk! Thank you for a wonderful recipe!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you enjoyed them, Amber! Thanks for the review ❤️
Melissia
I made this several times using 0% milk they come out delicious and flaky every time!!!
Janette
Love this recipe!! It’s so easy and makes such yummy, fluffy biscuits!! I have my kids help me make them in the mornings for some added fun!
james Bouschor
Would it help to chill the flour too in a metal bowl to keep every thing cold.
Vickie Tenney
Perfect!
Misty
So easy, and my son said they were the best he’s ever eaten! We had them for dinner with sausage gravy. Great recipe, I’m going to double it and cook again this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yay! We’re so happy they were a hit, Misty 🥰
Erik Asphaug
Super easy and puts the emphasis on the right things.
I used frozen butter and grated it, worked fab. I did not get as flakey as I would like but perhaps I need to keep trying. They are super, though: nice and crunchy and moist inside.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them overall, Erik! 😊
Nicole
My dough is so crumbly food I put too much flour I followed the recipe 😩
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Nicole! We’re so sorry this happened 😞 How are you measuring your flour? We have a post on how to measure flour that should be helpful for you.
Courtney
Would these be good to freeze and bake later?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
They sure would! Just store them in a freezer-safe container. Enjoy, Courtney 😊
Marie
I followed the recipe, after adding the milk the dough was so wet and gooey.,no amount of flour add would help 😩 what went wrong? I like the recipe .
Sam
Hmmm that’s odd. Did you accidentally add too much milk? Was your butter really, really cold when you added the cold milk?
Andrea Missildine
Is there any trick in freezing them and then baking. I would like to make ahead for next Saturday so I only have to bake. Thanks!!
Sam
Hi Andrea! You can certainly freeze the unbaked dough. You will want to cut out the biscuits and then store in an air tight container. You can bake from frozen, adding just a minute or two. 🙂
Amber Williams
Easy to follow recipe with delicious results!!