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.
Carrolline Kelly
Would this recipe work with unsweetened almond instead of regular milk?
Thanks so much in advance!!!
Sam
Hi Carrolline! I haven’t personally tried it using almond milk, but I know others have done so with success. 🙂
Vicky Supernaw
Made this they turned out fabulous love your recipe
Julia
Can biscuits be frozen before baking?
Sam
Hi Julia! Yes they can be frozen before baking. You will want to cut out the biscuits and freeze in an air tight container. They can be baked from frozen, but may need an extra minute or two in the oven. 🙂
Julie
I’ve been making these biscuits for several years, and the always come out perfect! The two things I think that make this recipe better than others I’ve tried is grating the butter and using your hands vs a rolling pin to shape the dough. One question—can these be made the night before and refrigerated?
Sam
Hi Julie! They can be made the night in advance. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. They may need an extra minute to bake. 🙂
Phyllis
Thank you for your excellent instructions and recipe. I have unsuccessfully tried many other biscuit recipes and this will be my only go-to recipe!
Whitney
I love this recipe! Once spread with melted butter- do I store on counter or in fridge?
Sam
Hi Whitney! I store in an airtight container at room temp.
Honey Bee
Delish. I am at high altitude and baking can be a beast. The only things I changed were adding 2 more tablespoons of grated salted butter for a total of 110 g of butter and added 1/3 teaspoon of baking soda, Started the baking at 425F in the top 1/3 of the oven. Then turned it down to 400. Baked for 12 minutes. Brushed with melted butter. Put back in the oven under the broiler until golden. Then brushed again with butter, and served. With my changes, this recipe is 5***** keeper!
Janene
Any adjustment recommendations for high altitude? I have not had great success at 5,300 ft.
Sam
Hi Janene! Unfortunately I don’t have much experience with high altitude baking. Some have reported success with no alterations, some have reported success with minor adjustments like a little more milk, but I can’t say for sure what to do without having tried it. 🙁
Dinamarie Signorile
This recipe tasted the best out of many biscuit recipes I’ve tried. I used 1/2&1/2 instead of milk (it’s the only dairy I have) they really rose up more than I expected. Quite delicious- with my pot roast and gravy
Christine Beaudin
I did the same half n half and they are delicious…..
Bryan
I tried this with Almond Flour to make gluten free Please comment if anyone has done this. Baked for 17 minutes, turned out flatter then expected, Almond Flour is coarser than regular flour so mix was wetter. Still tasted decent, would be good with an egg over it. Maybe if I used a silicone mold to hold it together.
Sam
Hi Bryan! Unfortunately I don’t think the almond flour will work here. I do appreciate the feedback though. 🙁
Theresa
Almond flour definitely would not work here. The Gluten-Free 1:1 flour would be better. I have noticed that most gluten free biscuits call for an egg though.
ang
I have 1% buttermilk. You think they will still turn out good?
Sam
I think it’s worth a shot. 🙂
Rochelle
I made these with unfrozen butter and 2% milk, as I was in a hurry. I also used a rolling pin, but was still gentle with the dough. They rose beautifully and browned to a perfect golden on top. Thanks for a great and fast recipe.
Indigo
pretty good! I won’t lie, I messed up a few times as I’ve never made biscuits before.. but they had a great outside, layers on the inside, etc. the recipe made a little less than I expected but maybe I made them big. either way, they taste great.
Sandy
I didn’t have any whole milk so I made these with oat milk. Easy recipe and turned out great! Will be my go to biscuit recipe.
Teresa Garza
I love making all things bread and these DID. NOT. DISAPPOINT! I did exactly as suggested and put the butter in the freezer for 20 mins. Hubby wasn’t quite ready for supper so I placed the grated butter BACK in the freezer until I was ready to make the magic happen! This recipe should be a keeper in everyone’s recipe library! Many Thanks for sharing!
Kinara
This is my favorite biscuit recipe and I’ve probably reviewed it before but wanted to add that I make it every time with vegan buttermilk and Miyoko’s vegan butter. I freeze the butter, sprinkle it with flour, then grate it into the flour mixture. They turn out perfectly every time with fabulous lamination.
Gabby
Easy and delicious. Super fluffy. Added some finely grated cheese for extra flavor.
Alana Watson
Holy biscuits Batman!!!! These were excellent I followed the recipe to the letter except I used a glass cup to cut out the biscuit but it worked just fine. These were light fluffy and taste soooo good..
Judy
I have issues making biscuits and it even happened with this recipe 😭😭😭 they come out good they taste good but they’re just not big! they don’t grow they don’t fluff up I don’t know what I’m doing wrong HELP!!!!
Sam
Hi Judy! Was your butter really cold? This really helps to make light flaky biscuits. You want to be a little careful when working in that butter so you don’t warm it up too much. If that’s not the issue I would try replacing your baking powder. I hope that helps. 🙂
TShockley
It may be your baking soda. Put 1/2 tsp of baking soda in a small bowl then pour on 1/4 cup of boiling hot water. If it fizzles and foams up, its good. If not, get new container of baking soda.
TShockley
CORRECTION: I meant test your baking powder not baking soda. You know what I mean. lol