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.
Eliza
I followed your recipe exactly (using buttermilk) and they turned out amazing! I have made biscuits for decades but never in this way. The butter grating tip along with folding the dough made the end result sheer perfection.
Miranda
I use this recipe to make biscuits and also use it for my chicken and dumplings! The dough makes excellent dumplings in soup.
Veronica Rueckert
Finally someone talks about folding the dough to help with fluffy biscuit layers. This is what’s been missing in all the other recipes I’ve tried. Such good flavor and so tall! Thank you!
James
Amazing and flaky biscuits, thank you for sharing this recipe!!!!
Kristine
Absolutely delicious!!!
Fancy
I had a craving for biscuits this morning, only to realize I was fresh out of my good ole’ Pillsbury! After realizing going to the store wasn’t an option (getting dressed is such a chore lol), a Google search led me here. I see why this recipe is number 1 in the search results. I had NO idea biscuits were made with pantry staples and now, I’ll NEVER go back! It was also nice to make something with my bare hands, since most recipes I follow require additional tools. Thank you for a straightforward, and yet delicious, recipe!
Sam
Thank you so much for the kind words and for trying my recipe, Fancy, I’m so glad it was such a success for you! ♥︎
Ellen
I’ve made these now about 8 times. And although quite delicious, they never brown on top. The bottoms always brown nicely (that’s how I know they are done), and the white tops don’t affect the taste, just curious. BTW, your photos of your food are so professional looking. You could work for a food magazine. They say you eat with your eyes first,and your photos always draw me in.
Sam
Thank you so much for the kind comment, Ellen! For browner-topped biscuits you could brush them with butter, milk, or cream before baking, that will help them brown a bit more. I hope that helps!
Jessica
The recipe is great! I didn’t have buttermilk, so I used 2 teaspoons of vinegar in heavy cream. Other than that, I followed the recipe. it tasted great. Light and fluffy.
Amy
I want to make these for our Christmas party can you make them ahead of time?
Sam
Hi Amy! These can be made up to 2 days in advance. I would make the dough, cut out the biscuits, wrap them tightly and store in the refrigerator. 🙂
John
You mean a teaspoon of baking powder, right?
Sam
Nope. It’s a tablespoon. 🙂
Faith
Omg!!!! So good! I used a little bit more butter- almost a full stick & a bit more milk, in addition to self rising flour. But 8chefs kiss* they turned out perfect! Big, fluffy, & soft.
Amy
Can you make these ahead of time for Christmas?
Sam
Sure thing! They will keep in the refrigerator covered tightly for 2 days. I would form and cut out the biscuits first. 🙂
Anna
easy, simple, delicious! So flaky and I didn’t even have enough butter to do the full amount! I will for sure make these again, yum yum yum
Marjie
Husband just said “ these are the best biscuits I’ve can recall having” and he’s a biscuit and gravy kind of of guy.
Super easy recipe. Quick.
Karen
This is a great recipe. Grating the butter is brilliant! The biscuits came out perfectly. Do you have any thoughts about freezing the dough ahead of time before baking? Or, what about freezing the biscuits once they are baked. I’m trying to plan ahead for company over the holidays. Thanks.
Sam
Hi Karen! I would cut out the biscuits and then freeze them. You can bake them from frozen, adding a few minutes to the bake time. 🙂
Tasha
Delicious, I made mine sort of scone like, with a dash of sweet cream in the milk. my family TORE IT UP! yummy. this is definitely going in my recipe box. thanks Sam.
Sam
You’re very welcome, Tasha, thank you so much for trying my recipe!
Dorthell
I make these ALL the time. Best biscuit ever! I double the batch and freeze half before baking. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Lauren Wooldridge
I love this recipe. I did it just a hair different because it’s what I had. I used 3 tbl spoons of frozen butter and 3 tbl spoons of shortening, and I don’t know if I’ll ever do anything else now. Girl, they are the closest I’ve come to my memaw’s biscuits and you can’t even know what that means to me. Thank you so much.