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.
Liana hernandez
Would it be alright to double the recipe? I have a large family and would need more then 6. Or should I just make 2 batches?
Sam
Hi, Liana. You can double the recipe, just be careful to not overwork the dough. 🙂
Liana
Thanks! I will try this soon! Btw I love love your worst ever chocolate chip cookies!! Its soooooo amazing
Candace
Made some awesome monkey bread with this. Thanks for the recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Candace! 🙂
Sirena
Excellent recipe! Made this 3 times now. The first time I substituted milk for water and butter for margarine – it’s a great vegan alternative! Flaky, delicious. Second and third time I took out the sugar and substituted it with sweetened coconut, lemon zest and added vanilla to the water (instead of milk). Turned out even better! So good and so versatile- thanks for sharing this recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Sirena! 🙂
Julia
Sam, I am going to make these biscuits sometime soon, but in the meanwhile this grandma must say that your demonstration video making these biscuits is the most delightful cooking video I have seen yet. You mentioned your scone recipe. OK! I am headed there next! Thank you.
Julia
Sam
Thank you so much, Julia! I am so glad you enjoyed the video and I hope you love both the scones and biscuits! 🙂
Erin
These were amazing! I live outside of the US and had a craving for biscuits — these are so perfect and delicious.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Erin! 🙂
Daniel J Biron
Sam,
I was out of a certain premixed bicuit making mix and had a crock pot full of beef stew waiting when I got home from work tonight. A quick Google search peoduced this recipe on my phone. I think it’s safe to say my family hopes I never buy the other stuff again. They were absolutely perfect and the tips were quite helpful. Thanks for the assist!
Dan Biron,
Busy Dad and Part Time Foodie
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them, Dan! They are definitely better than a box mix for sure! 🙂
Mollie
Made these tonight as the chicken was cooking in instant pot. They taste amazing!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Mollie! 🙂
debs
My first attempt at making biscuits and they were delicious! The simple ingredient list gave me the courage to try. I just have one question. Any tips for making them lighter and fluffier? Perhaps I may have overworked the dough. Next time I’ll try the pastry flour like another reviewer recommended.
Sam
Hi, Debs. You are correct, the dough may have been overworked a little bit. I have not tried using pastry flour so I don’t know how that will affect the biscuits. If it works for you please let me know. 🙂
Karen Schmidt
At 60 years old I’ve made quite a few batches of biscuits in my time, and I love trying new recipes. None could even hold a candle to my Grandma’s (an Alabama farm wife who never actually measured any ingredient) until now. This morning, following your recipe — and my husband wholeheartedly agrees — I made probably the best biscuits I’ve ever made — or tasted! Oh, and by the way, freezing and grating the butter: brilliant!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them, Karen! 🙂
Kia
Made these for dinner today and they are delicious. Will definitely be making them again. Thanks for sharing your recipe with us
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Kia! 🙂
Steve Reinard
In the past the only time I made biscuits was from a box.
If I didn’t want to go through the trouble of just adding water I would just skip them.
I just finish making them using your recipe and the techniques you explained.
Success!
It was quick, easy and very tasty. These are worth the little bit of extra effort.
Sam
These are sooo much better than something out of a box! I’m glad you tried them and enjoyed them. 🙂
Brita Hill
These turned out so well!! My dough was very dry so I added a tiny bit of water which I think added to the cooking time. They ended up taking 22 minutes, but when they were done, they were perfectly crispy and buttery. Definitely saving this recipe (adding rosemary or cheese and basil next time!).
Jeanne
I finally made good biscuits! Thank you so much for this recipe and very helpful directions. I followed them exactly and finally made biscuits I can be proud of.
2019 is starting out right!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Jeanne! 🙂
Maggie Segaline
We love homemade buiscuits I’ve been making them for a while and I thought my recipe was very good but oh boy! After finding yours and following it to the T I have to say these are by far the best ones! Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe. Happy New Year.🎉
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them, Maggie! 🙂
Keith Paul Alderson
Hi, Sam.
I’m a vegetarian and was looking for a biscuit recipe. I had a craving this New Years Eve morning…not sure why?
I’ve noted your love for butter and it’s necesdity in making perfect biscuits. I only use light tasting olive oil in all of my cooking, so I’m goong that route today and see what happens. I will put it in the freezer like you do with butter to see if that works???
Also, being a writer and illustrator of children’s books, and a spiritual adult book, I would like to compliment you on your writing and especially your humor. Keep up the great work!
PS- I’ll get back with you on my results. If they suck, I will still give you 5 Stars, but try butter next time!
Sam
Hi, Keith. Unfortunately, I don’t think the substitution will work in this recipe. I think the biscuits would turn out very dense.
Keith
Hi, Sam.
You are correct. They weren’t bad, but a little dense. Butter next time!
Thanks!
Jeremy
Try coconut oil as it is solid at room temp. And not an ‘extra virgin’ variety (unless you want a slight coconutty taste in your biscuits).