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.
Malena
Everyone loved them! We didn’t have any milk so I just used equal parts oat milk instead- tasted completely normal. Very successful and surprisingly simple! 100% will make again 😍😋
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them, Malena!
Gwyn
I’ve never had success at biscuits, but this recipe came out perfect except a couple tweaks 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream. And I patted my dough a hair too thin next time I’ll try thicker.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy our recipe was a success for you, Gwyn! ❤️
Becky
Made this recipe today. Biscuits turned out light, tall and flaky. Made in iron skillet and used buttermilk.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Your biscuits sound perfect, Becky! Thanks for the 5-star review 😊
Vicki
You are a wonderful baker! I’ve gotten several recipes from your site, including this one, and they are always delicious! Thank you! Question: can this recipe be doubled or tripled without compromising the outcome?
Sam
Thank you so much, Vicki! You can double it or triple it, just make sure to not overwork your butter when mixing it. 🙂
Suz
Absolutely fabulous recipe 🤩🤩🤩
Kayla
Can you do this without milk by chance
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
You could use non-dairy milk, buttermilk or even half and half instead 😊
emma bobbitt
Hi Sam. I’ve never made biscuits before in my life and I’m 65 but this turned out great. the only thing that I had trouble with was I couldn’t really get the flour mixture to look crumbly after I put the butter in that I shredded but they turned out great anyway. just wondering what you think I may have done wrong even though they turned out okay LOL
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
It doesn’t have to be super crumbly, but you should see pieces of butter mixed into the dry ingredients. Honestly, if they turned out great, you shouldn’t worry! 😊
Ellie
I use almond milk and they turn out really well 🙂
DawnH Curaçao
I found this biscuit recipe about a month ago and we make them now once a week. We absolutely love them! The frozen butter and even super cold milk is key! I live in the Caribbean so that tip really helps!
Also I cook them in a well oiled cast iron skillet. Another tip, brush the tops with melted butter five mins before the end of baking! Perfecto! 🤩
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much for commenting, Dawn! We’re so happy our biscuits are a staple in your home now 😊
Cassandra
Unfortunately, my biscuits didn’t rise. What could be wrong?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Oh no! We’re so sorry to hear this happened. We would recommend you replace your baking powder and see if that helps with the rise.
Jen Parke
I used these as topper for chicken pot pie tonight. So good! Serious comfort food. Seemed like I lost a lot of butter in the grater though. The stick was frozen pretty solid. Any tips?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jen! You could try using a grater with larger holes or making your butter even colder. Some will always end up in the grater though; just do your best to scrape it out 😊
Kimberly
Have you frozen these biscuits? hoping to make ahead of rime fir a big family gathering!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely! You can freeze them before or after baking–just make sure to wrap them tightly and store in an airtight container 😊
Donna B
I have tried over and over again to make biscuits with no success. I bit the bullet this morning and tried again, using this recipe. They turned out wonderfully and im doing a Hapoy dance. Thank yo so much!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yay! We’re so happy you gave our recipe a try, Donna. Enjoy!!
Lisa
can u use reg bowl butter very cold?
Sam
Hi Lisa! I’m not sure what you mean here, I would only recommend stick butter as tubs of butter could have additives that could alter the results. I hope that helps. 🙂
Tamara
I’ve used the tub butter (Imperial) and they came out fine. I kept the butter in the freezer a few days before making the biscuits.
Theresa
Follow the directions…use ice-cold butter…make several folds…don’t twist the biscuit cutter….and you will have the flakiest biscuits ever. Really good…no lie.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy they were such a success for you, Theresa! 🩷
Marilyn
Can I put honey in place of the sugar?
Sam
Hi Marilyn! You can, but you will likely need to add a bit more flour to get the dough to come together properly and I find biscuits made with honey are sometimes a bit more chewy and less flaky than those made with sugar. I would add the honey with the milk. Enjoy!
Donna Gibbs
Wow!! Only got 4 biscuits out of it but they were so high. Perfect for the 2 of us! lol… they were extra large!
Sam
So glad you enjoyed, Donna! Thank you so much for trying my recipe!
Amaia
Can I double or even triple the recipe?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely! Enjoy, Amaia 😊
Nancy
Turned out perfect
Rosa
Awesome recipe!!
Shunda
How would these go over with oat milk or other milk alternatives?
Sam
Hi Shunda! I think you would be fine to use oat milk. I know others have made this recipe successfully with almond milk. Enjoy!
Dorothy
I’ve tried making biscuits for years witb no success!! Yahoo, this recipe has me so happy! I’ve made them 2x in 2 weeks. Thank you, thank you!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yay! We’re so happy our recipe was a success for you, Dorothy! 🎉