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.
Rosemary
These biscuits were delicious and easy to make! I will be adding this recipe to my collection, thank you!
Kris
If I want to make in advance for Thanksgiving do I freeze before baking
Sam
Hi Kris! It depends how far in advance you want to make them. If you are making them the day before, the biscuit dough can sit in the refrigerator in an air tight container overnight. If baked, they can stay at room temperature in an air tight container for 2-3 days, but of course freshly baked is always best. If you want to make them a week in advance, you will want to freeze them. I hope that helps! 🙂
JJP
I plan to try these out in the morning. I only have 2% milk and don’t want to run all the way to grocery store for the whole milk. Are the JUST AS GOOD with the 2%?
Sam
Others have done these with 2% milk with success. 🙂
Sarah Norton
Hi! Can I prepare these a day ahead and bake them on the day of? Or is it better just to bake the day before?
BTW, I have made this recipe once before and they turned out perfect! Flakey and buttery and thick and delicious. 🙂
Sam
Hi Sarah! You can make the biscuit dough the day before you need it. Keep it in an air tight container in the refrigerator over night and bake the next day. A freshly baked biscuit is always best in my opinion. 🙂
Elaine N
I made these biscuits and they turned out perfect! So delicious, they were light, moist and buttery! I had made biscuits with just heavy whipping cream, but my family told me they were flat and dense. I made these and everyone said they were delicious! I am not a baker but, these are so quick and easy to make.
Mackenzie
Turned out great! My whole family loves them. I substituted butter for margarine and it still turned out the same.
Mary Turner
They never look like that picture! I follow the recipe! Pfft next
Sam
Hi Mary! If yours aren’t coming out like the picture I encourage you to take a look at the video and read through my tips for success. My pictures are always the real-deal I take of the finished product after baking them so they do indeed look like the photo. Let me know if the video and tips in the blog post help, you can do it!
Michele Gilliam
I added some cheddar cheese and two eggs due to gf flour
Shari
Delicious – I will never use Bisquick again!
Catherine
Can you freeze these biscuits? They tasted amazing, only problem I had is I could taste the baking powder in a few, which I think was my fault for not mixing the dry ingredients better.
Sam
Hi Catherine! They can be frozen. If you are tasting baking powder, you may need to just swap out your baking powder for a new one. I have found I have had issues with generic brands in the past. I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Stephanie
OMG!!!! These are by far the BEST. I used 2% and they are delicious!!! My husband is a big fan. Such an easy recipe. This is a keeper and will continue to make forever!!!
Suzette trimmer
Great simple recipe thank you
Savanna
Not sure what Im doing wrong, but mine came out a bit yellow, and taste sort of bland. I followed directly except I only had salted butter so i used that, and then no extra salt. Help!
Sam
Hi Savanna! You can use salted butter here but you would still need a scant teaspoon of salt here. That will really change the flavor. 🙁
Bianca
They turned out perfect! Followed the recipe exactly, but used 2% milk. Thank you!
Holly S.
These by far are the best biscuits I have made! Will absolutely make these again
Lynee’
This is the same issue I’ve had, swapped out baking powder, more salt, different butter, maybe it’s variations by oven but this is the 3rd time making these and they’re not very biscuit like.
Sam
Hi Lynee! Did you try it the way it’s written? What happened that it isn’t very biscuit like?
Sharon Natalie Boucher
So good
I changed flour to white whole wheat and no salt baking powder and drinking coconut milk
TAMMY L
this is very good. I just wish I could know if I can double it. as a family of 7 6 biscuits is not enough
Sam
Hi Tammy! You can easily double this recipe! 🙂