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.
Debbie
Is 1 TBS. of baking powder correct? I just made them following the instructions and they have a weird aftertaste.
Sam
Hi Debbie! That is the correct amount. If your baking powder is bad or old it can leave a slight metallic taste. I also have found this to be the case with som generic brands. 🙁
Kirk H.
I am sensitive to gluten and have found that using European flour works for me. Sometimes, I need to adjust the recipe for the difference in the flours. However, I just replaced the flour with organic Italian Einkorn unbleached all-purpose flour. I also used milk from powdered milk. These were by far the best biscuits ever. I’m not exaggerating at all. My sister, who is a professional baker was also very impressed. Thanks
Nicole
Love these!!! Has anyone tried freezing them? Tips?
Sam
Hi Nicole! You can freeze these baked or unbaked. You will just want to store them in an air tight container. If you choose to bake them before freezing you will probably want to let them cool completely and then wrap individually and store in an air tight container. 🙂
Tyler
This recipe was horrid! Super dense and more like a scone. Absolutely atrocious.
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear that, Tyler! It sounds like you may have accidentally over-measured your flour or over-baked the biscuits. 🙁
Tina
I will never make another recipe for yummy biscuits!
Charese
These biscuits were easy to make and they tasted really good! I brushed the tops of the biscuits with melted butter mixed with honey. I will definitely try these again.
Daniel A Johnson
I never could seen to make biscuits that weren’t crumbly or super sense. this recipie worked really well for me. buttery, flaky and super tasty. Will Def be making them again. Thank you.
McKenna Caldwell
So good and buttery!! We loved these!!
Stacie
I love how they came out! Definitely one of my go to recipes.
Laura Portillo
this is my go to recipe for years now! i just used it yet again for pigs in a blanket. i added garlic powder, onion powder and shredded cheddar jack cheese
Paula
Perfect biscuits!
The dough will seem dry, but recipe made perfect biscuits!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them, Paula! Make sure you are measuring your flour properly if your dough seems dry. Enjoy! 🩷
Janis Collins
Hi is using bread flour an option for this recipe?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Janis! You can use it if that’s all you have, but the biscuits will be chewier. It’s not our first choice of flour for biscuits.
Jessica
Question…can you freeze this dough after the biscuits are cut for later use? if so, how long would it keep in the freezer?
Sam
Hi Jessica! That will work just fine. They should last a couple of months in the freezer if stored properly. 🙂
Larry Greene
Definitely my new go to biscuit recipe. No more canned biscuits at this house!!!!
Jeff Dissell
Thank you for a recipe for the best biscuits I’ve ever made for my clan! My wife loves these and they’re easy to whip up any time a meal calls for a delicious biscuit to go along. Biscuits and gravy with these jewels? Heaven!
This one goes into the “keeper” file! I appreciate the work you put into your recipes.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy our biscuits are such a hit for you, Jeff 🥰 Enjoy!
Sarah ray
Way too high of temperature. The biscuits bottom were a little crispy the outside looks beautiful, but the dough is still in the center. Had issue getting that to go away. Was on happy with it. Would’ve been better I think cooking at 350 but 425 was entirely too high and I only had my oven closer to 400.
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this, Sarah! Do you have an oven thermometer? It sounds like the oven may be running a bit warmer than it says it is. 🙁
Brenda
My family has enjoyed the recipe as is. Can I substitute whole wheat flour 1:1?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Brenda! Whole wheat flour is a little bit “thirstier” so your biscuits may be a bit on the drier side.
Paula
I’m so happy with this recipe! My homemade baked goods never turn out, so I’m so happy with these results! I followed everything exactly as you said. The tops aren’t as brown as yours, but I will learn more with each try. Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy they were a hit Paula! You could try brushing them with milk/cream/buttermilk or butter before baking to encourage some browning. Or broil them for a few seconds at the end, but keep a very close eye if you do 😊