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.
Irene
Great biscuits – I just made them this morning and added 1/4 cup of cheese. I want to add blueberries the next time. Do you think I need to increase the amount of sugar?
Also the grating butter is a game changer – have you tried this in pie pastry? I have problems with my pie pastry.
Sam
Hi Irene! That’s just a matter of personal preference, you certainly can increase the sugar (I probably would up it a bit to complement the blueberries). I actually use a food processor for my pie pastry, but I do think it would work to grate the butter. Glad you enjoyed the biscuits!
Roxanne
We made these for Sunday breakfast! And they were amazing! I did have to change the butter to margarine, because I didn’t realize I was out of butter, and made them as drop biscuits. The whole family loved them, and they were so easy! Thank you so much!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear that everyone enjoyed! Thanks for commenting, Roxanne! 🙂
Dani
These are the best biscuits I’ve ever made. My husband thought I bought them because they were so fluffy and layered. Perfect in every way. I used salted butter and omitted the salt, used 2% milk, but followed it to a T otherwise. THANK YOU!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you for commenting, Dani!
cassandra l. Salmons
Best I have ever made. Grating the butter was a game changer!
Sam
So glad to hear you enjoyed the biscuits, Cassandra!
Ryan E Mount
Correct. The grating is key. Genius technique.
john
i just tried your recipe, using gluten-free cassava flour and soy milk (my preferences).
while they didn’t rise much, they’re very tasty!
i’ll try again with some adjustments to improve the texture.
thanks, john!
Sam
So glad to hear they were overall a success with the substitutions! Thanks for commenting, John! 🙂
Karen
These were the best biscuits I’ve ever made. I didn’t even follow the directions to a T because I was in a hurry. A couple of things I did do and that I think are essential were to freeze the butter as I got everything else ready. I opted to grate the butter. I’ve heard of it but never tried it. I think that was the thing that made them perfect. I made a faux buttermilk with my milk using a little vinegar. I used salted butter, but that’s a family preference. I can’t wait to make these again and fold over the layers properly. Thanks for a great recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the biscuits, Karen! 🙂
Briana Patterson
Finally…simple and good.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the biscuits, Briana! 🙂
Jeannie Rivera
Great recipe. I love your instructions. I grated the butter on to a piece of parchment paper, then wrapped it up and put it back into the freezer until I was absolutely ready to incorporate it into the dry ingredients. I did the same with the milk and it turned out perfectly.
The biscuits turned out light, flakey and delicious. I’ll definitely be using this recipe over and over again!
Thanks so much for sharing it with all of us.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the biscuits so much, Jeannie! 🙂
Ann Grieve
Great recipe! I have made it twice and it’s now my go to. Super easy and fast.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the biscuits, Ann! 🙂
Charles Coleman
Very nice!
Sam
Thank you so much, Charles! 🙂
Elisa Shore
Delicious! Thx for the recipe. I added fresh rosemary and shaved parm, which was yummy. I wanted to add a pix, but don’t see how. Thx again. Elisa from San Leandro
Sam
Yum! Love the sound of those additions! I wish I had an easy way to share pictures but unfortunately I don’t here, you can always tag me on Instagram (@sugarspun_sam) or share a picture in my Facebook Baker’s Club.
Peggy
This recipe is great. I also made the biscuits using all crisco shortening as well as a recipe using 5 TBSP crisco and 1 TBSP butter. We like the version with all crisco because that is what we are used to but they all came out great!! Served with sausage gravy. Family loved it. Tastes just like Grandma used to make.
Sam
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the biscuits, Peggy! Thank you for commenting 🙂
Curtis
Perfect easy delish. Followed your many secretes. If I sub buttermilk is the quantity the same?
Sam
Yes I would keep the amount of buttermilk the same (as the amount of milk listed in the recipe). Enjoy!
Lynn
I was wondering if you could use White wheat flour?
Sam
The texture of the biscuits might be a bit different but I think it could work.
John
Hi Sam! Thanks so much for the recipe. These tasted great, but I must have done something wrong. Mine did not rise much and were a little dense. Do you think I over worked the dough, or could something else cause this? I tried not to over work it, but perhaps it takes practice. 🙂
Sam
Hi John! I’d check that your baking powder is still good and not expired. If it is good, then most likely the culprit was that the dough was over-worked. I hope that helps!
Brenda
Make sure you don’t twist the biscuit cutter. It seals the edges and prevents the biscuit from properly rising. Just push straight down and then lift up….no twisting.