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.
Patrick Kelley
Just finished my very first batch, I tried my first one, they are so flaky and easy to make. I’m going to make another batch very soon. Can’t wait to try these with my cream gravy
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Patrick! I am so happy that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits. 🙂
Avichai Taylor
1st time biscuit maker. Perfection! I’ wondering the best way to freeze or prep these. Freeze after cutting out, but before baking? Freeze after baking?
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Avichal! I am so happy that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits. I recommend cutting the biscuits out and storing them in an airtight container prior to baking. Enjoy! 🙂
Mona
I grew it’s with Bisquick biscuits as a regular part of dinner. I don’t like them as much anymore. I tried your recipe and I’m addicted. I love the layers and flavor. I’ve made them 6 or 7 times in the past few months and plan to try with your sausage gravy recipe this week.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Mona! I am so glad that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits. I hope that you enjoy the sausage gravy just as much! 🙂
Ellen
Just made these (double the recipe) and they turned out great. So easy to make…if I can do it, anyone can! Thanks for sharing this recipe. Can’t wait to try some of your others.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Ellen! I am so glad that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits. I can’t wait for you to try more of my recipes! Thanks for commenting and happy baking. 🙂
erin
Hi there,
Do these have to be served immediately after bakedÉ Really excited to bake these!
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Erin! No, they do not. You can store them in an airtight container for a few days, however, they are best when served fresh. I hope that you enjoy the homemade biscuits. 🙂
Downiegirl
Just made these delicious biscuits for breakfast! So nice and fluffy! I was short on butter so I used half stick butter and 2Tbs of shortening and just little more milk . Turned out great!! Will keep recipe for future times when needing biscuits. Thanks for sharing!!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much! I am glad that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits! 🙂
Zoë Dearborn
Hi! We don’t drink regular milk in our household, but we have coconut and almond milk – and am wondering what you think – would it work to substitute them for the regular whole milk? Thanks!
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Zoe! I don’t recommend using almond milk. I have not tried coconut milk so I can not say how it will do, unfortunately. I hope that you enjoy the biscuits. 🙂
Diane
Hi I have made these delicious biscuits for my husband and they are the best ever.
I’m vegan but could not resist 😋
Tonight I tried making them with coconut oil and coconut milk. They are absolutely delicious.
I cannot thank you enough for this absolutely amazing recipe. These biscuits are so addictive!!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Diane! I am happy the recipe worked well with coconut oil and coconut milk substitutions. I am glad that you and your husband enjoyed the homemade biscuits. 🙂
Lin
These came out tall and fluffy with gorgeous layers! I halved the recipe for just 2 of us; freezing and grating the butter is key and also made it easy and fast: 5 minutes to mix and shape, 12 min to bake. Done. Thank you Sam!
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Lin! I am so happy that you found the homemade biscuit recipe easy and delicious! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Tania Thompson
I made these about 2 weeks ago and my whole family devoured them! I’m making them again tonight with country gravy and breakfast meat. Mmm!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Tania! I am so glad that your family enjoyed the homemade biscuits. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Debbie Bellar
These turned out awsome nice and high flaky biscuits thank you for sharing this best one I have tried and I have tried several.
Jessica
I know some recipes don’t turn out the same when doubled; can this one be doubled? Thank you.
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Jessica! Yes, you can double this recipe. I hope that you enjoy the homemade biscuits. 🙂
Caroline
Really great recipe. I had to make another batch because the first batch disappeared super quickly! The laminating method was perfect for lots of flaky layers.
Sam
I am so happy to hear the biscuits were such a hit! Thank you so much for commenting, Caroline! 🙂
Aimee
Making these tomorrow for breakfast sandwiches.
Dennis Coles
First time biscuit maker. Easy, ingredients in the cupboard, and so yummy. The frozen butter run thru the grater is the best new kitchen hack. I’ll be back to look at other recipes.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Dennis! I am so happy that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits and look forward to hearing what recipe you try next! Enjoy! 🙂
Jessica
Holy biscuits Batman!! I have Never.Ever. made a biscuit from scratch. I can’t bake… You cannot mess this recipe up! I had dough covered hands, a makeshift biscuit cutter, my butter didn’t grate so I cut it up, flour flying and still they are stupid good! 😲
Sugar Spun Run
What an awesome compliment, Jessica! I am so happy that you found the biscuit recipe easy and enjoyable. Thanks for your comment. 🙂
Crista
I’ve never made such amazing biscuits. They puffed up supper high and were super flakey. Great recipe. Vielen Dank. Muchísimas gracias.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Crista! I am so happy that your biscuits turned out well and that you enjoyed them. Thanks for commenting. 🙂