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.
amanda zaier
Doubled recipe, but otherwise followed directions precisely. Turned out good, but I personally didn’t care for the sorta sweet taste. I’ll definitely use this recipe again, minus the sugar. Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Amanda! I am sorry that the biscuits were on the sweeter side but happy you still enjoyed them! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Anthony
Mine turned out great. Made them to eat with the apple butter recipe I got from you so thanks for that one too.
I’m a man and just learning to cook so if I can make these right, anyone can. Thanks again for your recipes!
Sugar Spun Run
Anthony, thank you so much for trying my recipes! As you’re learning to cook and bake, I hope you find the recipes easy to follow and delicious. I am so glad you enjoyed the homemade biscuits and apple butter. Happy Baking to you! 🙂
Erika
First time I’ve made biscuits and this recipe was super easy and the biscuits turned out delicious. Thank you for sharing recipe. I made them to go w/a Beef Shepherd’s Pie and my dogs were going crazy over all the smells! My big dog is a carbo junkie and he gave two paws up! My youngest son and husband loved them too. I will make again.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Erika! I am so glad that the homemade biscuits were enjoyed by all. 🙂
Daisy
For years, my favorite biscuit recipe has been Dorie Greenspan’s cream biscuits, but this recipe is fantastic! I still enjoy Dorie’s recipe, but when I want super flaky biscuits, your recipe is the one I turn to. Thanks for sharing it!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Daisy! I am so happy that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits. 🙂
Rachel
The biscuits came out AMAZING!!! Thanks so much for this simple and delicious recipe.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Rachel! I am so glad that you found the homemade biscuits simple and delicious! 🙂
Christine Zuleger
I’ve been watching you videos and following you on Instagram Sam . I was making Split Pea and Ham Soup tonight and wanted to make Biscuits. I’ve never done well with making them but I found your one bowl 6 ingredients and I thought let’s see what Sams got . I watched the video and followed everything to a T . I loved using the grater to get the butter small enough without letting it get warm and soft . I kept the milk cold until ready to use .
I mixed and folded 5 layers and cut without twisting and They were the Most BEAUTIFUL Biscuits I have seen almost 4inches high and tender , flaky and fluffy. I will never bake anything else. Thank You so Much Sam 🥰 I took a picture they were so beautiful 😍. I’m putting this on FB and Instagram with your link 🙌❤️
Sugar Spun Run
Your comment made my day, Christine! I am so glad that you found the homemade biscuit recipe easy to follow and picture worthy! I appreciate you sharing it among your peers as well. Enjoy and many thanks! 🙂
Judy
Mile high biscuits. I added a splash of vinegar to the milk. Delish!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Judy! I am so glad that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits! 🙂
tony
Great recipe. I’ve frozen butter for biscuits in the past, but never thought to grate it. Complimented my caribou sausage gravy quite nice!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Tony! I am so glad that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits. 🙂
Sad
I won’t rate it but I did something horrible wrong they came out flat as a pancake, and all my Ingredients were new, so terrible sad and a waste of food. I’ll stick to my recipe I’ve never had an issue making biscuits, checked to see if I miss anything oh well, live and learn.
Sam
So sorry to hear that, that’s definitely not how they should turn out!
Leslie
I had the same issue. I used fresh ingredients and the biscuits came out about one inch high. Good flavor though.
Trish
This is my go-to recipe for biscuit night. All in my family crave these. They make a perfect pairing with homemade sausage gravy. So flaky and buttery…
Sam
I’m so happy to hear they have been such a hit with your family, Trish!! Thank you so much for commenting, I appreciate it! 🙂
Llecinia
Easy instructions best biscuits I’ve ever made… super delicious!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Llecinia! I am so glad that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits! 🙂
Hopeful Foodie
Hi – I love your recipe. It was so easy. I even got distracted by something or another and left out the salt, An important ingredient. But it was still so good. I’m looking forward to the next time I make them and getting all the dry ingredients in it. Thankful you for sharing this recipe.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much! I am so glad that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits. 🙂
Louise
These biscuits are so easy and so delicious! My 12-year-old said they were the best biscuits he’s ever had! Grating the butter is so clever! This will be my new go-to for sure!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Louise! I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits. 🙂
Rachelle Cruse
These were amazing!!!! They turned out tall and fluffy. Huge hit with my family. Thanks for posting!!!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that the homemade biscuits were such a hit with your family, Rachelle! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Claudette
Made the biscuits to go with homemade baked beans …. never had a better meal !!!! Thankyou.. just the 2 of us none to spare..
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you, Claudette! I am so happy that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits. 🙂