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 recipeย a few weeks ago,ย “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.ย 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.ย And then more butter once they’re finished baking because of course we need more butter.
I mentioned that these biscuits are easy soย do not be alarmedย by all the tips that I have for you below. These biscuitsย 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 ofย 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:ย 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.ย 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 andย 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 encourageย 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
- ยพ cup whole milkยน (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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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 ยพ" round biscuit cutter with flour.ย
- 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 ยฝ" apart on baking sheet.ย
- 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.
Mirah
Hi,
I just wondering, is this the same like scones?
Thanks.
Carole
I Just made these and they came out Perfect! Serving them with homemade chicken stew. Thank you for the fantastic recipe that I will now use forever!๐
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Carole! I am so glad that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits. Thanks for commenting. I hope that you enjoy this recipe for years to come. ๐
Pat
I followed the recipe exactly. These came out flaky and delicious.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Pat. I am so glad that you enjoyed the Homemade Biscuits. Thanks for commenting. ๐
Coco
Have you ever used fresh ground flour to make these? If so, any changes?
Sam
HI Coco! I haven’t tried with freshly ground flour so I can’t advise. If you try the biscuits that way I’d love to hear how they turn out for you, though!
shelly
Can I make these in advance and heat up later? If so, what is the best way to do it? Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Shelly! When I make these they are usually eaten fresh out of the oven and are gone in no-time. I know others have made them in advance and have had success reheating. Some have microwaved them and others have reheated in the oven. I hope that you enjoy the homemade biscuits. ๐
Robert
I was fresh out of unsalted European butter… I did have some generic unsalted butter from a Kroger’s. I hope that’s ok. It still reminded me of a Bob evens biscuit (almost).
My question is, can I make the dough at night, bag and keep it in the refrigerator till morning? Also, could I freeze it?
Gina
Hi. The first time i made these they turned out perfect. I made these again doubling the recipe and they were to thlck and crumbly. I think I should have made them thinner because I had to bake longer cause they were not done.
Sam
Hi Gina! Is it possible the flour was over-measured if they were thick and crumbly like that? The recipe usually doubles pretty well
Shaz
Iโm a terrible baker and my family confirms that. I tried this recipe. Followed instructions exactly. Wow, the raves from my family. They were shocked. Everyone posted IG pics. I was gobsmacked. Freezing and grating the butter is the absolute key. They were delicious. Thank you.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you had success with the homemade biscuit recipe, Shaz! I am happy that you and your family enjoyed it! ๐
Vanessa
Tasted great! I have baked many different biscuit recipes before but this is the best one so far. ๐
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you, Vanessa! I am glad that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits. ๐
Lincolnโs Mom
I tried making these today and they were great. I only had salted butter so I reduced the salt too much so will adjust next time. I didnโt get them up to 1โ for all biscuits and they were more tender than most biscuits, but still rather tasty. I wanted to know if buttermilk would change the texture/flavor? Thanks
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed the biscuits! Buttermilk works fine in this recipe, it will give them a bit more flavor. Thank you for commenting! ๐
Kris
Followed recipe to a T and my wife and kids did not like them. They said they tasted like chemical which is something Iโve never heard so not sure what happened but they were not good.
Sam
Hi Kris! It sounds like your baking powder was probably bad and probably had little clumps in it, which would cause that chemical taste. That’s the only thing that I can imagine. I’ve found this happens most often with generic baking powders, but if it was ever exposed to moisture that could also do it. I would try with new baking powder and I think you (and the wife and kids!) will be pleasantly surprised!
Kenny C.
Was looking for a simple biscuit recipe to go with my air fried chicken tonight and these were perfect. ๐
Sam
I’m so glad to hear this one was a hit for you! Thanks for commenting, Kenny! ๐
Joanna
These biscuits have come out perfect every time. This is definitely a keeper recipe.
Sam
So glad you enjoyed the biscuits, Joanna! Thank you for commenting! ๐
Sue
You probably wonโt post this but your recipe did not work for me. Iโve never been able to make biscuits from scratch. And this recipe that sounds easy still requires a knack that I donโt gave.
Sam
I’m sorry to hear that, Sue! What seemed to go wrong/ what was the problem? I might be able to help troubleshoot!
Jennifer Cavnar
Just made these for the first time today to go along with a killer beef stew! Hoping to win a heart via a stomach… lol. Thanks, Sam! โค๏ธ
Sugar Spun Run
I hope that the biscuits paired nicely with your stew and you enjoyed them, Jennifer! ๐
Jennifer Cavnar
Yes indeed! Back again, to make them again! ๐
Jayne Hughes
Made this twice now. The first time, we followed the recipe exactly. We really wanted to cut down on the saturated fat, so the second time we substituted a healthier balanced margarine for the butter. Just had to use the pastry cutter instead of shredder. We also made it a little less thick and got more biscuits out of it. Turned out just as good as the first time. Thanks!!!!!
Sugar Spun Run
Glad that it worked out and you enjoyed the biscuits, Jayne! Thanks for commenting. ๐
Paul Cathcart
I just made these biscuits, they turned out perfectly. So good, I haven’t tried home made biscuits in years because it’s hit or miss. I put Molasses on one, Apple butter, plain, they were perfect. Thanks.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the homemade biscuits, Paul! Thanks for commenting. ๐