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
- 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.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.
Sha Mak
This recipe has become our go-to breakfast biscuit recipe. I’ve made many times now and each time better than the last it seems. The first time I baked these up I accidentally shredded a full stick of butter and we ate 10 biscuits in one sitting with me eating about 6. I half the recipe now because there are only two of us, lol, which yields about 5 biscuits. My biscuits look just like the ones in your photo so picture perfect every time, not to mention addictingly delicious. So happy I found this recipe because it’s a gift that keeps on giving.
Sugar Spun Run
What an amazing comment, thank you! I am so glad that you enjoy the biscuits! 🙂
Diane Diovisalvo
Can these be assembled Thanksgiving morning and kept in the refrigerator until time to bake? By assembled I mean cutting out and putting on a flat surface until time to bake?
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Diane! Yes, that will be fine though I would keep them covered with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. I hope that you enjoy the biscuits and that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 🙂
Megan
I freeze them and just add a minute or two to the cooking time… even better than fresh!
Bee
What is your recommendation if I need to make the dough in the evening and bake them in the morning? Is it possible to just cut out the biscuits and then freeze them overnight before putting them in the oven?
Sugar Spun Run
Hello! You can make the dough the night before, cut the biscuits and store in the fridge to bake in the morning. If you’d like to freeze the dough, I recommend that you cut them, store in an airtight counter and then bake. They will require more time, so I would keep an eye on them. I hope that you enjoy the biscuits! 🙂
Bee
Thanks for the advice! I gotta say… I’ve been using Paula Deen’s recipe for a while but I just made these and WOW they are the best I’ve ever made. Never going back (sorry Paula)!
Sugar Spun Run
Your comment made my day, Bee! Thank you so much! I am glad that you enjoyed them so much. 🙂
Shina
I made this for breakfast, brushed it with honey butter & it was delicious!!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for your comment, Shina! I am so happy that you enjoyed the biscuits. 🙂
Ashley
The freezer/grater technique has totally revolutionized my biscuits. Thank you for making this so easy to follow. I’ve never made better biscuits.
Sam
So happy to hear this! Thank you for letting me know how they turned out for you, Ashley! 🙂
Ruth
Amazing recipe, and so easy to make! My family loved them. I am never buying frozen biscuit dough again!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that your family enjoyed the biscuits, Ruth! Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Deb
Made the recipe exactly as stated and grated frozen unsalted butter into the flour. Once they were cut out I put them back into the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking them. They rose wonderfully and tasted just perfect. They were a huge hit with the family. Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
That is wonderful, Deb! I am so happy that the family enjoyed them. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Wanda
I just love love this recipe. Thanks
Ms. Brown
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you, Wanda! I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits. 🙂
Wanda
Could you please send me a recipe to a lemon meringue pie thanks
Betty J Dodd
Hi I just finished making these delicious biscuits the taste is the most delicious biscuits i’ve tasted since my mom’s the only thing I find wrong with them is that I think I used too small a cutter they were a little hard . I may have over cooked them a little but practice makes perfect. Thanks for the recipe I will definitely keep using your recipes.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Betty! I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits! 🙂
Ashley
If you cook them side by side in a pie pan or the like, they will raise and stay soft on the sides.
JB
Tried this recipe a few times
Flavor is delicious but my buscuits havent risen.
Any tips or adjustments on getting them to rise?
Sugar Spun Run
I’m so glad you enjoyed the flavor overall, JB, but I’m sorry they didn’t rise! Most likely if they didn’t rise the dough was overworked or it’s possible your baking powder could be bad. 🙁
Peggy
Easy and delicious!!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Peggy! I am so glad that you enjoyed them! 🙂
Peg
These biscuits made me look good! Big hit with the family. Tell me, could I add cheddar cheese to this recipe? If so, would I simply add shredded cheddar to taste? Thanks for any guidance you can offer!!
Sam
Definitely could add cheddar cheese, I’d ad the cheese in steps 5/6, do so according to your taste and preference (just not too much or it could keep the dough from sticking together). 🙂 So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Peg! 🙂
Lisa Gonzales
I love your easy recipes
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Lisa! 🙂
Anthony
Hello! This was literally my second attempt at home made biscuits. All I can say is, Wow! My wife, mother in law, Grandmother and myself were all amazed at how the layers turned out! And delicious! I am glad my wife and I finally have a home made biscuit recipe. Thank you for the recipe and great instructions!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you, Anthony! I am so glad that you enjoyed them and found the instructions easy to follow. 🙂
Christie
Could you post how much of each ingredient I would need to make 12 biscuits? I want to make sure I don’t ruin it. Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Christie! If you are looking to make 12 biscuits, I recommend that you double the ingredients listed. I hope you enjoy them! 🙂
Arthur Lee Scott
I remember my dad making the biscuits in the country and with his hands and your recipe but great memories back I’m trying the recipe now I pray that it turns out like I feel and I’m smelling the aroma now thank you again will taking me back when I was 5 years old I’m 72 now thank you again for the recipe it was just like my dad he had a cow no electricity no gas a wooden stove thank you again for your recipe Arthur
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you, Arthur, for your comment. I am so glad that the biscuits could bring back sweet memories for you. Enjoy! 🙂