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.
Jennifer Dewar
How long will these biscuits keep fresh? Can I make two days before Thanksgiving in An air tight container??
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Jennifer! That should be fine. The biscuits will last 5-7 days if stored in an airtight container. I hope that everyone enjoys them! 🙂
Rose127
Yummy. Easy and quick.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits, Rose! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Lisa
I am making biscuits to contribute to a Thanksgiving dinner, so I was thinking of making smaller ones since there will be so much other food. How long should I bake the biscuits if I make them about 1 3/4 inches instead of the normal size?
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Lisa! I am sorry I haven’t tested the recipe at that size to give you a time. I recommend that you keep an eye on them. I hope that they are a hit. Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂
Melody
Hi there,
I’m excited to try your recipe. Thank you for the video! Do you think that I could substitute the flour with gluten-free one to one baking flour and get the same results?
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Melody! Unfortunately, I am not familiar with gluten-free flour. I know others have tried it and have had success. Let me know how your biscuits turn out! 🙂
Marsha Anderson
These are great and so easy! I only had fat free milk on hand and they were still flaky. I grated the frozen butter as you instructed and folded the dough….both new techniques for me. Perfect!
Thanks so much and happy holidays!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits, Marsha! Thanks for commenting and Happy Holidays to you! 🙂
Karen Watson
awesome easy peasy recipe!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits, Karen! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Toni
These biscuits are amazing and so easy! My dough was also a little dry, but I added a few drops of milk, and it was perfect.
Thank you for this recipe. It will be a Sunday morning favorite!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Toni! I am so glad that they were a hit! 🙂
StormyRDH
My son wanted biscuits and gravy. I didn’t have canned biscuits or boxed baking mix. Watched the video, froze my butter, didn’t overwork the dough. They turned out flaky and delicious. WAAAAAAAAYYYY better than any store bought biscuits or Bisquick biscuits. So glad I stumbled across you site and this recipe. Now I can’t wait to browse other recipes.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy that you stumbled on my site too, Stormy. I am so glad that you and your son enjoyed the biscuits. I hope that you give more of my recipes a try. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Marcela Alban
These biscuits are heavenly even better than KFC’s
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Marcela! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Ashley Barlow
Can I use this recipe for a chicken and dumpling casserole?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Ashley! I haven’t tried it, but I think that it should work for the casserole. If you do try it, please let me know how it turns out. 🙂
BOBBI GREEN
I followed the recipe precisely but had trouble getting the dough to become as cohesive as what yours appeared in the video. I had dry ingredients that would not incorporate and just hung up in the bowl. I used my hands to try and fold them in better. Do I just keep nixing till incorporated? I was afraid I would be handling the dough too long. I froze my butter and did the box grater. 3/4 cup of milk but I felt like I needed more milk to bring the ingredients together. 2 cups of flour
Sam
Hi Bobbi, I would try adding a bit more milk to get everything to cling together and see if that helps. It’s possible the flour may have been a little over-measured, here is a post on how to measure flour just in case that might have been the problem. I hope you’re able to salvage them!
Jen
They tasted good but did not rise.. Baking powder is new. Not sure what happened..
Sam
Sometimes this will happen if the dough is over-worked. Make sure you have nice pieces of butter throughout your biscuits, they really contribute to the rise. Glad to hear you enjoyed the biscuits overall, Jen! 🙂
Marla
Can these be made by “dropping” the dough rather than flattening it and cutting them out?? I prefer the rustic look of drop biscuits
Thanks!!
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Marla! I have not tried it personally, but it should be fine. Let me know how they turn out! 🙂
Kristen Bottoms
Can you make the biscuits and freeze them? Then pull them out and bake them on another day.
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Kristen! Yes, you can! 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! 🙂
Kay
These are the best biscuits I’ve ever made, and I’m from the South. I believe the difference is not so much in the recipe, but in the careful instructions you give for cutting in the butter and handling the dough. One question. I currently live at 7,000 feet in the mountains outside of Boulder, Colorado. I’m used to dough not rising as if I were at sea level, but do you have special instruction for the biscuits at this altitude?
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits, Kay! Unfortunately, I am not experienced with baking at high altitude so I can not advise. If you have any tips once you figure it out, please share. 🙂