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.
- 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 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.
Linda
This is a easy recipe and yum they are going to be delicious
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits, Linda! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Joyce
If I only have salted butter how would I switch up the salt /butter ratio
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Joyce! You can use salted butter but I recommend omitting the additional 1 teaspoon salt listed on the ingredient list. I hope that you enjoy the biscuits. 🙂
Corinne
I can FINALLY make a biscuit! This is the first non-hockey-puck biscuit I have ever made..
This is the first time my family has ever been disappointed that there were only 6 biscuits, haha.
Thank you so much!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you and your family enjoyed the homemade biscuits, Corrine! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Becky
I use buttermilk instead of plain milk. I LOVE land o’ lakes butter; the taste is just so different than any other ive tried. I use half the butter on top of the dough before I start to fold and wrap my dough around it like I do my pastry dough. So happy I came across your recipes!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy that you enjoyed the biscuits, Becky! Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Irma
Can you substitute with Self Rising flour? Does everything else stay the same?
Sam
Hi Irma! I do not recommend using self rising flour here.
Jennifer A Sassaman
I just wanted to let you know that I found this recipe a few months ago and immediately realized it was the holy grail of biscuit recipes. This weekend my dad is visiting so I suggested making biscuits for breakfast. My daughter enthusiastically agreed (since she also loves these). My dad also said that sounded good but that he had recently found a good biscuit recipe and I should try it. I was in the middle of saying “nope. no thanks. after years of searching I have found the perfect biscuit recipe” when he pulled his copy of the recipe he liked out of a binder and IT WAS THE SAME ONE!!!
So your biscuits are super popular with my family 🙂
Thought you would like to know.
Jennifer
Sugar Spun Run
Wow! That is awesome, Jennifer! I am so glad that the biscuits have become a family favorite. Thanks for sharing. I greatly appreciate the feedback. 🙂
Kirsten
These are the best! Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits, Kirsten! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Stephanie
Excellent biscuits! I had never folded the dough before and it really turned out great.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits, Stephanie! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Zach
These are fantastic! Any issues with just doubling the ingredients in order to make a larger batch? Also, can I use bacon fat instead of butter?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Zach! You can easily double this recipe. As far as bacon fat instead of butter, I have never tried it. The butter really makes these biscuits so I recommend using it. 🙂
Jessica
How well do these biscuits freeze?
I like making things in big batches for my big family. But I can never find anything that doesn’t dry out.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Jessica! Others have frozen these and have not reported any issues. I hope that you have the same luck! 🙂
Karen
Better to freeze before or after baking?
Sugar Spun Run
Either method will work. If you are going to freeze the dough, I recommend cutting the biscuits, wrapping and storing them in an airtight container. Just a heads up… If you bake the frozen dough, it will take longer to bake. 🙂
Tati
These are so good and amazingly quick to make. I love biscuits. Thank you for bringing a recipe that it is not messy at all. Freezing the butter makes a huge difference. They taste great!! Will do these again!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Tati! I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe and found the frozen butter trick helpful. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Nicolas
Great recipe. Was my first time making biscuits and was looking for something simple, this was perfect.
Didn’t have butter so had to use margarine. Doesn’t freeze as well as butter obviously but it did the trick.
Cheers from Montreal!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the biscuits, Nicolas, and that the margarine did the trick. I appreciate the feedback, thanks for commenting. 🙂
Sabrena
Would it be okay to use heavy cream instead of whole milk?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Sabrena! I haven’t tried it. I think that you should be fine. Keep me posted on how it turns out. 🙂
Iggy
I tried half and half and they came out nice much more buttery than whole milk so I feel like heavy cream is going to have a similar effect
Kayci
Thank you!!! Yummy!!!
Michelle
Very good recipe, best tasting biscuits I ever made. My recipe didn’t have sugar and called for lard (handed down from my grandmother) which you really can’t get anymore, at least not like what you would render yourself. Anyway, I would substitute with crisco. What a difference the butter and sugar makes. I will be using this recipe from now on.
Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Michelle, and that your biscuits turned out well. Thanks for commenting. 🙂