Anyone (including you) can make perfectly fluffy homemade biscuits from scratch!
This biscuit recipe is easy to make and I’ve included my best tips to ensure that your biscuits are tender and flaky every time!
Biscuits aren’t just for breakfast; serve them with meals like chicken stew, sausage gravy, or bacon gravy. They’re perfect for dipping and sopping up sauces of all kinds.
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Ingredients for Biscuits
This homemade biscuit recipe is a quick recipe which means no waiting around for the dough to rise. Leavening (the rise of the biscuits) comes from both baking soda and baking powder as well as the way the dough is prepared. They’re light, fluffy and buttery delicious.
- Flour: All purpose flour is the base of these biscuits.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Together, these give your biscuits their rise and help them to brown. Ensure that your ingredients are fresh for the best rise.
- Sugar: Just a touch to balance flavors.
- Kosher Salt: Adds flavor, if you only have table salt, use a bit less.
- Cold Butter: Provides richness and flakiness. Coldness is key, so those butter bits remain intact creating flaky layers.
- Milk: Binds everything together.
Got buttermilk? Find our favorite buttermilk biscuits recipe here.
How to Make Biscuits
- Cut butter into the dry ingredients (per the recipe below).
- Mix in the milk and gently knead just a couple of times.
- Roll out and cut into rounds (or pat into a rectangle and cut into squares).
- Bake and serve warm with butter.
How to Make Flaky Biscuits
Use very cold butter and cut it in into the dry ingredients before adding liquid, the little pockets of butter create lift and flaky layers.
Use a pastry cutter if you have one or a sturdy fork. You could also pulse a few times in your food processor with the dough blade. You don’t want to incorporate the butter completely, it should be about the size of peas.
Don’t overdo the kneading. Unlike yeast bread, you don’t want to overdevelop the gluten in the flour. The best biscuits are so tender they practically melt in your mouth, so be sure not to overwork the biscuit dough.
Avoid twisting the cutter. When using a biscuit cutter, avoid twisting it or it will seal the edges and they won’t bake up nice and flaky. Use a sharp cutter, the blunt edge of a glass will also keep the biscuits from rising nicely.
Brush with milk. Brush the tops with milk or cream before baking for a golden brown top.
How to Store Leftovers
Homemade biscuits are easy to store. Depending on how long you want to keep them you can leave them on the counter, in the fridge, or store in the freezer!
- Room Temperature: They’ll keep a few days at room temperature in an airtight container.
- Fridge: Store in a baggie in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freezer: Freeze leftover biscuits for up to 4 months. Store in freezer bags.
How to Reheat Homemade Biscuits
Homemade biscuits taste best served warm. They can go straight from freezer to oven or microwave without thawing first.
- Place on a cookie sheet in the toaster oven set at 350°F for 5 -10 minutes.
- Float a piece of foil on the top to prevent over-browning or burning.
Now bring on the butter and jelly and let’s eat some biscuits!
What to Serve with Biscuits
Sweet or savory, these biscuits pair perfectly with any meal or enjoy them with your favorite jams or jelly.
Did you enjoy these Homemade Biscuits? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup cold butter cut into small cubes
- ¾ cup milk or as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.
- Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the butter in until the butter is about the size of peas.
- Gradually add the milk into the flour mixture until the dough holds together. It will be very slightly sticky. You may not need all of the milk.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and gently fold the dough over and knead about 10 times or until fairly smooth. If the dough is too sticky dust it with a little bit of flour. If you find the dough too dry, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Gently pat the dough to 1-inch thickness. Using a large biscuit cutter, cut biscuits, be sure not to twist the cutter. Place the biscuits on a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Gently pat out any remaining dough, combining the scraps and repeat the cutting process.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
- For the flakiest biscuits, ensure the butter is very cold and handle the dough as little as possible.
- Do not twist the cutter or this will seal the edges and the biscuits will not be as flaky.
- Brush the tops with cream or milk if desired, this will help them brown a little bit more.
- Using parchment paper is optional but it makes cleanup a breeze.
- Store leftover biscuits on the counter for up to 3 days in a covered container and in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Bread
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Have vegan family members. How is this with Crisco?
I’ve only tried this as written so I can’t say for sure. Let us know how it works out for you!
Super easy! So good!! Thank you for sharing the yum <3
You’re very welcome Linda!
450 seemed a bit high, so I cooked them at 375 for 14-15 minutes and they turned out great.
TERRIBLE RECIPE. These biscuits turned out like a brick. NEVER AGAIN. I would not recommend.
Sorry to hear that Mary Theresa. This recipe is usually such a hit with readers. If they turned out dense the dough may have been over kneaded. Unlike yeast bread, you don’t want to overdevelop the gluten in the flour.
Mary Theresa, it is NOT a terrible recipe. I’m following the recipe and it’s perfect. You just don’t know how to follow directions nor do you know how to bake. If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t post, sowing discord. No one wants that, hmm-Kay❕
These are super easy and taste SO amazing!! PERFECT with your sausage gravy, too! My family looks forward to our special Saturday or Sunday morning breakfast when I make this. We have decided I have to limit it to about once a month, though!
Homemade biscuits were so intimidating to me. This recipe was so simple and the biscuits were light and flaky. My son requested no more can biscuits. This is a great recipe. I topped with honey and butter.
I added to much milk and when it was time to make it smooth it didn’t work so I just put them in the oven I hope it comes out good
I also forgot to make them into circles
You could try adding a little additional flour to try and balance it out Keiah. Hopefully, they still turn out for you!
You do not need 4tsp of baking powder that’s way to much I used a 1/2 tsp and they can put perfect! I’ve been baking forever I’m German so I make a lot of cakes rolls and everything else!
Don’t use this recipe horrible
I’m sure your method and other cakes and rolls are lovely. Our readers have also had great success with this recipe.
Thanks for the tip, I will do this next time.
This is the best homemade biscuit recipe ever if all time! Delicious!
These are Scones not biscuits.
Hi D, these are our version of a biscuit. You can check out our yummy scone recipe here!
Too much baking powder. I could taste it heavily after they finished baking in a nasty aftertaste. However the texture, and color of the biscuits came out really good. I made a second batch with less baking powder and they tasted aye okay!
I followed the instructions exactly, and cooked for 11 and a half minutes, but the outside cooked faster than the inside, and left my inside with dough… Im sure it probably would have worked if I cooked for 12. Good recipe though.
If undercooked, you can try popping them back in the oven for a touch longer to reach that perfect texture Jacob.
Outstanding recipe. I just made these for breakfast. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
So glad you enjoyed them Lauren!
Loved the biscuit recipe but why don’t you add dropping them on the pan in pieces so you get more crunchy parts. That is my favorite why to bake them.
That sounds delicious, thanks for sharing Michael!
My lawddd. These taste amazing thanks so much for the recipe. I wanted biscuits with my dinner and didn’t want to go to the store for butter milk. You saved me and now I have a new and improved biscuits
So happy to hear that you enjoyed them Kendra!
So good! My first time making biscuits from scratch, definitely will again!
For some weird reason mine rose beautifully but seemed to not rise evenly….kind of top heavy. I know not to twist the cutter because that seals the sides and can prevent the rise. So any idea what I did she I won’t do it again?
I brushed them with melted butter when I pulled them from the oven and even spread more when I broke into one, couldn’t resist. Butter makes them addicting!
Thanks for the recipe! Like your other readers, not going back to the canned!!
Super easy! No more store bought! Family loved them.
I just made this and they’re freaking so good!! We don’t need to buy store bought biscuits! Thanks for the recipe!!
Holly what Food processor do you use?
I use a Kitchenaid similar to this one (my exact one is no longer available).
Great recipe but I really wish that you would include the weight of ingredients, in grams, instead of or in addition to the volume measurements. This is very important especially in baking, and in particular when it comes to something like kosher salt which comes in various grain sizes. Someone who does not know this and uses table salt instead, will end up with a dish that is very salty and possibly ruined.
Thank you for the suggestions!