The BEST Homemade Biscuit recipe you’ll ever try! These easy, homemade biscuits are soft, flaky, made completely from scratch and can be on your table in about 15 minutes! A weekend staple in our house! Love all things breakfast? Me too! Make sure to give my amazing Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes and Lemon Blueberry Scones a try!
Almost every weekend I whip up a batch of these easy homemade biscuits. It’s by far my favorite biscuit recipe and since it’s so easy, we make them all the time.
There is nothing quite like a warm, buttery, flaky biscuit straight from the oven that you can slather with butter and jelly, make into a biscuit breakfast sandwich, or enjoy with sausage gravy. I used to buy the mixes (and I’m sure I will pick up a box in the future again) but with a biscuit recipe this easy, it’s just as easy to make biscuits from scratch.
This easy biscuit recipe has never failed me and after much tweaking it is my go-to biscuit recipe. The biscuits rise up nice and fluffy and the copious amounts of butter ensure a tender, delicious biscuit each and every time.
What Ingredients Do I Need for Homemade Biscuits
Not a whole lot! And I’m pretty sure you have most, if not all, of these on hand in your pantry. The one ingredient you may see in this list that could be a little unfamiliar is the cream of tartar. I use it in my Snickerdoodles recipe and love it in biscuits but if you don’t have it on hand, please, don’t let that stop you from making this biscuit recipe. Go ahead and omit it from the recipe.
You’ll notice this list is very similar to the ingredients used in my scones recipe. My scones call for heavy cream instead of whole milk and a more substantial amount of sugar.
I should also note that my brother makes these biscuits every weekend and doesn’t use the egg, like, EVER. In fact, neither does my little sister. If you want to leave it out, go ahead.
- all-purpose flour
- sugar
- salt
- baking powder
- cream of tartar
- COLD butter
- egg
- milk
Tips for Making Biscuits
- The secret to excellent biscuits is COLD BUTTER. Really cold. Many times the biscuit dough gets worked so much that the butter softens before the biscuits even go in the oven. You want to handle the dough as little as possible because we want that butter to stay cold.
- I use two methods tor incorporate the butter into the flour mixture.
- One is to cut the butter into small pieces, refrigerate or freeze until ready to use, and then use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the mixture when ready.
- The second is grating frozen butter with a box grater and then stirring it into the flour mixture.
- Both work great so use the method you prefer. Don’t go too crazy here – you want to see small, pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the dough.
- To keep the butter from melting at all, use a cold egg and cold milk as well.
- The dough is going to be sticky so you want to generously flour the surface before turning your dough out onto it. I also sprinkle some flour on top before working with the dough.
- You can either use your hands to pat the dough out, or, if you prefer, use a rolling pin to very gently roll the dough out. I always just use my hands because at this point, they’re already a mess. If the dough is sticky, just sprinkle on additional flour, about a tablespoon at a time.
Can I Use Buttermilk in this Biscuit Recipe?
Yes, you absolutely can and we frequently do. Since buttermilk is thicker than regular milk, you will need slightly more to get the dough to the right consistency. Start with one and one-quarter cup and add more as needed.
To get a nice, tall biscuit, I like to pat the dough out to 3/4 to 1 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter. I ended up with nine this time but depending on who is snacking on biscuit dough, I can get up to 12 biscuits.
Baking the biscuits is super quick – just about 10 minutes is all you need. I like to bake my biscuits on parchment paper but if you don’t have that on hand, lightly grease your baking sheet.
For extra yumminess, brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter…
And serve with jams and jellies for a serious treat.
What You’ll Need to Make Biscuits
- A baking sheet that can handle the size of the scones.
- Biscuit cutter so you get nice evenly sized biscuits.
- Parchment paper makes removal of these biscuits painless and ensures they come off in one piece.
- A pastry cutter makes quick work of cutting the butter into the flour. Two knives or forks will also work or you can use a box grater.
- A pastry brush to brush on melted butter when the biscuits are hot from the oven.
More favorite breakfast recipes:
- The BEST Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes
- Ham and Cheese Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
- Baked Cherry Cheesecake French Toast
- Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Lemon Blueberry Scones
How To Make Biscuits
Perfect Homemade Biscuits
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 3/4 cup COLD butter
- 1 egg
- 1 cup whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- The secret to excellent biscuits is COLD BUTTER. Really cold. Many times the biscuit dough gets worked so much that the butter softens before the biscuits even go in the oven. Try cutting the butter into small pieces and stick back in the fridge pulling out only when ready to incorporate into the dough.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Use a pastry cutter to cut cold butter into flour mixture. Don't go too crazy here - you want to see small, pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the dough.
- Add in the milk and egg and mix just until the ingredients are combined. The dough will be sticky but don't keep working it. You should be able to see the butter pieces in the dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface. Sprinkle some flour on to the top of dough so it won't stick to your fingers and knead 10-15 times. If the dough is super sticky just sprinkle on some additional flour.
- Pat the dough out to 3/4 - 1 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or glass. I ended up with nine this time but depending on who is snacking on biscuit dough, I can get up to 12 biscuits.
- Place the biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- For extra yumminess, brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter...
Video
Nutrition
Recipe originally published May 22, 2012.
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Angelina says
I’m going to make them with butter milk.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
We love making them with buttermilk! Just remember you will need a bit more since it’s thicker.
Tillie says
Very good recipe; like the unusual tiny bit of sweetness. Have made my great grandmother’s biscuit recipe for years and we all still love them just like when she made them, but I have to say, this recipe of yours just may end up on the table more often than hers now. Grandma’s tip for never fail high rise biscuits was to chill the cut out unbaked biscuits for several hours or even freeze them before baking. The secret to her mile high biscuits was to place them close together (or even touching) in the baking pan. They have never failed to rise beautifully every time. Thanks again for the great recipe.
Zackyia says
Absolutely delicious! If you are short on dairy like I was, a substitute of 1 cup water and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of butter for the milk made it taste just as good ☺️
Jennifer says
I love these biscuits. I have made them about 6 times and they turn out perfect each time. Grating frozen butter had been the most successful approach in my book!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I’m so glad they are on a regular rotation at your house Jennifer!
Laurie says
Hi Tish, I enjoy your recipes. Just thought I would pass on a little trick I do. You are so wright about the cold butter. I mix my dry & cut in the butter, put it in the freezer or the fridge and let the flour get colder. If I am making them in a day, I put them into fridge. I also like to have a couple in the freezer, for a later date. I move those to the fridge as I need them.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Great tip Laurie!
Alyssa says
I’ve made a few different biscuit recipes and most come out very similar and not too much better than ones made from Bisquik or bought frozen at the store in my opinion. These were sooo much better! I do agree they had a very slight sweetness that I’m not used to but it was good. They’re very buttery and the texture was just right. I made with homemade sausage gravy and they were so good I had to eat one plain too. I had a few leftover and they’re definitely better warm from the oven, but what isn’t?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you so SO much Alyssa!
Tiffany says
We don’t have whole milk in the house, do you think 1% would work?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Yup, I use it all the time. In fact, any milk will work!
Sarah says
These were easy and wonderful. I tried both with and without the egg and found it much more satisfying with the egg, otherwise they didn’t quite rise enough.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I love what an egg does to biscuits – I think they’re so much better with it! Thanks Sarah!
dude says
Just tried this recipe and it came out absolutely perfect. Kudos to you for sharing.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you!
Brooke Rives says
I just made these delicious biscuits! YUM! Thanks for sharing and I will be making this again!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thanks so much Brooke!
Josh says
This was my first crack at made from scratch biscuits and these were so much easier than I thought they’d be and they turned out great! My family devoured the entire batch. The only thing I plan to change the next time I make them is reducing the sugar a bit. I made these to go with sausage gravy and to me, the biscuits were a little sweet for that combo.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thanks so much Josh!
Ronda says
These are so good! I made using gluten free flour and they were perfect. Thanks for the recipe. I will be using for strawberry shortcakes tonight.
Sierra says
I have used a different recipe every time I make biscuits for a year from crisco to buttermilk biscuits and this is officially my absolute favorite recipe. I made these biscuits to go with poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce the slight sweetness of the biscuit was the perfect balance to the mild tang of the sauce!!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Yasssss! Thank you Sierra! Have a great week!
Carolyn Johnson says
These were so easy, but mine came out so dry? Ideas?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Hi Carolyn! You do need to spoon the flour into a measuring cup instead of scooping. If you scooped, you probably had too much flour. Hope that helps!
Lc says
I never comment on recipes I find. They’re sometimes good, I get what I’m looking for. But these buscuits — they are PERFECTION! Thank you for sharing your secrets momontimeout! Next, the sausage gravy.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Awwww, thank you so much!