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.
More breakfast recipes to enjoy:
For all breakfast recipes, go HERE.
For all dessert recipes, go HERE.
Sign up to get emails when I post new recipes!
For even more great ideas follow me on Facebook – Pinterest – Instagram – Twitter – Bloglovin’.
Have a great day!
Zeena says
These were the best biscuits I have ever had made by anyone. They were so soft, fluffy , buttery, and delicious. The most perfect biscuits. Usually I have a few biscuits leftover, but not a single one remained because they were all eaten up! I’m making them again. This is my forever recipe now.
Terri says
Not a baker but I can follow directions. Biscuits are delicious, I used heavy cream instead of milk and no cream of tartar but the taste was delicious. I halved the dough and will use the rest to make a cobbler. Grating the butter worked so well for me. Thanks for the tip.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you so much Terri!
Mamacancook says
I love my biscuit recipe but decided to try these. Fabulous!!! Very light and delicious. I’m sold. Thanks.
Michelle Geraghty says
These by far were the best biscuits I have ever had! I put the diced butter in my freezer for 15 minutes to make sure it was super cold. I handled the dough just enough to make it come together, then cut out the biscuits. We used them for strawberry shortcake and everyone raved about them. Thank you for sharing!
Alaysha says
These came out fantastic! I didn’t have the cream of tartar and I only had two percent milk. I live in higher altitude so I did have to add a little more milk but other than that, these were perfect. They only needed ten minutes. Also, I can’t believe how much they puffed up! I was excellently surprised. Definitely going to get some cream of tartar for next time
Ashley Calabrese says
I made these today and they were wonderful. They remind me of chikfila biscuits…YUM.
Bill says
Been making these biscuits for a couple of years now. When kids and grandkids spend the night have to have biscuits and gravy. Today we experimented and made biscuits and gravy pizza. Made the dough and rolled it to about a quarter of an inch. Made sausage gravy. Then put the dough on pizza pan and baked it for 6 minutes. After that we put the gravy on it and baked it for another 7 minutes. Turned out perfect. With the crust/biscuit still coming out flakey. Ingredients and oven temperature are as the recipe called for.
Stephanie Bates says
This sounds freaking amazing. My kids would live it. It would NOT love my ass.
Tish says
These are simple to make and taste amazing! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Janet W says
mmmm…this was on point!! fluffy, tasty, absolutely the best biscuits I ever made! Thank you for sharing this recipe 👍
Melanie says
Just tried these for the first time and they’re great! Easy peasy, flavorful and better than bakery.
Michele says
These are so easy and so good! I appreciate the ability to scale the recipe too! Since there are just 2 of us, I made 2/3 of the recipe to use 1 stick of butter. Perfect!
Amy Bill says
This was my first attempt at homemade biscuits and they turned out great! My family did think they were a little sweet but loved the flakiness. What would you recommend if they prefer a more salty flavor? Reduce sugar, add more butter or possibly substitute buttermilk for whole. Not a seasoned cook so I don’t want to make a mistake. Thank you!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
You can omit the sugar if you prefer!
Amy says
Thank you so much! These are going to be a staple in my house.
Amy says
I have attempted to make biscuits for years and they never turn out.
I have now made your recipe 3 times and they have been perfect every time. Thanks so much for helping me perfect these yummy biscuits.
Ashley says
Made these tonight and they turned out amazing. It was my first time making biscuits from scratch ( I was a little intimidated) but these are so quick and easy. Even my teenage son who claims to hate all biscuits enjoyed these! Thank you for the great recipe. Will be making these often now, no more canned ones.
Faith Segal says
GREAT recipe — so easy and quick!! Thank you so much. I know this will quickly become a family favorite!