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:
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Have a great day!
Monet Dufala says
The best biscuit recipe I’ve used and quick and easy, thank you!
Teri says
Perfect. Everybody loved them. I didn’t have whole milk so I used 1/2 of 2% and ¹/2. Daisy light sour cream.
Susan says
My new go to!! I left out the sugar because that’s just my taste. Didn’t change the fluffiness. Also I only had 2% milk and did use a little more than a cup.
Freezing and grating the butter was incredibly great tip!! Wow! 🤯
Tips: 1. used a beer glass dipped in flour cuz I didn’t have a biscuit cutter.
2. Highly recommend brushing off any flour on the cut biscuits before baking.
I don’t follow any cooking sites but will this one!!!
Stefany says
I made these and they came out DELICIOUS! I did not have cream of tartar on hand at the moment so instead I added two tablespoons of plain non-fat greek yogurt and they came out really tasty. 🙂
Angelica says
I have tried several biscuit recipe and this is easily my favorite. The best!
Mckenzie S. says
I made breakfast calzones using this recipe and they turned out amazing. The biscuit dough was delicious and did great being handled (stuffed). I will definitely be using this recipe again especially since it only took 15 minutes start to finish.
Mckenzie says
I made breakfast calzones using this recipe and they turned out amazing. The biscuit dough was delicious and did great being handled (stuffed). I will definitely be using this recipe again especially since it only took 15 minutes start to finish.
Robin says
I rarely write reviews but I had to this time. I’m 64 years old and could NEVER make a nice biscuit until I found this recipe. Biscuits are light, fluffy, slightly sweet and totally delish!! Thank you for this recipe!
Jo’L says
Wow! I literally got PERFECT biscuits. Thank you for a great recipe.
Yvonne Gunderman says
I love making biscuits..as soon as I saw your recipe I went right in the kitchen and made them before going to work. They where really good. I used 1 cup buttermilk and 1/4 cup milk. My mom enjoyed every bite. Thank you….👩🍳👍
Anna says
Girl. Friend. Girlfriend. These really are perfect. I’m a biscuit novice and these made me look like a biscuit professional. They might be a weekly jam. Great with my husband’s sausage gravy but I can’t wait to have one for breakfast with some apple butter.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you SO much Anna!
Lisa says
I used this recipe for the first time a year ago or so. And use it all the time. It’s the first time I had the great fluffy biscuits that I couldn’t ever manage to get.
I have a question. I recently started doing my own Sourdough starter.
If I used some of that, how would you suggest I adjust the water/flour/?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I do this rather frequently and what I do is literally go by look and feel. I add about a half a cup of the starter in and then add the milk a little at time to get the right consistency. Sometimes starter can be really thick and sometimes really thin so it’s best to just eyeball it. Thanks Lisa!
Cindy says
These are great biscuits, followed your recipe to the T. Thank you
Julie says
Made this today. It was a hit with my family – thank you!
My recipe was a bit dry, but I did omit the Cream of Tartar. I just added a bit more milk to get everything to stick before turning it onto the flour and it worked beautifully. I used a pumpkin cookie cutter and got approximately 22 biscuits.
With the prices of everything going up, I wonder if there is a substitute for the large amount of butter in this recipe. Any suggestions? Thanks again!
Anita says
This recipe is fantastic. So simple and end result is great! Rather than cutting them in rounds, I shaped it into a square and scored it. It took a little less than 10 minutes in my air fryer. Will definitely be making these again! Thank you!!
Shelby says
These are my GO TO biscuits now. I moved into my first apartment a few months ago and have since picked up a little bit of baking as a hobby. These biscuits are so easy and fast but taste SOOOOO good. New staple for me and my boyfriend 🙂 1000/10. You’re missing out if you don’t give these a shot