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!Â
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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For all dessert recipes, go HERE.
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Have a great day!
Viv says
Trish my husband LOVES your biscuit recipe for creamed chicken over biscuits.
He only wants your biscuits. Mine don’t look as good as yours but I keep trying.
I love to eat the biscuits with strawberry jam. A HUGE thank you for the recipe.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
What an amazing compliment – thank you!
Danielle says
I made this recipe but because we were short on milk, did 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup half and half. Turned out great. My husband loved them.
Debbie says
These biscuits were delicious and raised up high ! Although I wasn’t expecting a sweet biscuit I’ll definitely make these again but with only half the sugar and I want to use buttermilk instead of regular milk. I did not add the egg either.
Deborah Vancleave says
These biscuits are so good best recipe I’ve made
Carol says
This is my go to recipe! My family loves them, and they always turn out nice and fluffy. I “cut in” the butter using a food processor and that cuts down the work substantially!
Robin Paulissuan says
I recently made these biscuits and I have to say that they were very good and everyone loved them!
I decided to add 3 tablespoons of dried buttermilk to the flour mixture with an additional tsp of sugar….
However, the biscuits would have been great without the extra ingredients I had incorporated into the recipe…
Kelsey says
This is, hands down, the most delicious biscuit I’ve ever made or eaten! I’m throwing out my old drop biscuit recipe and replacing it with these. So versatile, too! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Meadow fehr says
Grate biscuits I will be making again I didn’t cut the butter
I shredded the butter cold and there are no clumps
in the bread, I coated them with 2 butter and 1teaspoon of milk
before taking them into the oven. turned out beautiful!
Kate Duffy says
Hands down the best biscuits ever!
Tina Poston says
Finally, I have found the best biscuit ever. I had just about given up on making biscuits from scratch. Too dry, don’t rise, tasteless. Then I found this recipe and it looked like what i wanted a biscuit to look like. And it tastes like it too. This will be a keeper for me. Thank you!
Derrick says
They are great but I can separate mine to full with jam or sausage otherwise the just crumble. I know I’m doing something wrong because they taste so good!!
Tabatha Gale says
I’ve made these many times. They are delicious.
Stacy says
It’s also important when cutting out the biscuits not to turn the glass or whatever you use or it will seal the biscuits edges and they won’t be fluffy. I was doing this and my mother let me know. Otherwise, this is a great recipe!!
Sue says
I made these biscuits for my son and I and they are the best biscuits I have ever had. I am so glad I found this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Chris says
Made many recipes in search of a ‘go to’ and this one is the best. Came out great on the first attempt so I made it again but used vegetable shortening and they came out great!
Cynthia says
OMG, I have been searching for a long time for a recipe for biscuits that tasted like my Dad’s, you have done it, thanks so much! They’re tender and delicious and do not fall apart when you eat them, great for a breakfasts sandwich, again THANKS SO MUCH!