Homemade Biscuits
Updated
Updated
Soft, flaky, and buttery, these Easy Homemade Biscuits are made with just a few pantry ingredients, no special equipment, in 30 minutes. I like to keep this perfect biscuit recipe on hand year-round to complete any breakfast or dinner.
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Easy Homemade Biscuit Recipe
A recipe for soft, buttery, homemade biscuits is something that everyone needs in their recipe box. But not just any biscuit—the perfect biscuit has a soft and light texture, is super flaky, offers a rich, buttery flavor, and doesn’t take hours to prepare. That’s exactly what I’ve created in this easy buttermilk biscuit recipe.
These biscuits are a perfect holiday side dish staple, but I enjoy them for breakfast or prepare them as a side dish all year round.
Helpful Tips
- Freeze the butter. And keep the buttermilk chilled to create light, flaky biscuits. You want the butter to slowly melt in the oven, not while you are making the dough. Keep the buttermilk in the fridge right up until it’s time to use it.
- Do not overwork the dough. Stir in the buttermilk just enough to combine the ingredients, and then work the dough only as much as you need to. You need to fold and rotate about 7 times. Doing more than that can cause dense biscuits.
- If you find the dough is too sticky when working with it, add just a bit of flour. If it seems too dry, add a touch more buttermilk as necessary.
- Do not use a rolling pin. Gently use your hands to flatten the dough into a rectangle before cutting out your biscuits.
- Cut the biscuits close together. To get as many biscuits as possible out of the dough, make sure to cut them as close together as you can. You should be able to get 4 or 5 biscuits out of the dough before you need to rework it.
Easy Homemade Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, very well chilled
- ¾ cup cold full-fat buttermilk, (or more, as needed), or whole milk, avoid 2%, skim, or non-dairy alternatives
Instructions
- Place the butter in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt until combined.
- Using a box grater, shred the chilled butter over the flour mixture, then stir to coat. Cut in the butter with your hands (or a pastry blender) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the cold buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined, being sure to incorporate anything on the bottom of the bowl, too (careful not to over-work the dough).
- Transfer your biscuit dough to a well-floured surface and use your hands to gently work the dough together. (If the dough is too sticky, add a bit of flour until it is manageable. Alternatively, add just a touch more buttermilk if it seems overly dry.)
- Fold the dough in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten the layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 5 more times but taking care to not overwork the dough.
- Use your hands (do not use a rolling pin) to flatten the dough to a 1″ thickness and lightly dust a 2 & 3/4-inch round biscuit cutter with flour.
- Making cuts as close together as possible, press the biscuit cutter straight down into the dough and drop the biscuit onto your prepared baking sheet.
- Repeat until you have gotten as many biscuits as possible and place on the baking sheet with space in between. (Gently re-work the dough to get out another biscuit or two until you have at least 6 biscuits.)
- Bake for 12 minutes or until tops are beginning to just turn lightly golden brown.
- Right out of the oven, brush with a bit of melted butter. Serve warm and enjoy.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!How To Make Homemade Biscuits Step by Step
Freeze the butter: Freeze 6 tbsp butter for 30 minutes before beginning the recipe.
Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Combine dry ingredients: In a large bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 tbsp granulated sugar, and 1 tsp coarse salt.
Add butter: Grate the chilled butter over the flour mixture. Toss, then cut in the butter with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in ¾ cup chilled buttermilk with a wooden spoon until just combined.
Fold the dough: Transfer the dough to a floured surface and gently work it together with your hands. Fold the dough in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten the layers. Rotate the dough 90 degrees, fold it in half, and flatten again. Repeat this step 5 more times.
Form the biscuits: Use your hands to flatten the dough to a 1″ thickness. Use a lightly floured biscuit cutter and press straight down into the dough, dropping the biscuit onto the baking sheet. Make the cuts as close together as possible, then gently rework the dough to cut another biscuit or two.
Bake: Bake at 425°F for 12 minutes, until the tops are just lightly golden brown. Brush with melted butter immediately after removing from the oven.
How to Store Buttermilk Biscuits
Store homemade biscuits in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days. Pop in the microwave for a few seconds to enjoy them warm.
You can freeze both baked and unbaked biscuits. If freezing the unbaked biscuits, flash freeze on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag. You can bake directly from frozen, adding a few minutes to the bake time. For baked biscuits, place in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter and pop in the microwave to reheat.
Serving Suggestions
Light, flaky, and buttery homemade biscuits can be served in so many ways. They’re the perfect addition to a holiday meal, whether you’re serving up turkey or ham, and pair nicely with other classic holiday sides like green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole.
For breakfast, you can enjoy them warm with your favorite jam or jelly. I’m partial to fig jam and peach jam! For a savory option, you can use these biscuits to make biscuits and gravy or top with a fried egg, a hearty breakfast sausage, and cheese for a breakfast sandwich.
Of course, you can also just serve these anytime as a side dish to dinner. I recommend them warm with some butter!
Will these be ok to put in freezer after baked? Im a single person and I cant eat all these biscuits. I can 1/2 the order but unsure. Can’t wait. Love buttermilk biscuits
Hi Melody! All storage information is included in the article below the step-by-step photos.
Excellent biscuits and easy to make!
These came out great ! One question. I’ve made these twice and each time after baking the biscuits are sitting in butter. I’ve tried cooking from frozen or right after cutting the biscuits. The shredded butter was kept in the freezer for 24 hours before completing the recipe. The flour was kept in the freezer for an hour after putting it in the bowl and for 15 mins after mixing with the frozen butter. I’m not sure what I could be doing wrong.
I didn’t have buttermilk so used whole milk and added some Vinger to it – worked just fine. Everyone loved them.
I’m ditching all my other biscuit recipes – this was PERFECTION. Light and fluffy with flaky layers as promised. I did use buttermilk as written, but rarely have it in the house so will try whole milk next time. This was 10/10.