Our Homemade Biscuits are soft, flaky, buttery, and perfect for serving warm with breakfast, dinner, or even on their own (they’re that good!)
Cold butter, buttermilk, and a simple flour mixture come together to make tender biscuits with golden tops that are so addicting and delicious. Brushing them with melted butter right when they come out of the oven gives them the best finish.
We love these with butter and jam, Honey Butter, Sausage Gravy, Pot Roast, Fried Chicken, or holiday dinners. They truly are incredible, and we hope you love them as much as we do.
Why You’ll Love It + Why it works:
- Soft and Flaky: Buttermilk helps make the biscuits soft and tender.
- For Holidays or Any Day:Perfect for breakfast, dinner, holidays, and serving with soups or gravy.
- Cold Butter Creates Flakiness: As the biscuits bake, the cold butter melts and creates tender layers.
- Gentle Handling Keeps Biscuits Tender: Using your hands as little as possible helps keep the dough from getting tough.
Homemade Biscuits Ingredients
- All-purpose flour (2 cups): Gives the biscuits structure and helps create the dough.
- Baking powder (4 teaspoons): Helps the biscuits rise and bake up light.
- Sugar (2 teaspoons): Adds a touch of sweetness and helps with browning.
- Salt (½ teaspoon): Balances the flavor.
- Cream of tartar (½ teaspoon): Helps make the biscuits tender and supports the rise.
- Unsalted butter, chilled, plus melted butter for brushing (½ cup): Adds rich flavor and creates flaky layers, with extra butter brushed on top after baking.
- Buttermilk (¾ cup): Adds moisture, tenderness, and a slight tang. See How to Make Buttermilk if you’re in a pinch.
How to Make Homemade Biscuits
PREP. Preheat oven to 450°F.
BATTER. In a large bowl, mix the baking powder, baking soda, and flour.
Use a pastry cutter (or a couple of forks) to cut the butter into the flour mixture. Mix it all together until it forms coarse crumbs (pieces about the size of a pea).
Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir with a wooden spoon until dough begins to come together. Press dough together, but use your hands as little as possible, since it will warm up the butter in the dough.
BAKE. Preheat the oven to 400°F and flour the surface you want to work on.
Form the biscuit dough into a circle that is about ½ inch thick. Use a thick round cutter to cut out the biscuits. (Try not to overwork the dough, to ensure tender biscuits!)
Place biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown. Brush the biscuit tops with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven.
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- Keep the butter chilled until you are ready to cut it into the flour mixture.
- Cut the butter in until the mixture looks like coarse oatmeal for the best texture.
- Handle the dough as little as possible so the biscuits stay tender.
- Roll the dough to about ¾ inch thick so the biscuits rise nicely.
Homemade Biscuits Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, chilled, plus melted butter for brushing
- ¾ cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Sift flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar together into a large bowl.
- Cut in cold butter until the mixture is the consistency of coarse oatmeal.
- Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in buttermilk. Stir with a wooden spoon until dough begins to come together. Press dough together, but use your hands as little as possible, since it will warm up the butter in the dough.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about ¾ inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut 2-inch round biscuits, then place on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter as soon as biscuits come out of the oven. Serve warm.
Notes
- Keep the butter chilled until you are ready to cut it into the flour mixture.
- Cut the butter in until the mixture looks like coarse oatmeal for the best texture.
- Handle the dough as little as possible so the biscuits stay tender.
- Roll the dough to about ¾ inch thick so the biscuits rise nicely.
- Make-ahead tip: cut the biscuits, freeze them unbaked, then bake from frozen and brush with melted butter when done.
Nutrition
Recipe FAQ
Store leftovers in an airtight container. They will stay fresh for 1-2 days on the counter and up for to a week in the refrigerator.
Throw them into a freezer-safe container or Ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Cut the biscuits from the dough. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the cut-out biscuits on top.
Cover it lightly with plastic wrap and put the cookie sheet in the freezer.
Freeze the biscuits until they are frozen solid.
Remove from the freezer and stack in a plastic freezer bag.
Keep them frozen for up to 3 months.
Thaw at room temperature. Once thawed, bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
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This recipe was originally published July, 2018.
Loved these, it was my first attempt to making biscuits. Can you double the recipe?
I’m happy you loved them, especially for your first time! Yes, you can definitely double the recipe.
The directions were super easy to follow and they turned out amazing! Thank you for this recipe!
These are the best biscuits! Flakey and buttery, just how I like them.
Kids loved the buttery flavor of these homemade biscuits, especially when served with nutella or hot chocolate. Such a keeper!
These biscuits are so delicious and perfect!
wow wow wow, these are amazing, delicious, and super simple. thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Soooo good! They were easy to make and follow, and they were perfect served with sausage patties this morning.
That would be 3 whole sticks of butter? Just checking…
Yes!
Is this an error, with 4 cups Self Rising Flour, add 2 Tbsps Baking Powder and 1 Tsp Baking Soda?
Nope, no error. We’ve found that this combination creates really fluffy and flaky biscuits! 🙂
pERFECT BISCUITS FOR BISCUITS AND GRAVY!! tHANK YOU