Homemade Biscuits Recipe

Several homemade biscuits stacked on a wooden tray.

5 from 21 votes

Homemade Biscuits Recipe

Homemade Biscuits are soft, flaky, and buttery with cold butter, buttermilk, and simple pantry ingredients, perfect warm from the oven.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: biscuits

Author: Kristyn Merkley

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.

Video

Notes

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.
Make-ahead tip: cut the biscuits, freeze them unbaked, then bake from frozen and brush with melted butter when done.

Store. 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.

Freeze. Throw them into a freezer-safe container or Ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Make ahead of time. 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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