This is the most delicious homemade biscuit recipe we’ve ever made! It calls for milk or buttermilk and guarantees tall and fluffy biscuits!
The secret to the best biscuits is using very cold butter and baking powder. They turn out tall, tender, fluffy, and perfect for breakfast, sandwiches, and more! I genuinely cannot wait for you to make them!
This easy method is the one we turn to the most (they are so fluffy!). I love them topped with sausage gravy or using them to make delicious breakfast sandwiches. If you are looking for more freeform drop-style biscuits, I love these easy drop biscuits or cheese biscuits.
Key Ingredients
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour, but soft white wheat flour like White Lilly, Martha White, and Bob’s Red Mill Fine Pastry Flour is excellent for biscuits. Its lower protein content shuts down gluten formation, making them even more light, fluffy, and tender. You can also use self-rising flour, but you will need to add extra baking powder. See the tips in the recipe below.
- Cold Butter: I love using European-style salted butter, like Kerrygold or Plugra, since they make our biscuits tender and delicious. If you don’t have European salted butter, plain butter works (salted or unsalted). I love the slightly more salty flavor when using salted butter in our recipe, but you can always hold back on some of the salt called for in the recipe if you aren’t looking for more savory/salty biscuits. Whatever you use, make sure it is COLD. Just like when making our pie crust recipe, the cold butter puffs in the oven and adds that amazing flaky, tender texture.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: We use 5 teaspoons of baking powder in this biscuit recipe. I know that seems like a lot, but trust me. The extra baking powder makes our biscuits fluffy and tender, and baking soda helps them brown nicely. I also use baking powder for my strawberry shortcake recipe (it’s so good!). One note on the baking powder, though. Use aluminum-free baking powder (like Rumford or Bob’s Red Mill), which has less metallic flavor. I use Bob’s Red Mill baking powder in this recipe with great results.
- Milk or Buttermilk: I love how this recipe works with milk or buttermilk. If you love the tangy flavor of buttermilk, use it. You won’t need to change anything in the recipe. I also love this buttermilk biscuit recipe, which was intentionally developed with buttermilk.
- Sugar and Salt: Add flavor. We don’t add a lot of sugar (just 1 tablespoon).
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
Tips for Making the Best Biscuits
We’ve made so many batches of biscuits over the years and now want to share all our secrets with you! These tips will help you achieve the same unbelievably tasty, tall, and fluffy results.
Tip 1: Keep your butter cold. Cold butter creates pockets of steam in the oven, which puff and lead to that tender, fluffy texture (which gets even better when you add in our baking powder). I love using a food processor to quickly cut in the butter, which helps keep it nice and cold. You can absolutely do this by hand, too. Just work quickly, especially if your kitchen is warm. The same is true when making scones!
Tip 2: Don’t overmix or overknead the dough. Your biscuit dough should look a bit shaggy with lots of specks of butter (see my photos). Those little butter pieces are what puff up in the oven, giving you that amazing, fluffy, buttery, and flaky texture we all love. Overmixing or kneading too much will develop the gluten too much, resulting in tough biscuits.
Tip 3: Fold the dough for extra layers. For incredibly flaky biscuits, gently press your dough into a rough rectangle. Then, fold the sides into the middle, just like you’re folding a letter. Rotate the dough, press it out again, and repeat the fold. There’s no need for a rolling pin, simply use your fingers to press out the dough. If you’re not clear, watch our video to see me do this on camera. It’s easy, promise!
Tip 4: Bake biscuits close together. This one was a total game-changer for me. Biscuits actually rise taller when they’re closer to each other in the oven. I like using a cast iron pan or an oven-safe skillet for this, but you can achieve the same effect by placing them close together on a baking sheet. If they rise and spread enough to touch, simply use a small knife to separate them for serving.
My Favorite Ways to Enjoy Them
There are so many options, with the simplest being eaten warm from the oven with some salted butter brushed on top (homemade honey butter is even better!). They work beautifully with jam (try my peach jam), apple butter, and this maple pumpkin butter.
Then for something more savory, I love turning these into breakfast sandwiches with scrambled eggs and breakfast sausage (made with maple and sage). They are incredible with sausage gravy, and of course are perfect for dunking into soups and homemade chili.
More Easy Baking Recipes
Easy Fluffy Homemade Biscuits
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These are the most tender and fluffy biscuits from scratch we’ve ever made. These baking powder biscuits are big, tall, tender, and delicious. My preferred method is to get out my food processor. It’s an excellent tool for cutting the cold butter into our flour mixture since it’s quick. If you don’t feel like getting your food processor out, you can use your hands or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour (tips are provided in the notes section). Our family loves these with homemade honey butter or this easy sausage gravy.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
5 teaspoons baking powder, use aluminum free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, see note
6 tablespoons (85g) cold butter
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (207ml) whole milk or buttermilk
Directions
1Heat the oven to 425°F (218°C) and set aside an oven-safe 10-inch or 12-inch skillet like a cast iron pan or, if you do not have one, set aside a baking sheet instead.
2Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse three to four times so that it is mixed.
3Cut the cold butter into cubes or thin slices, then scatter it over the flour in the food processor. Pulse 5 to 7 times or until the butter turns into tiny bits — see our photos and video for reference.
4Empty the butter-flour mixture into a large bowl. Make a well in the middle, and then pour in the milk (or buttermilk). Stir until a shaggy dough forms.
5Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top, and then bring the dough together with your hands. It might be a bit sticky, so add flour as needed.
6Without working the dough too much, pat it down into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter — see our photos and video for reference. Rotate the rectangle 90 degrees, and then repeat this process two more times.
7Pat the dough into a rectangle between 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch thick. Then use a biscuit cutter to cut out your biscuits — we use a 3-inch round cutter. Do not twist the cutter, as this will seal the edges of the biscuits and prevent them from rising.
8Place the cut-out biscuits into the skillet (or onto a baking sheet). Place them close to each other (this helps them rise taller).
9Gently press together the scraps and use them to make more biscuits, but be careful not to overwork the dough, or else they will be tough.
10Bake the biscuits until golden brown and have risen, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Serving them: I love serving these biscuits while they are still warm with melted butter brushed on top or honey butter. These biscuits are also incredible with our homemade sausage gravy.
- No food processor: Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl, and use your hands or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until crumbly. If your butter is softening too much or your kitchen is warm, place the bowl with flour and butter into the fridge for 5 to 10 minutes before adding the milk.
- Measuring the flour: Too much flour makes these less fluffy. To ensure you have the right amount of flour, weigh it or use the spooned and level method. Fluff the flour in its container, gently scoop it into your measuring cup until slightly mounded, then level off the top with a knife for accurate measuring.
- Butter: We use salted European butter in this recipe. It will work with unsalted or salted butter. I like the extra saltiness of salted butter, but you can reduce the salt to 3/4 teaspoon if you prefer.
- Salt: While many love the recipe as written, some of our readers have found the biscuits to turn out a tad too salty for their tastes. If you are sensitive to salt, feel free to reduce it by 1/2 to 1/2 teaspoon.
- Best baking powder: Use aluminum-free baking powder (like Rumford or Bob’s Red Mill), which has less metallic flavor. I use Bob’s Red Mill baking powder in this recipe with great results.
- Self-rising flour: If you use self-rising flour, there won’t be enough baking powder added to the biscuit dough. So, whisk in 2 extra teaspoons of baking powder. Use 1/2 teaspoon salt instead.
- Baking soda: In the video, I say 1/2 tsp of baking soda. This is incorrect. Use 1/4 tsp.
- How to make buttermilk biscuits: Use the same amount of buttermilk as milk called for in our biscuits recipe. Buttermilk adds a tangy flavor to the biscuits and makes them slightly more tender.
- Recipe inspired and adapted from Sam Sifton’s All-Purpose Biscuits as well as our Buttermilk Biscuits
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
These biscuits came out perfect. My biscuits usually come out tough these came out just like the picture. I tried to add a picture but it wouldn’t let me. Thanks for a great biscuit. I will make these again.
I just made these biscuits to go with some sausage gravey this morning, and they are fantastic! I didn’t want to wake anyone with the food processor, so I used a tip I saw here and took a stick of butter to a cheese grater and then mixed it into the flour mixture. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly… and it was perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! This will be my go-to recipe from now on. Have a great week!
These biscuits turned out really well! Thanks!
This was the best biscuit recipe I’ve ever tried! Soft, fluffy and delicious. My entire family loved them. Thank you!
Made this biscuit recipe and turned out great. Nice flakey centers and golden brown in 12 mins in gas oven. I did not cut the butter instead I used a hand grater with the tear drop side and got a more shredded consistency in the mix.
I followed the recipe as written and they turned out fantastic! I took note of the salt note and reduced it, as suggested, which fit my taste. This will be my go to recipe!
Yay! 🙂
I’ve tried a lot of biscuit recipes from the internet and this one is a keeper. I wrote this one down and saved it. Delicious, fluffy, layered biscuits! Thank you!
Wonderful! You have made our day 🙂
I made this biscuit recipe and it was so good I had to make them again the next morning! Super simple, full of tender flakes, and have a delicious rich flavor. I decided to cut them into 8 squares after pressing out into a rectangle to avoid the possibility of sealing the edges with a cookie cutter (and because I was feeling lazy haha) Anywho, these are delicious and I totally recommend that you give them a shot!!!
By far the best biscuit recipe I have tried. I did exactly like the recipe you provided and they turned out beautiful. Thank you very much. In the past I have tried several biscuit recipes and filled exactly like the recipe states but they did not turn out like the pictures. Your recipe was perfect !!!! Thank you. It’s nice to have a recipe come out perfect !!
This is wonderful, Louise. Thank you so much for sharing.
I don’t think I’ve ever left a review on a recipie but oh my goodness. These were the best biscuits I’ve ever had in my entire life. The best part was they were so quick and easy to put together! Definitely saving and using this time and time again.
These came out wonderfully light, fluffy and tall. I did change one thing. I took 1/3 of the dry ingrediants and cut the butter in with a small food processor, then mixed it back in with the other dry ingrediants and finally added the milk as noted. It worked perfectly without having to hand cut the butter into the flour mix.
they were good but i was searching for biscuits like my motheri inlaw would make i have been trying for 41 years no sucess her biscuits were like cotton inside fluffy and tall no can do. i am acajun cook can make Gumbo crawfish atufa roasts melts in your mouth all my meals have ahomemade stock, i also bake great cakes, my icing is to die for. every one tells me u should have a reasturant no way u have to be married to it. i have cattle and i deer hunt regligously and crawfish pounds very busy we speak cajun french bye for now. Stef
Anything BUT tall!!! Flat, sad things these were! Wish I could leave a picture…
That’s such a shame, DR. Sorry your biscuits did not rise as much as you expected them to. Have you checked that you used baking powder and that it is relatively new (it can lose its effectiveness over time). Also baking the biscuits close together helps a lot with promoting the rise.
I always find biscuit recipes suggest rolling them too thin for truly tall, fluffy biscuits. I doubled the height suggested before cutting and they’re a dream
I just made these biscuits and they are the Bomb!!!
Eureka! I have found my forever biscuit recipe at last! Any time I’ve tried to make biscuits, they turn out like little hockey pucks. These were exactly like your photos and so fluffy! We enjoyed them with butter and Bonne Maman preserves. I’m so happy I found your site!
This is a great recipe! Best biscuits I’ve made so far, husband agrees! Added a bit of grated cheese and served them with homemade Chili. It was a perfect winter meal. Thanks
Quite simply the easiest, most delicious biscuits. They didn’t rise well, but my baking powder is old. It didn’t effect the end result at all. My family gobbled these up! I may either reduce the salt or use unsalted butter next time as they were just on the verge of being too salty, but I’m not complaining! I didn’t need to butter them once they came out of the oven, I put some honey on them and BAM!!!! Thank you for sharing, saving this to my recipe collection!
Excellent recipe I was also wondered if I could replace the butter with butter flavored crisco
Hi Paul, Glad you enjoy the recipe! I’ve not used butter flavored crisco in this recipe before, but you should be able to use it as a replacement for the butter. The flavor just might be different.
These are delicious & fluffy biscuits! We grew up eating “Baking Powder biscuits” but there’s something different about this recipe. 5/5
Don’t grease the skillet, or roll the biscuit in oil?
There’s no need.
Just made this, used a buttermilk made with evaporated/water/lemon juice, and it was great! Easy n delicious😋
Made these tonight and like pretty much every other reviewer, I would have to say these are fantastic! So fluffy and light. They taste amazing! The buttery, flaky inside is just divine. So much better than any biscuit I’ve had at a restaurant. I CANNOT wait to have these with some country gravy! Thank you so much for this recipe because it will be forever saved in my collection.
Hands down, THE VERY BEST biscuits I’ve ever made!
Wow, what a compliment! Thank you so much for coming back, Molly!
Absolutely amazing! My biscuits turned out amazing. I used a different recipe before this & couldnt get them to turn out fluffy. This is incredible.
Thanks for coming back and letting us know!
Just made these–fantastic! Thank you for enabling cut this recipe in half! No food processor. I just finely grated the butter after it had been in the freezer a bit. Used my hands to combine. Took a tip from a previous review and made them into square-ish biscuits! Again, fantastic! Just printed the recipe for my notebook!
Can y’all keep a secret???.. Freeze your butter & use a cheese grater to grate it in your flour mixture!! We are a family of 6 that lives in TX where biscuits are a staple..
Love that tip, Nicole!
Best biscuits i have ever made. There were fantastic.
So happy you gave the recipe a try!
Excellent biscuits and delicious gravy🤩❤️
Oh wow, I am so happy you tried both! (For anyone wondering about the gravy, here’s our sausage gravy recipe)
Best recipe I’ve made to date! I followed it to tee and they were perfect. Buttery, solid but light. Man oh man this is a keeper!!!
That’s incredible! Thank you so much for coming back.
I am hosting my entire fam for a week in the New Year so I prepped these in advance. I took a bite of the dough for some odd reason and like the earlier British review commented, the salt hit immediately. I decided to bake one to see if finished, it balanced out. It did not, so I checked a few other biscuit recipes for comparison and most require 1/8 tsp per 2 cp of flour, etc. Is the extra salt in your recipe part of the levening of 5 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda? I made 4 batches at once so I am serving them regardless with a whole lot of jam to cut the salt. Otherwise they do bake up fluffy and light.
Can almond milk be used in place of whole milk
Almond milk should be fine.