Easy Homemade Biscuits (tender, soft, and flaky)
Ok, folks, I have finally DONE it!! The best easy homemade biscuits I have ever made.
Why You’ll Love These
It took a lot of failures and hockey puck-like biscuits, but I can make a perfect buttermilk biscuit thanks to themerchantbaker.
I have never been able to produce a light, fluffy, and yet tasty biscuit. I do mean never.
If you have the same problem, give this recipe a try. You may say that it’s the best biscuit recipe you’ve tried. We think so!
I have made these numerous times, and they come out perfect each time. They are so good my husband requests them almost every weekend.
This easy homemade biscuit recipe produces fluffy, tender, soft biscuits with a slightly crispy bottom!
More breakfast recipes we enjoy are ham and cheese strata, buttermilk cranberry orange muffins, hashbrown breakfast casserole, bacon french toast bake, and blueberry baked oatmeal.
How To Make Homemade Biscuits Video
Recipe Ingredients
- All-purpose flour – Be sure to measure the flour correctly. Aerate, spoon, and swoop level.
- Baking soda, baking powder, and salt – The baking powder reacts with the buttermilk giving a nice rise to the biscuits. Make sure they are fresh. This is important for a good rise.
- Unsalted butter – Cold. I recommend unsalted so you control the amount of salt in the recipe.
- Shortening – Cold.
- Buttermilk – Kept cold. The buttermilk reacts with the baking soda giving them a good rise. It also creates a flavorful and tender biscuit.
I forgot to put the buttermilk in the photo…sorry.
Most recipes call for granulated sugar or honey. Personally, I don’t feel the biscuits need the sweetness added. But if you just insist on using sugar, add about two teaspoons.
How To Make Easy Homemade Biscuits
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Cut the cold shortening and butter into the flour mixture. Make sure you use cold butter, don’t use melted butter.
You can use a pastry blender or your fingertips. If using your fingers, be careful and work quickly, so you don’t melt the fats. You want them to stay cold.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the buttermilk.
Using a wooden spoon, working from the outside, start bringing the flour into the buttermilk very gently just until it starts to come together.
Do not vigorously stir the mixture like a cake batter. The dough will be somewhat wet and sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Keep extra flour nearby so you can add it as you knead the dough.
Flour your hands, bring the dough together, and start lightly folding the dough in half.
Gently turn the dough, and fold. Do this about 6 to 10 times until the dough comes together and begins to feel smooth.
This folding technique is what will build flaky layers in the biscuits.
Please excuse my wrinkled hands. These photos sent me screaming to the store to purchase those lovely yellow rubber cleaning gloves. Yikes!
Pat the dough out to about 1-inch thickness. I don’t bother with a rolling pin. Cut as many biscuits as you can on the first rollout.
To cut your biscuit dough, use a lightly floured biscuit cutter or pastry cutter, push straight down to cut the dough, and don’t twist to release. Twisting the biscuit cutter will seal the sides, and they won’t rise as high.
Reform the dough very gently and cut more biscuits. The second cutting may not rise as much as the first.
Turn the biscuits upside down and place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, almost touching. This helps the biscuits rise taller and keeps the sides soft.
Brush the tops with buttermilk and bake for about 15 minutes.
Oh, my gosh, how perfect do these babies look??? Look at that light golden brown top. Yum!
Give this recipe a try, and you will not regret it!
Slather it up and the melted butter on this warm, soft, flaky biscuit, and you will swear that this is one of the best biscuit recipes you have tried.
An easy homemade biscuit that anybody can knock out and blow your friends and family away.
Yields 6-8 tall, large biscuits
Serve these buttermilk biscuits with butter, jam, maple syrup, sausage gravy, etc. Or make breakfast sandwiches. They are a perfect bread to serve with almost any meal. They are not just for breakfast!
Now, if you’re thinking about your next breakfast plan, you need to check out our Fried Grit Cakes recipe! These biscuits, those grit cakes .. OMG!
Tips
- Keep the buttermilk, butter, and shortening cold. This is important for fluffy and soft biscuits.
- To make your own buttermilk add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a measuring cup, add enough whole milk to make 1 cup, and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
- DO NOT overwork the dough. Mix just until the dough comes together.
- No need for a rolling pin. Use your hands to shape and flatten the dough.
- You will be laminating the dough by folding and turning it. This creates layers in the biscuits.
- Don’t be afraid to add flour when turning the dough out onto the board. The dough will be a little sticky.
- DO NOT twist the biscuit cutter. Cut straight down and pull up. Twisting the cutter will cause the edges to seal and prevent them from rising as much.
- Place the cut biscuits almost touching each other on the baking sheet. This helps them rise high and not become lopsided.
- We brush the tops with buttermilk but you could also use melted butter.
FAQs
Biscuits are best eaten the same day they are prepared. But if you have leftovers, let them cool completely, place them in an airtight container or resealable bag, and store at room temperature for up to 2 days. Reheat them in a 300 degree F oven, wrapped in aluminum foil, for a few minutes. I don’t recommend using the microwave because they become can become chewy. We have also sliced them in half and lightly toasted them in the toaster.
To freeze baked biscuits, let them cool completely, place them in an airtight container, and freeze for up to 2 months for the best quality. To reheat, transfer them frozen to a baking sheet, and warm them at 350 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes until warmed through.
Yes! Make through the cutting step. Place the cut unbaked biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Place them in a zip-top freezer bag, and freeze them for up to 3 months.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, arrange the biscuits almost touching, and brush the tops with a little buttermilk. Bake as instructed in the recipe. You may need to bake for a few extra minutes.
More Delicious Biscuit Recipes
Easy Homemade Biscuit Recipe (tender, soft, and flaky)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons salted or unsalted butter (cold and cut into cubes)
- 2 Tablespoons shortening I use non-hydrogenated
- 1 cup cold buttermilk
- extra buttermilk for brushing tops
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.2 cups all-purpose flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon salt
- Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, quickly cut shortening and butter into flour mixture until combined until you have various sizes no larger than peas. This should also take less than a minute.2 Tablespoons salted or unsalted butter, 2 Tablespoons shortening
- Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the buttermilk.1 cup cold buttermilk
- Working from the outside in, bring the flour into the center with a large spoon, scooping and turning bowl until the buttermilk is incorporated into the flour. (Use a light hand here, we are simply gently tossing the flour together with the buttermilk until it’s combined)
- Turn the wet sticky dough out onto a well-floured surface. Keep a small pile of extra flour on hand to add to your surface or your hands as needed.
- Flour your hands and bring the dough together, then lightly fold it in half in a gentle kneading motion.
- Do this about 5-7 times until your dough comes together and is beginning to feel smooth.
- Pat dough out to about an inch thick.
- Using a floured cutter, cut the dough into desired sizes.
- Turn biscuits upside down and place onto an ungreased baking sheet, close together but not touching.
- Brush tops with a little buttermilkextra buttermilk for brushing tops
- Bake until they have risen nice and tall and are golden brown on top, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.
I am a bit disappointed. My biscuits turned out very dry. I followed the recipe step by step but I used sour cream diluted as directed b/c I did not have buttermilk. Any ideas why they are dry??
Skeeter, I’ve never used diluted sour cream. I always use buttermilk. Or you can make a substitute for buttermilk by adding 1 Tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into a measuring cup and then add milk until it measures 1 cup. Also be sure you measure the flour properly. Use a spoon to fluff up the flour within the container. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup. Use a knife or other straight-edged utensil to level the flour across the measuring cup. Too much flour could make the biscuits dry. I hope this helps!
Can these be made ahead and at what stage can I stop?
Hi, Lois! I have never made these ahead, I always bake right away. But you could make the recipe through the cutting process, place on a baking sheet and freeze them until ready to bake. When ready to bake allow to thaw for a few minutes while your oven preheats and then bake. I hope this helps, please let me know how they turn out. 🙂
I love biscuits! We tried making some homemade biscuits for Thanksgiving…yeah they didn’t turn out. Maybe we should try this recipe instead. 🙂
Stephanie, I have had my biscuit failures too! This recipe works for me every time. Thanks for stopping by!
These are my kind of biscuits. I make mine almost identical to this. I do fold fine several times like a letter instead of just in half. It makes so much difference to fold the dough. I also use butter and non hydrogenated shortening. YUM!!!
Just came across your blog from Making Meals Ahead I think is the right name. HA!!
Gotta love homemade biscuits, right? Thanks so much for stopping by Charlotte!
Nothing better than a good biscuit..:)
You said it, BJ! Thanks for stopping by!