These homemade biscuits are soft and buttery with dozens of flaky layers. This biscuit recipe requires just 7 ingredients and they’re ready in about 35 minutes.
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more helpful success tips.
One reader, Marcia, commented: “Finally, a biscuit recipe that worked for me. I especially appreciated the notes which, in fact, had me change some things I had been doing. The detail at all levels, both visual and written, is very helpful. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Maggie, commented: “One of my favorite biscuit recipes! They are so consistently flaky and delicious, every single time! ★★★★★“
It’s quite serendipitous that this “side dish” may taste even more remarkable than the main event. No, no… it WILL taste more remarkable. Just look at the big buttery layers! Nothing can compete.
What Are Biscuits?
The term “biscuits” has different meanings depending on where you live in the world. In the U.S., biscuits are similar to a dinner roll, but are denser and flakier because they aren’t (typically) made with yeast. Since there’s usually no yeast and the rising agent is either baking soda, baking powder, or both, biscuits are considered a quick bread, like banana bread and no-yeast bread. In other parts of the world, people may consider these American-style biscuits to be more similar to scones, and what they call “biscuits” are more like what we call cookies.
7 Key Ingredients in Homemade Biscuits
You need just 7 basic ingredients for my homemade biscuits recipe:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Cold Butter
- Cold Buttermilk
- Honey
With so few ingredients, it’s important to reach for quality ingredients and avoid any substitutions.
Baking Powder AND Baking Soda
Until recently, this biscuits recipe called for just baking powder as the leavening agent. In recent years, I’ve found that the texture, color, and flavor excels when using a combination of both baking powder AND baking soda. If you’ve always made this recipe using 2 Tablespoons of baking powder, you can certainly continue to do so! However, by reducing the baking powder to 1 Tablespoon and adding 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, the biscuits brown more, have a flakier texture, crispier edges, and you don’t risk a bitter chemical aftertaste.
Success Tips for the Best Homemade Biscuits
After perfecting this recipe over the past 8 years and developing other biscuit recipes, let me share what I’ve learned along the way. I’ve made plenty of mistakes so you don’t have to. These tried-and-true tricks will turn your flat, dry biscuits into the best biscuits ever. And that’s a guarantee.
- Cold Fat: For flaky layers, use cold butter. When little pieces of butter melt as the biscuits bake, they release steam and create little pockets of air—this makes the biscuits airy and flaky on the inside while remaining crisp on the outside. It’s the same thing that happens when making these ham & cheese scones.
- Buttermilk & Honey for Flavor: Buttermilk and a teeny drizzle of honey balance out the salt. Buttermilk creates the most tender biscuit! I have plenty more on this topic in my Baking With Buttermilk post (including a buttermilk substitute recipe).
- Don’t Over-Mix: Never overwork biscuit dough. Overworking and over-handling biscuit dough will result in tough, hard, and flat biscuits. Mix the ingredients together *just* until combined. Dough will be crumbly; that’s normal.
- Flatten & Fold Method: The most important step of all is folding the dough together. Turn the scrappy dough out onto a work surface and flatten it with your hands. Fold, flatten, turn, and repeat.
- Don’t Twist the Biscuit Cutter: When cutting the dough with a biscuit cutter, do not twist the cutter. Press the cutter down into the dough firmly. Twisting it will seal off the biscuit edges, preventing the biscuits from rising.
- Bake Close Together: Biscuits rise up nice and tall when they are touching, pressed snuggly against one another in the oven.
How to Make Your Homemade Biscuits
Whisk the dry ingredients together, then add the cubed butter. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter, like when making pie crust or this savory quick bread, or pulse in a food processor. Cut/blend in the butter until you have coarse crumbles, like this:
Add the buttermilk and honey. Mix everything together until you have a shaggy dough, like this:
Pour it out onto a work surface and bring the dough together with your hands. It will be dry and shaggy with some moist spots. That’s all perfectly normal:
Fold & Flatten the Dough
Flattening and folding biscuit dough creates multiple flaky layers, just as it does when we make homemade croissants, rough puff pastry, homemade cruffins, mille-feuille, and croissant bread. This step will take you no more than 2 minutes and you’ll be rewarded with the flakiest biscuits in the world. First, shape dough into a rectangle, about 3/4-inch thick:
Then fold one side into the center:
Then the other side:
Turn the folded dough 90 degrees so it’s now horizontal, gently flatten, and repeat that folding process 2 more times.
After you’ve folded and flattened 3 times, flatten into a 3/4-inch rectangle once again, then use a biscuit cutter to shape into rounds. If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, you can cut into 8 to 10 squares.
Arrange close together in a cast iron skillet (no need to preheat it), or on a lined baking sheet. Again, make sure the biscuits are touching so they will rise nice and tall.
Before baking, brush the biscuits with buttermilk to help the tops brown evenly.
Honey Butter Topping
The honey butter topping is optional, but will set your biscuits apart from the rest. When the biscuits come out of the oven, brush with melted butter + honey. You use both ingredients in the biscuit dough, keeping the count at 7 ingredients total.
Serve your homemade biscuits with jam or homemade raspberry sauce, cinnamon butter, or biscuits and gravy—I love this particular recipe. Or a swipe of homemade honey butter really kicks it up a notch! You could also create delicious breakfast sandwiches with these breakfast sausages.
So Many Variations
I bake biscuits often, and use the same process and success tips when making all of my favorite variations including cheddar biscuits, everything bagel biscuits, and zucchini biscuits. I also make biscuit-topped vegetable pot pie and biscuit breakfast casserole. And you can absolutely turn these into dessert with my recipes for biscuit-topped berry cobbler and homemade strawberry shortcake.
I make these biscuits on almost a weekly basis, and what makes them a hit every single time is the combination of very cold butter and buttermilk. Additionally, the careful folding and flattening method helps produce dozens and dozens of flaky layers. Follow the recipe below closely.
Bake the biscuits in a cast iron skillet, which helps the edges crisp up beautifully. Additionally, use a pastry brush to coat the tops of the biscuits with a little buttermilk before baking.
You can use a food processor to cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients, but if you do not own one, you can use a pastry cutter instead. A pastry cutter is an extremely helpful baking tool.
Homemade Biscuits (Popular Recipe!)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8-11 biscuits
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These homemade biscuits are soft and buttery with hundreds of flaky layers! This biscuit recipe only requires 7 simple ingredients and they’re ready in about 35 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for hands and work surface
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder (see Note)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (see Note)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, cubed and very cold
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (270ml/g) cold buttermilk, divided
- 2 teaspoons (14g) honey
Optional Topping
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) butter, melted
- 1 Tablespoon (21g) honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Make the biscuits: Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl or in a large food processor. Whisk or pulse until combined. Add the cubed butter and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or by pulsing several times in the processor. Cut/pulse until coarse crumbs form.
- If you used a food processor, pour the mixture into a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Pour 1 cup (240ml/g) buttermilk into the well and drizzle honey on top. Using a large spoon or spatula, fold until it begins to come together. Do not overwork the dough. The dough will be shaggy and crumbly with some wet spots.
- Pour the dough and any dough crumbles onto a floured work surface and gently bring together with generously floured hands. The dough will become sticky as you bring it together. Have extra flour nearby and use it often to flour your hands and work surface as needed in this step. Using floured hands, flatten into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle as best you can. Fold one side into the center, then the other side on top. Turn the dough 90 degrees, so it’s now horizontal. Gently flatten into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle again. Repeat the folding again. Turn the dough horizontally one more time. Gently flatten into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle. Repeat the folding one last time. Flatten into the final 3/4-inch-thick rectangle.
- Cut into 2.5- or 3-inch circles with a biscuit cutter. (Tip: Do not twist the biscuit cutter when pressing down into the dough because this seals off the edges of the biscuit which prevents them from fully rising.) Re-roll scraps until all the dough is used. You should have about 8–11 biscuits. Arrange in a 10-inch cast iron skillet (see Note) or close together on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Make sure the biscuits are touching.
- Brush the tops with remaining buttermilk. Bake for 18–20 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven. If adding the optional topping, whisk the melted butter and honey together. Using a pastry brush, brush the warm biscuits with honey butter topping. Serve warm.
- Cover leftovers tightly and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked biscuits freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator, then warm up to your liking before serving. You can also freeze the biscuit dough. Prepare the dough in steps 2 through 4. Wrap up tightly in plastic wrap (plastic wrap is best for freshness) and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 5. Also, after step 4, you can wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days before continuing with step 5.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Pastry Cutter or Food Processor | 2.5- or 3-inch Biscuit Cutter | 10-inch Cast Iron Skillet (or Baking Sheet with Parchment Paper) | Pastry Brush
- Baking Powder: In 2025, I updated this recipe to use both baking powder and baking soda. I’ve found that the texture, color, and flavor excels when using a combination of both. If you’ve always made this recipe using 2 Tablespoons of baking powder, you can certainly continue to do so! However, by reducing the baking powder to 1 Tablespoon and adding 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, the biscuits brown more, have a flakier texture, crispier edges, and you don’t risk a bitter chemical aftertaste.
- Butter: Cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Keep butter as cold as possible until you need it. I recommend placing the cubed butter in the freezer for about 15 minutes before you begin.
- Buttermilk: You can substitute whole milk for buttermilk if desired. However if you’d like the tangy flavor, which I highly recommend, you can make your own DIY buttermilk substitute. Add 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1 cup. (You need 1 cup in the recipe, plus 2 Tbsp for brushing—you can use regular milk to brush on top.) Whisk together, then let sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe. Whole milk is best for the DIY sour milk substitute, though lower-fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch. (In my testing, the biscuits don’t taste as rich or rise quite as tall using lower-fat or nondairy milks.)
- Cast Iron Skillet: If your cast iron skillet isn’t well seasoned, I recommend greasing it with a little vegetable oil or melted butter. Brush a thin layer of either on the bottom and around the sides. No need to heat the cast iron skillet before using, though you certainly can. Place in the preheated oven for 15 minutes before arranging the shaped biscuits in it.
- Flavors: Try my flavorful biscuit variations: cheddar biscuits, zucchini biscuits, and everything bagel biscuits.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 biscuit
- Calories: 212
- Sugar: 2.4 g
- Sodium: 283.5 mg
- Fat: 9.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.5 g
- Protein: 4.1 g
- Cholesterol: 25.4 mg
Reader Comments and Reviews
I discovered this recipe about 3 months ago and have been making biscuits with it at least once every week.The only thing I do differently is take very cold or frozen butter and grate it into the dry ingredients. Make sure you keep everything cold and do the folding of the dough about 4 times. Don’t twist your biscuit cutter when cutting them out and you will have the best biscuits you could ever have imagined.Very high and delicious with buttery layers.
Thank you so much. Not only for this recipe, but in general for always making the effort to convert cups, ounces etc. into ml and grams. When baking it’s a bit of a nuisance to do all the maths before, so for months now I have been silently thanking you. Declaring myself the representative of the metric baking world (megalomania, hoorra!) please take the thanks from the metric world! Greetings from Berlin, Germany
Tried this tonight instead of the family recipe…..delicious!!!
If you really want to screw these up, be sure to confuse baking POWDER with baking SODA. The color: brown as a shoe. The taste: unbelievable. So wrong. That is one mis-step you can’t slather some jam over. And we did try! Hahahahaha!
I will try this recipe again another time – just had to share a laugh!
Leftovers. Yeah, right.
This is now my regular biscuit recipe. They’re flaky and delicious and freeze well too. Perfect pick me up during the pandemic! ❤️
what if i don’t have Cast Iron Skillet?
Great recipe and tips for a first time biscuit maker like myself. My first attempt came out too dense because I probably mixed it too much. Second batch was amazing! So many flakey layers with a buttery crispy crust. Perfection.
They look and taste great. thanks
Wow best ever biscuits A++++++
Tried this recipe today. They were easy and delicious. Thank you for this tasty biscuit
Best recipe ever… easy to make and the end result was flaky, beautiful and delicious.
Excellent and easy to make using a good processor. I baked it in a large cast iron skillet, lightly buttered the bottom of it and that added a delicious crispness to the bottom of the biscuits.
Wow! I finally made biscuits I can be proud of. This recipe is awesome. They’re lite, flaky, and delicious. Thank you!
I AM SO THANKFUL THAT I FOUND YOUR BLOG/WEB SITE!! My husband has been on a kick to make biscuits – and not just any old biscuit, but one that compared to what his mom used to make for the family back in the day (in Oklahoma). He made a very average batch yesterday…then we decided we’d look around for a better recipe — i found yours, sent him the link and when i got up the next morning I was delighted to see him at work on a batch. He used our well-seasoned cast iron which he preheated per your notes… he used our sharpest knife in the house to cut them in to approx two-in squares. The results were seriously perfect! Crispy on the bottom, nicely browned on the top and flaky and moist in between. The unexpected pleasure was to witness the joy a well-made biscuit brought to the whole family (grown kids visiting from Chicago), honestly, we were giddy.
THANKS A MILLION to you Sally for the perfect recipe, precise instructions with great photos to boot. AND, thanks for facilitating some pretty awesome family memories – this is indeed our forever biscuit recipe.
I’m not sure why but these came out overly bitter and salty. I followed recipe to a T except that I even added a little extra honey to the dough (probably about an extra teaspoon). Unless I top them with a lot of honey butter they are pretty inedible. Any ideas what might have happened? I used unsalted butter and I weighted out all the ingredients that I could.
Hi Molly, what brand of baking powder did you use? Was it aluminum free? If you decide to try the recipe again, see my baking powder note and use that recommended switch. (…reduce the baking powder down to 1 Tablespoon and add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.) Also, you can try reducing the salt down to 3/4 teaspoon.
I checked and it wasn’t aluminum free baking powder! Next time I will try it with aluminum free 🙂
Just made these today. Excellent! I have been struggling to find a biscuit recipe that worked for me. This is it. Thank you, my family loved them.(highly recommend using a cast iron skillet)
These are the best biscuits I’ve ever made!
Needed a buttermilk biscuit recipe and this did not disappoint! I followed recipe closely-ish (I only measured out 2 c flour first and forgot the other 1/2c; realized at end and was luckily able to incorporate it! Also used processor to bring dough mostly together but finished by hand. Also just cut the biscuits in squares so didn’t have to roll out excess pieces.) Super happy how they turned out; printed out and will turn to it again when I’m craving biscuits and gravy! Thanks Sally
Just tried making these fairly quickly, and they are delicious but came out flat. This happened with a previous attempt at biscuits as well. The butter could have been colder; since I was in a hurry, I grabbed it from the fridge, cubed it and chucked it in the food processor. Is the flatness due to the butter not being cold enough, or am I maybe working the dough too much?? I’m determined to conquer these biscuits!
Hi Janet, thank you so much for trying this recipe. We’re happy to help for next time. Here are a few ways to avoid flat biscuits (1) How are you cutting your biscuits? A biscuit cutter is best, make sure to press down without spinning the cutter. (2) Do not over-work the butter into the flour mixture – just a few pulses in your food processor should be enough. If it’s overworked, the butter becomes a little too warm and melts before the biscuits hit the oven. And finally (3) Make sure your baking powder is fresh. I hope this can help for next time!
I’ve tried a lot of biscuit recipes in my life, and resigned myself that store-bought is better. This recipe has reformed me! It makes the best biscuits I’ve ever had. My whole family was thrilled. And it’s easy too.
Thank you so much for this wonderful biscuit recipe! They are flaky and as light as feathers. I didn’t use a biscuit cutter, but rather cut them into 8 good size squares, and bake them in a cast iron skillet. I will never use another biscuit recipe!
So so good. First time making a biscuit and Sally never fails me.
Sally , I’ve been following you for years & your recipes never disappoint. These biscuits were easy & so so good but the butter honey brush was to die for. Thank you again for always being my number one cooking & baking go to.
I have tried numerous recipes for Buttermilk Biscuits and just haven’t been satisfied with any of them. This morning I made these and I am so happy to have finally made a sweet, flaky biscuit! This is definitely a keeper. Thank you for sharing!
I made these this morning! I found the recipe to be easy and delicious. I didn’t have a pastry cut, so I used my hands to squeeze the butter into the flour. I also didn’t have a biscuit cutter, so floured the rim of a glass. I like the recipes on the website and will continue to use them to feed my family! Thank you!
Best biscuits ever. My wife is raving about them. Thanks for making Valentine’s Day great!
First time baking in a long time. I really enjoyed these biscuits!
I put butter and honey on them when they cooled a little. Mom always served with syrup but I was out. Honey is definitely great with these flaky tasties!
Thank you!!
Hi Sally – I’m wondering if it would be ok to double the recipe?
Hi Tracy, for best results, we recommend making two separate batches.
I was always a little timid about baking biscuits, because they have the potential to be tough and floury. Then I discovered your recipe and well laid-out instructions, and I immediately decided that I had to try them that very evening. Mmmmmmm… so delicious!! I made them again tonight and brought some fresh from the oven, along with some homemade soup to a friend. She texted me shortly after that they were the best biscuits she had ever had. 🙂 And I feel the same way! Thank you for sharing this delicious and easy recipe, and for taking the time to lay out all the steps and tricks. I appreciate it! I can’t wait to make them for my upcoming houseguests next week!
I have two things to say. I’ve been searching for the best biscuit recipe since 1968 and I’ve tried several with this one being number one. I’ve followed this recipe about eight times and the results are perfect every time. It seems the “cold” butter and buttermilk are the key things. The lose dough just doesn’t seem right, but it works.
Second: step eight is useless and can be ignored. In my family there are never any biscuit leftovers. We do have leftover meats and sides, but never any leftover biscuits.
I have made biscuits dozens of times, completely unsuccessful. Until these. I howled with delight when I opened the oven to see mile high biscuits! And the taste! Flaky and delicious just like a pro would have made them. Thanks for this recipe and helping me redeem my biscuit making confidence!
I made these biscuits exactly as written and they tasted amazing! My great-grandmother Daisy used to make biscuits every morning and I have tried to find a recipe that were like the ones that she used to bake. These biscuits remind of Daisy’s! As a little girl, Daisy taught me to put a hole in the side of the biscuit, fill it with Brer Rabbit Molasses and called it “rabbit in the hole” I had “rabbit in the hole” this morning and it was yummy and reminded me of my childhood! Thanks so much for the great recipe and all the tips!