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
These came out great! Thank you for sharing!!!
The biscuits were so good, but I had to add another 3/4 cup of buttermilk to the flour mixture to even get it to come together and could have added more as it was very crumbly. I do live in Colorado so was wondering if this could have been the issue, but nevertheless, the biscuits were easy to make and delicious.
Thank you Sally! They were fantastic. I’ve never made biscuits before, I just kept saying “I trust Sally, I trust Sally” and they came out great
My family loves this recipe, we’ve been using it for at least a year now I think. I recently had a bunch of leftover biscuit dough (I made two batches for a family brunch, they are crazy good under gravy) and decided to toss them on top of a chicken pot pie recipe instead of pie crust. My casserole hating husband immediately changed his tune that night. I love how versatile these biscuits are!
This recipe is great. It makes the best biscuits. However I have a few modifications.
I use shortening sticks instead of butter.
I also uses powered buttermilk. The powdered buttermilk didn’t seem to have enough acid in it, so I add a tablespoon of vinegar. This makes the biscuits really fluffy.
I made these for my wanna-be Southern boy son-in-law (we’re actually Canadian) and he LOVED them! He says I don’t have permission to make cakes or cupcakes every day (because they’re fattening) but I can always make these!
The first time ever making biscuits that turned out beautiful. Many many previous failed attempts. Thank you sooooooo much for this recipe and video. I can see it now, my parents are gonna get me to make them all the time. Lol. Again God Bless you for this. Jason from SC.
I love all of your recipes, but this one is the best ever! I am an accomplished cook and baker but biscuits have been my nemesis until now. I used frozen butter, they were tall, fluffy and delicious! Thank you!
I live in the south, and biscuits are a staple at almost every meal. I have tried many recipes, but I have never made a flaky biscuits. I had no idea they would be this easy to make. And they held up as a sandwich with eggs, cheese and bacon! Some I’ve made just crumble while eating. These held up very well, and will be a regular in my house!
This has been the best recipe I’ve tried in my attempts to make biscuits. I’m not a baker, I’m just a guy who likes a good biscuit. These are simple and they turn out perfectly.
Even with the reduced baking soda, the chemical taste is awful. I really don’t get it! They look good and the texture is great but they are inedible! I also had to cover them because they burned badly even at 15 minutes. I covered the second batch with foil and they still browned quite a bit. Is there something I did wrong? I just looked through the recipe and can’t figure it out!
Hi Caitlin! Are you using baking powder (not soda?). They’re very different.
I just made these and they were AMAZING
Can you add raisins to your homemade buttermilk biscuits and if so at what stage would I put them in?
Hi Paul, we haven’t tested it but that should work! We’d add them in step 3 with the buttermilk and honey.
Has anyone tried this recipe with gluten free flour like Cup for Cup? Thanks!
Hi Elaine, we haven’t tested this recipe with any gluten free flours, so we’re unsure of the results. Perhaps another reader who has can chime in. Let us know if you give it a try!
Love this recipe! About to make again and was wondering if there was a substitute I could use for the honey in the biscuit dough? Trying to share with my 7mo old who can’t have honey until 1yr. Thank you!
Hi Helen, you can use the same amount of regular sugar instead, or simply omit it.
Hi Sally, Love your site!
I was interested in using White Lily self-rising flour. How would I need to adjust the baking powder amount?
Many thanks,
Maureen
Hi Maureen, we don’t recommend self-raising flour in this recipe. It would take some recipe testing to determine the right amount in order to eliminate the baking powder. Best to stick with all-purpose flour here!
I don’t have a cast iron skillet. Is there anything else I can use?”
Hi Elizabeth! If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can use a baking sheet. Arrange the biscuits close together on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. (Make sure they’re touching.) The bottoms may not be quite as crispy.
Fantastic, consistent results, thank you all for the testing you do to make us successful.
Question: when I take them to a party, is there a way to keep them fresh? I love the butter and honey coating at the end, and I’ve covered them with a towel. Is there a better way to keep them fresh and transport?
Hi Julia, if you have a way to warm them up at the party, you could wait and add the honey butter topping right before serving. Otherwise, covering them with a towel is fine, or else transporting them in a container. Hope this helps!
Yum! 1st time making biscuits and these were soo good.
Tip: Argo brand baking powder is aluminum free.
Great biscuits! Although I only got 7 3-inch
My go to biscuit recipe. I made one small change. I cut half a cup of flour, starting with 2 cups. I sift the dry ingredients. The 1/2 cup of flour is incorporated during the rolling and folding. This results in a lighter biscuit. These make a fabulous breakfast sandwich biscuit (I slightly over-bake for larger biscuits).
Oh. My. Gosh. These are so flipppppping good. My sister made these and I couldn’t stop eating them. The perfect amount of flakiness, slight chew, crispy exterior. Absolute perfection.
These are the BEST biscuits ever! I’ve tried quite a few recipes. I doubled the recipe in one big batch, and it was the most delicious batch I’ve made! So, if you’re wanting to do that, it can work totally fine. I followed the directions exactly the same, just doubled ingredients. If I feel like I need more liquid, I just add a tiny bit of buttermilk to the dough to get it to come together.
I also don’t have my biscuits touching because my oven doesn’t cook from the bottom so I wanted to make sure they weren’t raw, and they turned out amazing.
Can I cut the dough into 8-10 square biscuits instead to avoid having to re-roll?
Absolutely!
My dough was dry and I had trouble getting it to come together. Any suggestions?
Hi Karen, how did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured, which could cause the dough to become excessively dry and make it hard to come together. Hope this helps for next time!
These are great. I have been through so many biscuit recipes. Really laminated. And forgiving – I misread and used all the buttermilk. Also, I subbed a few T of w-w flour for the a-p and it didn’t ruin them at all. I did freeze the butter cubes about ten minutes. In case I had overworked, I let the biscuits rest, preheating the oven late in the process.
Hi Sally, I’m really enjoying your recipes! I’ve made these biscuits several times, and they are seriously DELICIOUS! I’m wondering if this recipe can be doubled or if I should do it in 2 separate batches. 1 batch just isn’t enough for my family lol.
Hi Laurie, we’re so glad you love these! For best results, we recommend making two separate batches.
I make these great biscuits every Sunday.
If there is any biscuits left over from dinner. I store them in a air tight container. We have breakfast the next day with jam. Yummy
Is there a reason why I couldn’t cut the biscuits into rounds and then freeze for a few days, and bake the day of? I’m have 20 for Easter and want to bake them fresh. I’ve made this many times and love them!
Hi Debbie! See recipe notes for our recommended make-ahead and freezing instructions. So glad you love this recipe 🙂
Thanks for replying. I see the notes say to freeze the dough, defrost and then cut into rounds. Do you think it would not work if I cut into rounds and then freeze? This way I could just put them into the oven before dinner.
Hi Debbie, you can freeze the shaped biscuits, but we do recommend baking them thawed, not frozen. After shaping them in step 4, place them on a plate or in a freezer-friendly container, cover tightly, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, then bake as directed.