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
Hi,
is the baking time accurate here? I made these today and they were excellent, but I adjusted the baking time significantly. I thought 18-20 minutes sounded long. I set my timer for 13 minutes, and they were honestly 1-2 minutes overcooked IMO. 18 minutes and they would have been black. No issues with most recipes, so I don’t think my oven is running terribly hot or anything.
Hi Jeremy! The baking time has always worked well for us (after many, many batches!), but it can certainly vary a bit between bakers. Was your tray a bit closer to the heating element? An oven thermometer may be helpful to confirm if it’s running a bit too hot. We hope you still enjoyed the biscuits!
Hi. I have just made a batch and agree the baking time is too long. I put them in for 18 minutes and they have unfortunately come out very brown and likely inedible. Terrible shame as I’ve used this recipe for years with great success.
This was my first time making biscuits and of COURSE I knew I had to use Sally’s recipe! These biscuits turned out flaky and delicious. Lots of volume and the tops are nice and crispy while the insides are soft and tender. They are a huge hit!
They were so good!! My whole family enjoyed them
This recipe is flawless, as are all your recipes. It’s my go-to whenever I’m having guests over for the first time for dinner (whole roast chicken and biscuits) and has never failed to please anyone. I do substitute Greek yogurt for the buttermilk because I always have it.
All your recipes I’ve tried have been spot on and I always come here when I need something new that I know will be delicious. Thank you!!
These were so delicious and tender. I made a curried carrot coconut soup and they were the perfect accompaniment. So lovely and so fluffy! Thank you again for another stellar recipe.
Great recipe, I know it may sound strange to some but I’ve found that forming the dough into a rectangle and cutting them into squares is a great way to get consistent results without over working them. You can also just lightly shape them into rounds afterwards.
This is my first time ever making biscuits. The biscuits rose great almost 2” high and they tasted great. My only question is that they seemed a little dry, not moist, as I would have liked. Maybe I baked too long? Worked the dough too much? Any suggestions on how I can get a more moist crumb inside. Outside was great and crusty. Thanks for the recipe!! It’s a keeper
Hi Gary, how did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level or use a scale to measure your flour in order to ensure just the right amount — scooping or packing the flour will give you too much flour and will dry out your biscuits. Over baking (even just a minute or two!) can also dry out baked goods. Hope this helps for next time!
Thanks so much for the reply. I fluffed the flour and then share scooped and leveled so not sure if that’s it but I might try weighing it next time. I think it might be over baked. I baked them in my Breville toaster oven which tends to run a little bit hotter than my regular oven. Next time I will drop the temp a bit or pull out sooner. I’m determined to get this right because they tasted so good. Thanks again.
So good! Followed to a T and they were perfect!
can I make these without butter or with a substitute ???
Hi Sage, butter is key here. We don’t recommend any substitutes.
I made these with miyokos dairy free butter substitute and lactose free milk, and while I am sure they were not as good as using full lactose dairy, they still turned out really yummy! So while not recommended, still doable, and won’t make my partner sick!
These were SO easy and good! Unfortunately, my new food processor wasn’t working so I had to use a potato masher for mixing the butter with the dry ingredients but they still turned out crusty on the outside and fluffy/flaky on the inside! I think they didn’t rise quite as high as yours. I made sure to not twist with my circle cutter so it wasn’t that. Could it be because I used the potato masher so I didn’t mix the butter/dry ingredients enough? Could I do more than 3 repetitions of the folds to try to make them rise more or would that overwork the dough?
Hi Taylor, the potato masher was likely the culprit here! You can always use a fork to help cut in the butter instead; that will help you achieve more of the pea-sized crumbs, whereas the potato masher likely overworked the butter. An easy fix for next time!
We have loved these! My daughter is allergic to dairy so we use dairy free butter and make “buttermilk” with oat milk and a tablespoon of vinegar per cup of milk. Also made with molasses because it’s what I had on hand and they turned out wonderful! Thank you for this recipe!
These are the best biscuits and are so easy to make. I don’t know how many times I’ve made these and they come out perfectly every time. Moist inside but crumbly on the outside and perfect layers that you can peel when eating. Thank you for posting this.
Is it possible to use biscuit flour for these? If so, what adjustments need to be made?
Hi AL, We don’t recommend biscuit flour/cake flour in this recipe–-it’s simply too light.
This is a staple in our household. We eat these almost weekly.
I love to cook however. I just can’t make a good biscuit. Went step by step and took great care to not “overwork” the dough. Used my “seasoned”skillet, had them touching yet they rose very little, were a crunchy first bite and dense. Would love to find a soft and light recipe for a great baker but, terrible bread maker.
Can I use maple instead of honey?
Hi Rose, You can, but the flavor will change!
Enjoying your recipes. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
We prefer our biscuits to not be sweet. Can these be made without the honey?
Hi Carole, These biscuits are not overly sweet. We recommend keeping the honey in the dough (you can use just plain melted butter instead of honey butter on top) but you can leave it out if desired. Enjoy!
Can I use a stand mixer with a pastry beater attachment for cutting butter into the flour and then switching to the dough hook or is that considered over working the dough? Thank you
Hi John, we don’t find that a stand mixer works best for cutting butter into the flour.
I love these biscuits! However, when I made them last night, there was an unpleasant metallic taste which I assume came from the baking powder or baking soda. Any suggestions?
Hi Tamisyn, what brand of baking powder did you use? Was it aluminum free? Make sure both your baking powder and baking soda are fresh, too. Glad these are a favorite for you!
This recipe has recently changed, which is disappointing. The previous recipe used two Tablespoons (“yes, Tablespoons”) of baking powder and no baking soda. Baked on a sheet pan. I greatly prefer the original. Unfortunately, this one is where my bookmark takes me. Will definitely change my rating if you could re-post the original i am referring to. Thanks!
I like the update to include both the baking soda and baking powder. When it was just the baking powder, I would get the chemical taste. I made the biscuits today with the updated recipe and they were divine!!
What if you don’t have a food processor?
Hi Rachel, you can use a pastry cutter (or even a fork). See step 2. Enjoy!
I don’t have a food processor. I use a cheese grater on almost frozen butter directly into the flour bowl. When the surface is covered, I whisk it in and repeat till all the butter is mixed in.
Love this recipe! I really like how quickly these come together. It’s so nice to have a bread recipe that doesn’t take hours and I don’t really have to knead!
Very good, and left my apartment with a mouth-watering aroma! I didn’t try it with the honey glaze, but they were still so good without it! Rose nicely and were a little dense, but overall really good.
If they’re dense, you overworked/overmixed the dough. All biscuit recipes are more or less identical, the difference in final product is about how they were touched during mixing and rolling.
No more canned or frozen biscuits for us! These are just the best. I did grate my frozen butter with a box grater. Also my oven runs a bit hotter, so I only cooked them 14 minutes. Did everything else exactly as written. Perfect!
These biscuits are a hit for my family. I just made them and the entire pan was devoured before they cooled off. So much for leftovers. They were really, really good.
These were yummy! The only thing is, they had a slight limey flavor. That’s probably because I used lime juice instead of lemon for the buttermilk! Oops..
I made this today and it didn’t turn out. I weighed my flour but the mixture was very dry. 2 cups of AP flour is 240 grams not 313 grams. Maybe that was my problem but I’m not sure.
Hi Mel, I’m sorry you had trouble with the biscuits dough. This recipe calls for 2 and 1/2 cups of flour. How much flour did you use? Did you accidentally skip the butter or buttermilk?
She’s not asking you to use grams. If you know how to accurately measure by volume, you wouldn’t have an issue and wouldn’t have to mention grams.
Hello! These biscuits are sooooo good, but I do have one question. They don’t turn out soft and fluffy, they’re actually kind of hard and dense (they just taste so good we don’t really care!) I do double the recipe, which means getting out the rolling pin to make the rectangles before folding. Could that be the problem? Any other ideas to make them softer? I do live at high altitude (about a mile high) so would that make a difference?
Hi Paula, Overworking the dough can cause the butter to melt too much and create dense, doughy layers rather than light, flaky layers. If you find the dough/butter is getting too warm as you work with it, you can always stick the dough back in the refrigerator to cool things down before starting up again. We have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Good Morning!!
I made Sally’s biscuits and they came out perfect I have made for years and they have never came out this good Another great recipe Thank you Sally!!