How to Make Fluffy Homemade Biscuits: The Ultimate Guide

Buttery, soft, and utterly delicious, homemade biscuits are a timeless comfort food that are surprisingly easy to create from scratch. Forget the canned versions – with this simple recipe, you can whip up a batch of warm, flaky biscuits using ingredients you likely already have in your pantry. This guide will walk you through each step of making perfect homemade biscuits, ensuring success even for novice bakers. We’re using all butter in this recipe, no shortening here!

There are so many reasons to be excited about making homemade biscuits.

Firstly, the taste of homemade biscuits is simply unmatched. Seriously, once you’ve tasted a warm, freshly baked biscuit made with real butter, you’ll never reach for a can of pre-made dough again. The absence of preservatives and artificial flavors allows the pure, buttery goodness to truly shine. You control the quality and the ingredients, resulting in a superior taste experience.

Secondly, making homemade biscuits is easier than you might think! With just a handful of basic ingredients and a few simple techniques, you can impress yourself and your loved ones with these delightful treats. Many people are unaware that they already possess all the necessary components to create biscuits from scratch. This recipe is designed to be straightforward and accessible, proving that homemade goodness is within everyone’s reach.

This homemade biscuit recipe relies on just six staple ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, butter, and milk. And yes, we will be adding even more butter after baking because who can resist a buttery biscuit?

While the ingredient list is short and sweet, technique plays a crucial role in achieving biscuit perfection. Don’t be intimidated by the tips below! These biscuits are genuinely easy to make, but understanding the key techniques will empower you to create flawless biscuits on your very first try. These tips are designed to set everyone up for success, regardless of your baking experience.

Key Tips for Perfect Homemade Biscuits

Keep Ingredients Cold: Cold ingredients are the secret weapon for achieving light and fluffy homemade biscuits. The colder the butter and milk, the better the biscuits will rise and the flakier they will become. Consider freezing your butter for about 10-20 minutes before you start and keep your milk chilled until the last moment. This temperature control is crucial for preventing the butter from melting into the dough, which can lead to tough biscuits.
Avoid Overworking the Dough: Gentle handling is key! Overworking the dough will develop the gluten, resulting in tough, dense biscuits instead of tender, airy ones. Remember, we want the butter to stay cold, and excessive handling warms it up. For this recipe, ditch the electric mixer – your hands are the best tools. Mix just until the dough comes together.
Laminating for Layers: We’ll employ a simple lamination technique, similar to making puff pastry, to create those desirable flaky layers in our biscuits. This involves gently folding the dough over itself multiple times (about 5-6 times in this recipe). This process creates thin layers of butter and dough that separate during baking, resulting in a beautifully flaky texture.
Hands, Not Rolling Pins: Resist the urge to use a rolling pin! Rolling pins can easily overwork the dough and flatten out those precious layers we’re trying to create. Instead, gently use your hands to pat the dough into a rectangle of about 1-inch thickness before cutting out your biscuits. This gentle approach preserves the dough’s texture and ensures a higher rise.
Flour is Your Friend: Don’t hesitate to use flour to prevent sticking. If your dough feels too sticky to handle, lightly dust it with flour. Make sure to also flour your work surface to prevent the dough from sticking as you pat it out and cut the biscuits. A lightly floured surface is essential for easy handling and clean biscuit cutting.
Visual Cue: Butter Pieces: Before baking, take a look at your cut biscuits. You should be able to see small pieces of butter distributed throughout the dough. This is a good sign! It means you’ve successfully kept the butter cold and haven’t overmixed. Seeing these butter flecks is a visual confirmation that you’re on the right track to biscuit perfection. Don’t aim for a completely smooth dough like cookie dough; visible butter is what we want!

Mastering the Butter in Homemade Biscuits

Butter is arguably the star ingredient in homemade biscuits, and how you handle it significantly impacts the final result. Cold butter is essential for creating steam during baking, which leads to rise and flakiness.

While a pastry cutter can be used to incorporate butter into the dry ingredients, grating frozen butter is a game-changer. Freeze your butter for about 30 minutes before starting. Then, use a box grater to shred the cold butter directly into your flour mixture.

This grating method, also used in scone making, offers several advantages. It’s much easier and faster than using a pastry cutter, and it effectively distributes finely shredded butter throughout the flour without overworking it. Remember, minimizing handling keeps the butter cold, which is crucial for flaky biscuits.

Alternatively, a food processor can be used (similar to pie crust making), but grating is often simpler and yields excellent results.

Unsalted butter is recommended in this recipe to control the salt level. This allows you to add the precise amount of salt needed for the best flavor. If you only have salted butter, you can still use it, but you may want to reduce the amount of added salt in the recipe.

Homemade biscuits are not just a recipe; they’re an invitation to experience the joy of baking from scratch and the satisfaction of creating something truly delicious with simple ingredients.

How to Make Homemade Biscuits

Watch the video for a visual guide to making these fluffy homemade biscuits and to see the folding technique in action!

[Video Placeholder – Link to Biscuit Making Video Here]

Homemade Biscuits Recipe

This recipe yields 6 biscuits and can be easily doubled to make 12.

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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes
Servings: 6 biscuits
Calories: 280kcal
Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold (85g), European butter is ideal
¾ cup whole milk (177ml), buttermilk or 2% milk are alternatives

Recommended Equipment

Box grater
Biscuit cutter (2 ¾” round recommended)

Instructions

Chill Butter: For optimal results, chill butter in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before starting. Very cold butter is crucial for light, flaky biscuits.
Preheat Oven: Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.

2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt

Add Butter: Remove butter from freezer and either cut it into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter, or preferably, use a box grater to shred the butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Stir to combine.
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6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
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Incorporate Butter: Cut in or combine the grated butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add Milk: Add milk and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula just until combined. Avoid overmixing.
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¾ cup whole milk
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Turn Out Dough: Transfer dough to a well-floured surface and gently bring it together with your hands. If too sticky, add a little more flour.
Laminate Dough: Once cohesive, fold dough in half over itself and gently flatten. Rotate 90 degrees, fold again, and repeat this folding and flattening process 5-6 times, being careful not to overwork the dough.
Cut Biscuits: Use your hands (no rolling pin) to pat the dough to 1-inch thickness. Lightly flour a 2 ¾” round biscuit cutter and press straight down to cut biscuits.
Bake: Place biscuits on prepared baking sheet, about ½” apart. Re-roll scraps gently to cut out remaining biscuits, aiming for at least 6 biscuits.
Bake: Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 12 minutes, or until tops are just lightly golden brown.
Brush with Butter (Optional): If desired, brush warm biscuits with melted salted butter immediately after removing from oven. Serve warm and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

¹While whole milk is preferred, buttermilk or 2% milk can also be used successfully.

Nutrition Information

Nutritional information is an estimate and may vary based on specific ingredients and preparation methods.

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