Light, fluffy homemade biscuits, as made by my dad! His biscuits are seriously the best. We’re sharing all of his tips and tricks below. Scroll down to get straight to the recipe or keep reading to get all of his tips for the PERFECT biscuit!
I recently shared a photo of my dad’s famous homemade biscuits on Instagram and you guys ate them up. Figuratively, of course. Literally, I did the eating.
I wanted to be sure that I had his biscuit recipe down pat before I shared with you, so I spent the next few weeks making batch after batch. We ended up making 10 batches of 10 biscuits each. It took me awhile to be sure I had them juuuuuust right.
I also wanted to make sure that I could answer any questions you guys might have and I knew that meant mastering the homemade biscuit.
Table of Contents
What Readers are Saying!
“I have never made homemade biscuits before so this was my first attempt. Oh my goodness! They turned out amazingly delicious. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe and tips!!” – Christen
Ingredients for Homemade Biscuits:
The flour: You’re going to use a mixture of all-purpose flour and Bisquick. I haven’t tried this with any substitutions and I haven’t tried it with homemade Bisquick myself, so I can’t tell you how well that will work. If you do try it, please report back so I can update this!
The butter: We’re using softened butter instead of cold butter. I know, I know. Your whole life you’ve heard that you need to use cold butter. Some of you are probably grating frozen butter into your biscuits. This recipe works perfectly with room temperature butter. It shouldn’t be at all melted, so don’t try softening it in the microwave. Let it sit on the counter. It should be just softened enough that when you press your finger into it, it’s still firm, but it leaves an indent where your finger was.
The leavening agents: Look, I know there’s a lot of baking powder in this recipe. When my dad shared his recipe with me, I was actually pretty surprised by the amount. But, no. I don’t think this has a metallic or soapy taste. I do not find any issues with using this amount of baking powder in this recipe. It has always worked great for me! As for the baking soda, generally it’s only used when there is an acid present – like buttermilk or lemon or vinegar. There is no acid in this recipe, but my dad still adds a bit of baking soda. I’ve tried these without it and they just aren’t the same. Add the baking soda.
The milk: You can use buttermilk if you really feel the need to, but my dad uses regular 2% milk and so do I. I actually prefer the biscuits that way. They get too tangy for me when you use buttermilk. But, because buttermilk is so traditional, I won’t throw a fit if you want to use it here. Just know that it’s thicker than traditional milk and you may need to use a little more/less. 😉
Helpful Tip!
Don’t be shy about re-rolling the dough!
Get in there and re-roll that dough to get extra biscuits. You’ll probably get about 5 biscuits from your initial pat down of the dough. Definitely pat it back out and cut out the remaining biscuits. My dad isn’t at all shy about re-working the dough and you shouldn’t be either.
FAQ:
These brown spots are happening because you’re not mixing the dry ingredients together well enough. I won’t make you sift things (heaven forbid), but do really stir everything together, more than you think you probably need to. At least 30 seconds of non-stop stirring things around with a fork. Trust me. Even if you do end up with brown spots, the biscuits will taste great, they’re just not quite as pretty.
Is your baking powder old? It does eventually stop working well and you may need to replace it. If it’s definitely not that, are you mixing in your butter really super-duper good? Because you need to. I take a spoon and smear the softened butter into the flour against the sides of the bowl. I keep at it long after I’m bored of it, until the entire bowl looks like lightly damp sand. Almost like if you grabbed a handful of it and squeezed it, it *might* stick together.
No big thang. Add in more flour, a tablespoon at a time, until it’s juuuuuuuuust workable. The very least amount of flour you can get away with is the best in these biscuits, but don’t be killing yourself trying to roll out dough that is just too sticky. When you touch it, your hand should come away clean. When you pinch it, you should have a bit of dough left on your fingers.
Sounds like you overworked the dough or added too much flour. I had this problem the first few times I made these too. Just use a light hand when mixing and add just enough flour to hold the dough together.
Some days these guys only take ten minutes and other days they take 15. I can’t explain it (Humidity? Magic?), but I’m aware of it. I’m also aware that every oven is different. Some heat evenly, some do not. Some can’t hold a temperature and are fluctuating like crazy. So, get to know your oven and react accordingly. Or just set the timer for 10 minutes and start babysitting them. Pull them when the tops are just lightly golden. Nobody likes a crunchy biscuit, so don’t over bake these guys.
How to serve these biscuits:
- Cinnamon Honey Butter is the perfect topping!
- Pimento Cheese makes a fun sandwich.
- Sausage Gravy is a classic.
- Use these biscuits in my biscuits and gravy casserole.
- Chocolate Gravy is a Southern favorite and the kids will love it!
- Of course, butter and jam is always a win.
Easy Homemade Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour, plus more as needed
- 1 cup Bisquick
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Add the flour, Bisquick, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda to a large mixing bowl. Stir well to combine the dry ingredients thoroughly.
- Add two tablespoons of the butter to the dough and use a spoon to press it into the flour mixture. I find it easiest to smear the butter against the sides of the bowl while working it into the flour. Once the first two tablespoons are completely incorporated, add in the last two tablespoons and repeat the process.
- Pour in the milk and stir with a spoon until just combined. The dough will likely be too wet. Add in more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough is just dry enough to handle. Dough should come away clean from your fingers when you touch it, but stick to your fingers if you pinch it.
- Dump dough onto a well floured work surface. Sprinkle lightly with flour.
- Fold dough over on itself three times.
- Use your hands to pat the dough to 3/4 of an inch high.
- Cut dough out with biscuit cutter and place on baking sheet. Let sit 5 minutes before baking.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until tops are just beginning to turn golden. Do not overbake these!
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was originally published in March 2016. It’s been updated with a new video and FAQ section in March 2018.
Jill says
This is absolutely the best biscuit recipe I’ve ever used. They turned out perfect…. moist, not dry at all. Your Dad got it right!!! Thank you for posting it, Karly!
Karly says
Love to hear that, Jill! Thanks!
Joy Miller says
I have never been able to bake perfect biscuits until I used your recipe. Rose perfectly, split easily and tender. No lead sinkers here.
Karly says
Yay! Love to hear that!
Kathy Specht says
Not very flaky at all. Hockeypucks
Karly says
If they were hockey pucks, my guess is that you added too much flour. Sorry they didn’t work out for you.
DOUGLAS BATTJES says
These are just perfect with ___________anything, and really good with sausage gravy an biscuits or strawberries, ,,yummy ?
Karly says
Haha, thanks Douglas! 🙂
Laura Salgado says
I WANTED TO KNOW BEFORE I MAKE THESE BISCUITS. WHAT FLOUR TO USE, REGULAR FLOUR OR SELF RISING? THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.
Karly says
Hi Laura! Regular all-purpose flour is what you’ll want here.
Mae McKay says
This is an awesome recipe. Thank you for sharing and thank you for your suggestions/hints. Best biscuit.
Karly says
Thanks, Mae! So glad you enjoyed the biscuits!
Kathy Taylor says
I love biscuits but can’t handle bisquick biscuits! This recipe is great. Glad I found it online.
Karly says
Thanks, Kathy!
Zathras says
Thank you! This is as close as I have ever come to my grandfather’s “Kentucky Biscuit” recipe!
Karly says
So glad you gave these a try! 🙂
ABC says
Almost inedible, there was in incredibly “Tinny” taste, im guessing from the baking soda. Only changes were extra butter and a little honey in the dough.
Karly says
Hopefully you used just 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. I can’t imagine that would add much taste to the recipe, though. These are a huge hit with friends, family, and readers on here, so I’m wondering if you accidentally swapped the baking powder for soda.
Emily says
I make these all the time. Easy, quick, and an absolute crowd pleaser! So so good!
Jesse Woolley says
Super fluffy, amazing. My family destroyed a batch and wanted more. Will make again real soon.
Karly says
Thanks, Jesse!