These are the most delicious, fluffy homemade biscuits we’ve ever made! Our quick and easy biscuit recipe calls for milk or buttermilk and makes the best tall and fluffy biscuits!
This recipe makes amazing American-style biscuits. It’s super simple and makes tall, fluffy biscuits ready for breakfast, sandwiches, and more!
The secret to the best biscuits is using very cold butter and baking powder. We’ve made a lot of biscuits, but this easy biscuits recipe is the one we turn to the most (they are so fluffy!). See our easy drop biscuits and cheese drop biscuits for even easier biscuits. Or, if you have buttermilk, we highly recommend these buttermilk biscuits!
Key Ingredients
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour, but soft white wheat flour like White Lilly, Martha White, and Bob’s Red Mill Fine Pastry Flour is excellent for biscuits. Its lower protein content shuts down gluten formation, making them even more light, fluffy, and tender. You can also use self-rising flour, but you will need to add extra baking powder. See the tips in the recipe below.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: We use 5 teaspoons of baking powder in this biscuit recipe. I know that seems like a lot, but trust me. The extra baking powder makes our biscuits fluffy and tender, and baking soda helps them brown nicely. I also use baking powder for my strawberry shortcake recipe (it’s so good!)
- Sugar and Salt: Add flavor. We don’t add a lot of sugar (just 1 tablespoon).
- Cold Butter: I love using European-style salted butter, like Kerrygold or Plugra, since they make our biscuits tender and delicious. If you don’t have European salted butter, plain butter works (salted or unsalted). I love the slightly more salty flavor when using salted butter in our recipe, but you can always hold back on some of the salt called for in the recipe if you aren’t looking for more savory/salty biscuits.
- Milk or Buttermilk: I love how this recipe works with milk or buttermilk. If you love the tangy flavor of buttermilk, use it. You won’t need to change anything in the recipe. I also love this homemade buttermilk biscuit recipe, which was intentionally developed with buttermilk.
How to Make the Best Biscuits
I use my food processor to make biscuits. It does a great job of quickly cutting the cold butter into our flour mixture. When cutting the butter into the flour, you want to be as quick as possible so the butter does not warm up. Cold butter = flaky, tender homemade biscuits. You can do this by hand (I’ve included a tip below the recipe).
When the butter and flour look crumbly, we stir in milk (or use buttermilk), and then form the dough. You want biscuit dough to look shaggy, with lots of specks of butter.
We don’t use a rolling pin to roll out our dough. Instead, we press the dough out with our fingers. You can see us do this in our recipe video.
For extra flaky layers, press the biscuit dough into a rough rectangle and then fold the sides into the middle, like a letter. Then we rotate the new rectangle, press it out, and do it again.
If the dough needs it, we will do it for a third time before pressing it into a final rectangle and cutting out our biscuits. Watch our video to see me do this. It’s easy!
We use an oven-safe skillet to bake biscuits and bake them close together. I’ve found that biscuits rise taller when they are placed close together. Since we use such a hot oven, the liquid in the dough steams and helps them to rise. If you do not have an oven-safe skillet, use a baking sheet, but still place the biscuits closer together than you would cookie dough.
What to Serve with Biscuits
I love serving these biscuits while they are still warm. Here are some ideas for how to serve them:
- With melted butter brushed on top.
- With this homemade honey butter (it’s so very good).
- With apple butter, this delicious pumpkin butter, or jam.
- Next to scrambled eggs (this is my favorite method for making them).
- With homemade sausage gravy!
- Make a breakfast sandwich, here’s our recipe for make-ahead breakfast sandwiches (we use English muffins, but swapping in biscuits would be amazing).
- On the side of soup or chili. I love this broccoli cheddar soup and Adam loves this homemade chili.
Easy Fluffy Biscuits
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These are the most tender and fluffy biscuits from scratch we’ve ever made. These baking powder biscuits are big, tall, tender, and delicious. My preferred method is to get out my food processor. It’s an excellent tool for cutting the cold butter into our flour mixture since it’s quick. If you don’t feel like getting your food processor out, you can use your hands or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour (tips are provided in the notes section).
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 tablespoons (85g) cold butter
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (207ml) whole milk or buttermilk
Directions
1Heat the oven to 425°F (218°C) and set aside an oven-safe 10-inch or 12-inch skillet like a cast iron pan or, if you do not have one, set aside a baking sheet instead.
2Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse three to four times so that it is mixed.
3Cut the cold butter into cubes or thin slices, then scatter it over the flour in the food processor. Pulse 5 to 7 times or until the butter turns into tiny bits — see our photos and video for reference.
4Empty the butter-flour mixture into a large bowl. Make a well in the middle, and then pour in the milk (or buttermilk). Stir until a shaggy dough forms.
5Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top, and then bring the dough together with your hands. It might be a bit sticky, so add flour as needed.
6Without working the dough too much, pat it down into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter — see our photos and video for reference. Rotate the rectangle 90 degrees, and then repeat this process two more times.
7Pat the dough into a rectangle between 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch thick. Then use a biscuit cutter to cut out your biscuits — we use a 3-inch round cutter. Do not twist the cutter, as this will seal the edges of the biscuits and prevent them from rising.
8Place the cut-out biscuits into the skillet (or onto a baking sheet). Keeping them close to each other helps them rise.
9Gently press together the scraps and use them to make more biscuits, but be careful not to overwork the dough, or else they will be tough.
10Bake the biscuits until golden brown and have risen, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- How to make buttermilk biscuits: Use the same amount of buttermilk as milk called for in our biscuits recipe. Buttermilk adds a tangy flavor to the biscuits and makes them slightly more tender.
- No food processor: Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl, and use your hands or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until crumbly. If your butter is softening too much or your kitchen is warm, place the bowl with flour and butter into the fridge for 5 to 10 minutes before adding the milk.
- Butter: We use salted European butter in this recipe. It will work with unsalted or salted butter. I like the extra saltiness of salted butter, but you can reduce the salt to 3/4 teaspoon if you prefer.
- Self-rising flour: If you use self-rising flour, there won’t be enough baking powder added to the biscuit dough. So, whisk in 2 extra teaspoons of baking powder. Use 1/2 teaspoon salt instead.
- Baking soda: In the video, I say 1/2 tsp of baking soda. This is incorrect. Use 1/4 tsp.
- Recipe inspired and adapted from Sam Sifton’s All-Purpose Biscuits as well as our Buttermilk Biscuits
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
I made these last night. I was skeptical to start with, but they were AMAZING! So quick and simple. Everyone in my household loved them, my nephew that popped up unexpectedly loved them as well. My son suggested that I make more tonight. I will most definitely be making these again.
We are thrilled that your family loves the recipe 🙂
made these to have with strawberries for strawberry shortcake. amazing immediately and i will be keeping this recipe
I made these biscuits following recipe 100 percent and my biscuits were perfect. Never had any real success until now. Thanks for posting your recipe
Wow, Sue! That makes us so happy! Thank you for coming back and letting us know it worked so well for you!
Has any one made the dough and cut the biscuits the day before to bake the following morning? These have been my go to but wondering if I can make ahead to save time the next morning.
I got the answer- yes you can make dough and cut ahead and bake next day- just make sure they are covered tightly with wrap so they don’t dry out.
Oh my goodness this is the best biscuit recipe ever. I had been searching for exactly this one. You have to make it and follow exactly what it says. It will be the best biscuit you ever had no joke. I actually did my own buttermilk with one cup of milk 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Which I followed the recipe and used 3/4 cup of milk, which would be the buttermilk. I did put milk on top of the biscuits to brown them. Oh my goodness, 10 stars if I could.
my daughter makes these all the time, this is her go-to recipe and our whole famliy loves them.
FINALLY I have found a fluffy biscut recipe. This is so easy. What I did differently was freeze my butter, then grate it and and sprinkle a little flour on it to keep it from sticking together. I returned it to the freezer until I was ready to add it to the ingredients. Its easy, simple and quick. And DELICIOUS.I am so happy
Delicious, flakey biscuits that rose beautifully!They had a soft interior and not tough at all. I didn’t use a food processor, but it really worked up quickly and we had biscuits with dinner in no time at all. This will be my go-to biscuit recipe from now on. Thank you!
AT LAST! Every and I mean EVERY biscuit recipe I’ve ever tried has come out drrrrryyyy or tough (and that includes the one from the yellow box) this recipe…..tender, light, soft, my sil and grandsons don’t even eat them with butter (and we’re a BIG butter 🧈 family) I’ve made them 3 times!!! They even hold up well with small mistakes lol, I was short about 2 tbsps worth of flour and then my pastry blender BROKE sending flour flying everywhere lol so I thought “ok I’ll just omit some of the milk” well, I didn’t omit enough and they were still rather “wet” but I persevered, managed to get them out and they were still delicious (if a bit misshapen) oh and then I found out I’ve been baking them at 350* not the 450* as was stated in the recipe. So thank you Inspired Taste for giving me a foolproof biscuit recipe that my grandkids will fight you for the last one in the basket
I am 45 years old and these are the BEST baking soda biscuits I’ve ever made! I did make a buttermilk substitute using 1.5 tbs white vinegar in 1.5 cups of milk (I increased the recipe by 50% because I was using a big skillet), but I’ve always done this and still never came out with a biscuit so close to a buttermilk biscuit. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. Make these!!!!
I finally found my biscuit recipe. So tender and flakey. Nice crisp top. I did not even need butter
Tried this biscuit recipe for the first time and they did indeed disappear! They are very soft, light, and flavorful. They tasted great with butter and jam, and also with sausage gravy (kids fav)
Received a request from my kids to make them again tomorrow! Better buy more baking powder! Thanks for the great recipe.