The best homemade flaky biscuit recipe. They’re soft, buttery, and perfectly layered. Served warm with a bit of butter & local honey making it the perfect addition to any meal.
We cannot get enough of these homemade flaky biscuits. These biscuits are enjoyed right out of the oven with golden, crispy edges. Any biscuits we bake hardly make it to the next day; they’re that delicious. I’ve included tips on perfecting your biscuit game and having those perfect flakey layers every time.
These homemade flaky biscuits brown beautifully in the oven, giving them the perfect crispy edge. They’re delicious by themselves but even better topped with local honey or fresh jam.
I will make these biscuits as a quick side with our meal or to enjoy with some eggs and bacon in the morning. Some of our favorite meals to eat our biscuits with are our Honey Dill Chicken Casserole or enjoy as a dessert with our homemade strawberry shortcake.
Tips For Making The Best Homemade Flaky Biscuits -
- Cold butter is the key to great biscuits. Use a pastry cutter to keep your butter as cold as possible. Avoid having your dough sit at room temperature for too long.
- Do not twist your biscuit cutter. This seals off the edges not allowing your biscuits to rise while baking and have the flakey layer look. Push your biscuit cutter straight down and up to avoid this. If you do not have a biscuit cutter, you can use a small glass.
- Fold your dough! This step should not be skipped if you are looking for beautiful layered biscuits. I recommend folding your dough 4-5 before cutting your biscuits. Folding the dough on top of itself and patting it down to 1” thick helps you create beautiful flakey layers. It is very similar to the lamination process used to make croissants beautiful flakey layers.
- Use milk or butter to rub on the tops of your biscuits. This will help give them the perfect golden color!
Tools You Might Need
- Mixing Bowl
- Pastry Cutter
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Biscuit Cutter
- Castiron Skillet or Baking Sheet
Milk or Buttermilk, Which Is Best?
This homemade flaky biscuit recipe is so versatile. I think that’s why I love it so much. You can tweak it any way you want simply based on the ingredients you have in your house. Whether you want to flavorful tang of the buttermilk or simply want a nice fluffy texture by using only whole milk, the choice is yours!
If you want even more flavorful biscuits, check out my Sourdough Biscuit Recipe using your leftover sourdough discard!
Buttermilk is a great way to enhance the overall flavor of your biscuits. The tang of the buttermilk is what brings out the classic biscuit taste. If you use whole milk, the biscuits are very tender and fluffy. For the best overall taste and texture, you could go 50/50 with the milk and buttermilk with this biscuit recipe.
I would not recommend using anything less than 2% milk since you need fat to create the classic biscuit flavor and texture.
Ingredients
Unbleached All-purpose Flour
Baking Powder
Salt
Cold ButterWhole Milk and/or Buttermilk – Use ½ cup Whole Milk and ½ Cup Buttermilk for the best balance of flavor and texture
How To Make Homemade Flaky Biscuits -
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Take a cast iron skillet or baking sheet and rub with a little bit of oil. Set aside and begin to make your dough.
In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.
Once that is evenly mixed. Grab your cold butter from the fridge. Cut it into chunks and drop it into the dry ingredients. Take your pastry cutter (if you don’t have a pastry cutter, you can use two knives or cut the cold butter into smaller pieces before putting it in the bowl) and break up your cold butter into “pea size” pieces. Avoid touching it with your hands because you don’t want your butter to get too soft.
**If you are working in a warm kitchen, feel free to pop your bowl of cold butter/flour mixture into the fridge in between steps. To ensure things stay nice and cold!**
After your butter is nice and broken down, add in your milk or buttermilk.
Next, mix everything until a nice shaggy dough begins to form. You might notice some flour and/or butter didn’t get fully mixed. That is okay, you don’t want to overmix your biscuit dough. If you overmix your dough you will notice that your biscuits become hard and tough instead of soft and flakey.
Next, turn the mixed dough out onto a floured work surface. Begin to press the dough out with your fingers into a 1” thick rectangle or square. While you are pressing out the dough, scoop up any unincorporated flour pieces and press them into the dough.
After your dough is pressed out. You are going to tri-fold the dough on top of itself. Take the right side and fold it in a ⅓ of the way. Repeat this by folding the left side a ⅓ of the way on top of the right side fold.
Press your dough back down until 1” thick. Repeat this process 2-3 more times! This is going to help develop beautiful layers in your biscuits.
Once the dough has been loosely laminated and pressed back down to about 1 inch thick. Then, take your 2 ¼ biscuit cutter and start to cut your biscuits out. Be sure to press your biscuit butter straight up and down. You do not want to twist the cutter and seal off the edges of your biscuits. This will cause your biscuits to not rise beautifully when baking.
Then, push your dough scraps back together form it back to about 1” thick and continue to cut out more biscuits. Repeat this process until all the dough is used up.
When you cut the biscuits, you should be able to see the nice layers that have formed through the loose lamination process you did the step before. This is a great sign that you are about to bake some delicious, flakey biscuits!
After your biscuits are cut, take your prepared cast iron skillet and begin to line the pan with your biscuits. Put them about ½” to 1” apart from one another. Then, brush the tops of the biscuits with milk or butter to create a beautiful golden glow.
Lastly, bake your biscuits for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Once they are done baking, take out of the oven and immediately bush again with melted butter.
Serve your delicious biscuits warm any way you see fit. Personally, I love to break it in half and spread grass-fed butter & raspberry jam for a treat!
If you try this recipe, let me know by leaving a comment! Love it? Feel free to give it a 5-star rating!
Find More Delicious Recipes -
Homemade Biscuit Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Pastry Cutter
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Biscuit Cutter (or mason jar lid)
- Cast Iron Skillet or Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 Cup Cold Butter
- 1 Cup Whole Milk (or buttermilk)
- Milk or butter for brushing tops of biscuits with before baking.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together until well combined.2-1/2 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, 1 Tbsp Baking Powder, 1/2 tsp Salt
- Place your cold butter into the flour mixture.1/2 Cup Cold Butter
- Using a pastry cutter (or knives) to start breaking a part your cold butter into pea-size pieces.
- Pour the milk or buttermilk into the bowl. Take a fork to stir in the milk until the dough comes together. It’s okay if a few bits of flour are not incorporated.1 Cup Whole Milk
- Turn your biscuit dough out onto a floured surface. Pat the dough down into a 1” rectangle. Fold the dough in half on top of itself until it’s about 1-1 ½ “ thick. Repeat this folding process another time. This will help give your biscuits its flaky layers. (Be sure not to overly knead the biscuit dough or you will lose the flakey layers)
- Use a biscuit cutter or mason jar lid to cut out the biscuits. Press your cutter straight down and lift it straight back up. DO NOT twist the cutter. Cutting the biscuits straight up and down will allow your biscuits to bake properly, showing off their flakey layers. If you twist your cutter it will “seal” off the edges of your biscuits causing your layers to be hidden while it bakes.
- Once you’ve cut out as many biscuits as you can, gather your dough scraps and pat them together into another 1”-1 ½” thick rectangle to finish cutting out all of the biscuits
- Place cut biscuits in your greased cast iron skillet (about an inch apart)
- Brush the tops of your biscuits with milk or butter to create a nice golden color while baking.
- Bake biscuits for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Once they are done baking, take out of the oven and immediately bush again with melted butter.
- Serve your delicious biscuits warm any way you see fit. Personally, I love to break it in half and spread grass-fed butter & raspberry jam for a treat!
Notes
- Cold butter is the key to great biscuits. Use a pastry cutter if you have one to avoid the butter from getting too soft.
- Do not twist your biscuit cutter or mason jar lid when forming your biscuits. This seals off the edges not allowing your biscuits to have the flakey layer look. Push your biscuit cutter straight down and lift it back up.
- Use milk or butter to rub on the tops of your biscuits. This will help give them the perfect golden color!
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