Making biscuits from scratch is simple and easy thanks to this baking powder biscuits recipe. I love making fresh biscuits now and then, and these ones never disappoint. Made with basic pantry staples, it's a great recipe to keep on hand.
These fluffy baking powder biscuits are buttery and wonderful for a breakfast dish or a dinner side dish. There's really no bad time for biscuits. Made with just a few basic ingredients and moments of your time, you can have a batch of biscuits in no time.
This old fashioned baking powder biscuit recipe is one of my favorite biscuit recipes, and once you try them, you'll see why too. If I'm wanting something a little quicker, I'll opt for my Easy 3 Ingredient Biscuits, but both recipes come together in minutes.
Why This Recipe Works
- Basic ingredients. Most, if not all, of the ingredients to make these biscuits can be found in your home already. Flour, sugar, butter, etc., these basic pantry staples come to life in these wonderful fluffy biscuits.
- Fast biscuits. This recipe comes together very quickly. Within just moments, your dough is mixed and ready to be rolled and cut. They take 15 minutes or less in the oven, too, so you can have a plate full of warm biscuits in under 30 minutes!
- Great for any occasion. Serve these biscuits with tea, jam, or honey. Eat them for breakfast with sausage gravy or Chocolate Gravy. Or eat them with dinner for a simple side dish.
🥘 Ingredients
All-purpose flour- This is the base of the recipe and will give the biscuits the proper gluten structure.
Baking powder- Use this to help the biscuits puff up and rise as they bake.
Salt- A natural flavor enhancer.
Granulated sugar- For a little added chewiness and soft texture.
Salted butter- You can use salted or unsalted (but I always have salted butter on hand). This adds richness to the biscuits and helps them to get those wonderful layers.
Milk- To bring the dough together well.
For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Mixing Bowl
- Baking Sheet
- Biscuit cutter
🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make baking powder biscuits with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
Use a cheese grater to shred the frozen butter into small pieces.
Use a fork to stir the butter into the flour mixture until evenly distributed.
Slowly add in the milk while stirring until the mixture comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and press it down to ¼ inch thick.
Fold in half and repeat several times. Flattening and folding about 10 times. This will create layers.
When you've finished building layers, roll the dough out to ½ inch thick and then use a round cutter to cut out your shapes.
Brush off excess flour and place evenly spread apart on a large baking sheet.
Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown.
Brush the tops with more melted butter and serve.
🍴 Recipe Tips
When handling the dough of these homemade baking powder biscuits make sure to be gentle. Over kneading the dough will cause you to get a dense biscuit. Loosely handling it and treating it as gently as you can give you fluffier and lighter textures.
A good train of thought is to be as gentle with the dough as you would be giving a newborn a bath. This is an analogy my 8-year-old gave me as she watched me whip up the latest batch of biscuits and I think it's a pretty good one.
For the frozen butter:
I really do recommend sticking butter in the freezer for an hour before using it because the colder the butter is, the better. But you can use regular cold cubed butter and pastry cutters or forks if you have them. You'll want the dough to look like coarse crumbs when mixed if you go this route.
If you use a cheese grater and frozen butter the crumbs thing doesn't matter. You just want there to be flour and butter well distributed throughout the bowl because the butter will try to stick to itself. Leaving the butter in larger cheese shreds will also help with getting a great texture.
💭 FAQs
Yes, you can make this baking powder biscuits recipe using shortening. To use shortening you will want to use ⅓ cup of shortening and cut it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Then add in the milk and bring together following the recipe card as directed.
You can use anything from cookie cutters to wine glasses to help cut your biscuits. I find that stemmed wine glasses or straight topped drinking glasses are often the best because they're easy to use and more convenient. You'll want the biscuits to be about 2 inches in diameter as smaller ones or large ones will cook at different rates.
These biscuits can last up to 3 or 4 days at room temperature in an airtight container. I like to reheat them on a plate in the microwave for about 15 seconds to warm them up before adding butter and honey the next day. You could freeze biscuits for up to 3 months in an airtight container as well.
More great biscuit recipes (and tasty spreads) to try soon
- Easy Easter Bunny Biscuits
- Easy 3 Ingredient Biscuits
- Sugar Free Strawberry Jam
- Sugar Free Blueberry Jam
- Copycat Texas Roadhouse Butter
📖 Recipe
Baking Powder Biscuits
Equipment
- Biscuit cutter
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour ($0.16)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder ($0.04)
- 1 teaspoon salt ($0.10)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar ($0.01)
- ½ cup salted butter, frozen ($0.75)
- 1 cup milk ($0.19)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
- Use a cheese grater to shred the frozen butter into small pieces.
- Use a fork to stir the butter into the flour mixture until evenly distributed.
- Slowly add in the milk while stirring until the mixture comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and press it down to ¼ inch thick.
- Fold in half and repeat several times. Flattening and folding about 10 times. This will create layers.
- When you've finished building layers, roll the dough out to ½ inch thick and then use a round cutter to cut out your shapes.
- Brush off excess flour and place evenly spread apart on a large baking sheet.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown.
- Brush the tops with more melted butter and serve.
Notes
Recipe Tips
- When handling the dough of these homemade baking powder biscuits make sure to be gentle. Over kneading the dough will cause you to get a dense biscuit. Loosely handling it and treating it as gently as you can give you fluffier and lighter textures.
- A good train of thought is to be as gentle with the dough as you would be giving a newborn a bath. This is an analogy my 8-year-old gave me as she watched me whip up the latest batch of biscuits and I think it's a pretty good one.
- I really do recommend sticking butter in the freezer for an hour before using it because the colder the butter is, the better. But you can use regular cold cubed butter and pastry cutters or forks if you have them.
- You'll want the dough to look like coarse crumbs when mixed if you go this route. If you use a cheese grater and frozen butter the crumbs thing doesn't matter. You just want there to be flour and butter well distributed throughout the bowl because the butter will try to stick to itself. Leaving the butter in larger cheese shreds will also help with getting a great texture.
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