I’ve been making these Easy Homemade Biscuits a lot during our many days at home these past few months, and finally took the time to write down my exact measurements, take some photos, and share the recipe here. I LOVE to make them because they don’t require very much planning as there is no rise time, and I have all the ingredients on hand at any given time.
The boys might be a little disappointed that no one gets to whack that can-o-biscuits on the edge of the countertop to pop it open, but everyone loves eating these Easy Homemade Biscuits!
In the spirit of eternally testing my recipes, I’ve gone about making these in a few different ways. My goal is to get those tender, buttery, flakey layers. In order to achieve this, we need our biscuit dough to be filled with little clumps of flour-coated fat. In this recipe, the fat is a mixture of butter and shortening. You can use all butter, but I like the texture of the biscuits with a combination of both.
I think the easiest way to get those pea-sized clumps of flour-coated butter is to use a food processor. I add 1/2 cup of my flour mixture along with the butter and shortening and pulse until I have the clumps I’m looking for. I’ve also tried freezing the butter and grating it into the dough. This works well but required more elbow grease. You can also use a pastry cutter, which takes a little longer, but will do the job.
Another way to help get those flakey layers is to fold the dough before cutting out the biscuits. Once the dough is all mixed up, pour it out onto a well-floured surface, and pat it into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle. You want to work quickly so that the butter clumps will stay cold.
Starting with the short end of the rectangle, fold the dough into thirds over itself, like an envelope. Dust with flour as needed, and then reshape the dough into another rectangle, and repeat the folding process once more. These layers will become more distinct as the biscuits bake, and the fat melts into steam, pushing the dough up as it goes.
I love the science behind biscuit making! In addition to the steam created from the melting fat, our biscuits will rise and separate into layers because of the chemical reaction between the baking powder and the acidity of the vinegar we’ve added to the milk. Traditionally, this might come from buttermilk, but I never have that on hand and don’t like to buy a whole bottle for one recipe.
The oven will be cranked up to 450 degrees for this recipe, and we need all that heat to activate our chemical reactions and create that lift as soon as the biscuits go into the oven. Watch them carefully, and make sure your oven rack isn’t too close to the heating element on top.
All that baking science comes together beautifully to create these Easy Homemade Biscuits, with their buttery, tender, flakey layers and crispy golden brown tops. They are so comforting to me, especially with a good smear of butter and a drizzle of honey. Make sure you save at least one for an egg, bacon, and cheese breakfast sandwich the next morning!
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Easy Homemade Biscuits
- Prep Time: 25
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
All that baking science comes together beautifully to create these Easy Homemade Biscuits with their buttery, tender, flakey layers!
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons shortening, chilled and cubed*
- 8 tablespoons salted butter, chilled and cubed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and make sure the oven rack is in the center position.
- Measure out 1 cup of whole milk, and stir in 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes so that it will thicken and curdle slightly. Set aside.
- In the meantime, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Add chilled shortening and butter to the food processor. Scoop 1/2 cup of the flour mixture into the food processor, and pulse together until there are pea-sized clumps of flour-coated butter and shortening. Do not over-process. Freeze the clumpy butter mixture for 5 minutes, and then add it back into the bowl with the rest of the flour mixture.
- Pour the milk and vinegar mixture (reserving 2 tablespoons for later) into the butter and flour mixture. Stir together until a sticky dough forms.
- Turn the sticky dough out onto a well-floured surface and pat into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle. Starting with the short end of the rectangle, fold the dough over itself into thirds. Dust with additional flour as needed and shape the dough back into a 3/4 inch rectangle, and repeat the folding and shaping process two more times.
- Use a 3 inch biscuit cutter to cut the dough into six biscuits. Remove the cut dough biscuits and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Reshape the remaining dough into a much smaller 3/4 inch thick rectangle, and cut 2 more biscuits. Flatten any leftover scraps of dough into small disks and place them under any dough biscuits that look slightly smaller than the others. No need to waste!
- Brush the reserved milk mixture on top of the biscuits, and then bake for 14-17 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm.
Notes
*You may use 10 tablespoons of butter if you do not wish to use any shortening in this recipe. I like to use both for texture, but all butter biscuits are definitely delicious!
**This recipe is adapted from The Splendid Table, which featured a Bomb Biscuits recipe from Erika Council.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Biscuit
- Calories: 293
- Sugar: 1.7g
- Sodium: 565mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 9.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.7g
- Trans Fat: 0.5g
- Carbohydrates: 32g
- Fiber: 1.1g
- Protein: 5.1g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
Rewari says
First time making these, and basically first time making biscuits, they turned out great! Thanks for sharing.
shelley Kenyon says
You can use lemon Juice also for milk.