Homemade Southern Biscuits are easier to make than you think, and you can make them perfectly on your first try. In fact, you can make them in five easy steps. This is a quick and simple recipe for biscuits at home that bake up perfectly golden on the outside, flaky and buttery on the inside every single time.
This is a great recipe for all of us to have under our belt, but if you're a lady hailing from the South, it's pure necessity. It requires few ingredients, and in less than 10 minutes, you'll have homemade Southern biscuits baking up mile-high in your very own oven.
SOUTHERN BISCUIT INGREDIENTS
- All-Purpose Flour
- Cold, Unsalted Butter
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda
- Milk
It doesn't take much to make Southern Biscuits at home. The base is a mixture of flour, along with two leaveners -- the baking powder and baking soda -- and salt.
Butter serves as the fat, making them flavorful and tender and milk is the liquid that brings it all together and binds the dough. If you happen to have buttermilk on hand that needs to be used, make these Buttermilk Biscuits instead!
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE SOUTHERN BISCUITS
Now, let's move on to our 5 easy steps for making Homemade Southern Biscuits from scratch.
- Mix dry ingredients.
- Cut in the butter.
- Stir in the milk.
- Pat out the dough and cut the biscuits.
- Bake.
1. MIX YOUR DRY INGREDIENTS
Your homemade biscuits will begin with a mix of dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda, and salt. Add the ingredients to a large mixing bowl, and whisk to combine.
2. CUT IN THE BUTTER
Once your dry ingredients are mixed up, it's time to cut in the butter. But first, you must cut the butter.
Cut the butter into small cubes and scatter across the bowl, then cut the butter into the dry ingredients.
You can do this using a pastry blender, or two knives if you want to be super old-fashioned about it. Continue working until it resembles small peas scattered throughout the mix...obviously, they won't be green.
WHY COLD BUTTER FOR BISCUIT DOUGH?
One of the most important ingredients in Homemade Southern biscuits is the butter, and more specifically, the temperature of the butter. When working butter into a pastry dough (which essentially what homemade biscuits are), it is important the butter is cold. Very cold.
The cold butter helps to create little steam pockets throughout the makeup of the dough, in turn, creating layers and one heck of a flaky homemade Southern biscuit.
Moving on to step three.
3. ADD THE MILK
Milk is all you need to bind the ingredients and form the dough. Add the milk, and stir with a sturdy, wooden spoon until evenly incorporated. If the spoon didn't fully do the trick, just get in there with your hands and lightly knead a few times to bring it all together.
4. CUT THE BISCUITS
Lay the biscuits out on a floured work surface and pat them into a rectangle or dough round, about 1" thick. From here, you can either cut the biscuits into 2" squares using a knife or using a round cookie cutter.
You can re-combine the scraps up to two times to get the most out of your dough.
5. BAKE
Biscuits bake at a high temperature so be sure to preheat your oven before you get started. This way, you can be confident it is reading true to temperature when it comes time to bake.
Place your Homemade Southern Biscuits on a baking sheet prepared with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and let 'em go in the oven until they are golden-brown, flaky perfection.
For some more southern breakfast goodness, check out our savory Cheese Grits.
USE HOMEMADE SOUTHERN BISCUITS FOR...
These Homemade Southern Biscuits can be served at numerous occasions, at just about any time of day. You can bake up a big batch over the weekend, freeze what's left behind, and reheat them on the weekdays for a quick-fix breakfast.
Use them to serve up the crowd-pleasing breakfast favorite Biscuits and Gravy, or serve them on the side of just about any comfort food dinner. In fact, we dressed up this very recipe and transformed it into Red Lobster's famous Cheddar Bay Biscuits for a savory, dinnertime side dish! Or, keep it simple and top them with a little extra smear of butter and a drizzle of honey and call it dessert.
This is everything you need to know to get those perfect homemade Southern biscuits right on your very first go-round, and one you'll be able to put to good use for a lifetime! They're quick, easy, and perfect for big family breakfasts or even breakfast on the go. Biscuits are portable, you know? However (or wherever) you should choose to consume them, please, enjoy.
5 MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
- Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits are extra tender, super flavorful, and equipped with layers for days! Add this recipe to your biscuit repertoire!
- Homemade Biscuits and Gravy features homemade biscuits and the best recipe for scratch-made sausage gravy — a creamy white gravy speckled with black pepper and pork breakfast sausage!
- Easy Drop Biscuits with Cheddar and Chives are great for a quick weeknight side dish, and an all-time savory favorite to pass around the table!
- Homemade Garlic Bread is quick and easy to make, and a wonderful accompaniment to pasta night! Featuring a simple spread made up of butter, oil, garlic, and Parmesan cheese.
- Easy Homemade Cornbread feeds a crowd and makes for one impressive presentation ballooning out of its cast iron pan, and always bakes up tender and moist!
A quick and simple recipe for Southern Homemade Biscuits that bake up perfectly golden on the outside, and flaky and buttery on the inside.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for working with dough
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- ¾ cup whole milk
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Preheat the oven to 400° and have ready a baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine.
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Scatter the cubes of butter across dry mixture, and using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the cubes are the size of peas.
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Add the milk and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Lightly knead the mixture a bit with your hands (only if necessary) to bring it all together.
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Transfer the dough to a work surface dusted with flour and pat out so that it is 1" thick. Cut into 2" squares or use a biscuit cutter to form the biscuits. You can re-work the scraps up to two times to make more biscuits.
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Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden-brown. Serve and enjoy.
Recipe Video
Makes 12 biscuits.
