5 Steps for Perfect Homemade Southern Biscuits

A quick and simple recipe for Homemade Southern Biscuits that bake up perfectly golden on the outside, flaky and buttery on the inside.

BISCUITS FROM SCRATCH ARE EASIER THAN YOU THINK

Southern Homemade 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.

Homemade biscuits are a great recipe for any one of us to have under our belt, but if you’re a lady hailing from the South, well…it might just be downright blasphemous not to have this recipe in your back pocket. Especially since they come together so quickly and with such little effort.

USE HOMEMADE BISCUITS FOR…

You can bake up a big batch over the weekend, freeze what’s left behind, and reheat them on the weekdays. Use them to serve up the crowd-pleasing breakfast favorite Biscuits and Gravy, serve them on the side of just about any comfort food dinner, or simply top them with a little extra smear of butter and a drizzle of honey and call it dessert.

However, before we can get to the toppings, we need to get through the biscuits, which is going to be no problem at all.

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE SOUTHERN BISCUITS

Now, let’s move on to our 5 easy steps for making Homemade Southern Biscuits from scratch.

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 the biscuit 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 high temperature so be sure you preheat your oven when the recipes says to…at the very beginning.

Place the 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.

This is all 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 from 8 votes

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Southern Homemade Biscuits

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

A quick and simple recipe for Southern Homemade Biscuits that bake up perfectly golden on the outside, and flaky and buttery on the inside.

Course: Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Biscuits

Servings: 12

Calories: 135 kcal

Author: Kelly Anthony

Ingredients

• 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
• 3/4 cup whole milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400° and have ready a baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. 

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine.

3. 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. 

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden-brown. Serve and enjoy.

Recipe Notes

Makes 12 biscuits.

Nutrition Facts

Southern Homemade Biscuits

Amount Per Serving

Calories 135 Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 6g 9%

Saturated Fat 3g 15%

Cholesterol 16mg 5%

Sodium 342mg 14%

Potassium 76mg 2%

Total Carbohydrates 16g 5%

Protein 2g 4%

Vitamin A 4%

Calcium 3.6%

Iron 5.5%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.