Name: Butter Biscuit Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 10 biscuits
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups flour; 4 teaspoons baking powder; 3 tablespoons white sugar; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar; 1/2 cup butter (frozen or very cold); 3/4 cup whole or 2% milk

The Best Butter Biscuits

The best basic butter biscuit recipe out there plus a secret tip on using frozen butter for extra flaky biscuits.

Prep10 min

Cook10 min

Total20 min

Serves10 biscuits

Published 15 Feb 2012

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The bestbutter biscuit recipeEVER, perfect for lazy mornings lounging around the house when all you want is a cozy, comforting breakfast!

If you’ve never made warm, flaky, homemade biscuits before, stop whatever you’re doing and get out the flour and butter! These guys arewicked-good and entirely easy to make,whether you’ve made biscuits a million times or this is your first time.

I lovebiscuits and gravyor a warmbiscuit with sausage, as well asbuttermilk biscuits. No matter how you take yours, thesebutter biscuitsare seriouslyone of the best biscuit recipes I’ve ever made, and I think you should probably try it soon!

dough spread out with round circles cut into it.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This is a no-fuss recipe withsimple instructionsthat anyone can make with ease, and they come outfluffy and flakyevery time.
Butter biscuits are a heavenly and flaky pastry, perfect to include in any breakfast, and super simple to make no matter your baking experience!
Freshly homemade biscuits will last for about1 to 2 days at room temperature. Store them in an airtight container. You can also keep themin the fridge for up to a week.

Recipe Ingredients

Flour
Baking powder
Sugar
Cream of tartar
Butter –frozen or very cold
Milk –whole or 2%

See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.

white plate with several biscuits in a pile blue and white dish towel underneath.

How to Make Butter Biscuits

whisking flour in a clear glass mixing bowl

grading a hard butter stick with a cheese grater

Step 1:Whisk the dry ingredients together.

Step 2:Grate the butter into the flour mixture and stir, then add milk.

circles cut out of dough that will eventually be biscuits

stack of butter biscuits on a white plate

Step 3:Pat the dough on a floured surface and cut it into biscuits.

Step 4:Place on cookie sheet and bake.

Recipe FAQs

What is a butter biscuit made of?

In my perfect butter biscuit recipe, I use flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cream of tartar, butter, and milk. Very simple and oh-so delicious!

Can you use melted butter in biscuits?

No! You want your butter as cold as possible before you cut it into small pieces so that it creates little pockets in the dough for a flaky and puffy biscuit. Melted butter will make the biscuit chewier and more solid than flaky.

Why don’t my biscuits rise?

One of the main reasons biscuits don’t rise is when the butter isn’t cold enough (are you sensing a theme?) or the oven isn’t hot enough. Also be sure to use a biscuit cutter to help them rise.

a white plate full of golden brown biscuits.

Expert Tips

The key to making great biscuits isusing cold or even frozen butter.When you cut it into little-bitty pieces (or use a cheese grater to break it up), those small chunks stay formed in the dough and eventually melt as the biscuits bake, creating little pockets and layers of flaky, buttery goodness.
I’ve made these withall-purpose flour, as well as with half whole wheat and half all-purpose,and both ways turn out lovely. I wouldn’t recommend using just whole wheat, though, as they don’t rise when they bake as well.
Make sure to use a biscuit cutterso the dough is sliced through, not squished! This helps them to rise to perfection.

silver grater and a stick of yellow butter.

More Bread Recipes to Consider

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Butter Biscuit Recipe

The best butter biscuit recipe EVER, perfect for lazy mornings lounging around the house when all you want is a cozy, comforting breakfast!

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar.

Using the largest holes on a cheese grater, grate the butter into the bowl.

Stir butter into flour mixture until the butter is broken up, and the mixture is well combined. A fork or a pastry blender work well for this step.

Add the milk and stir until just combined – do not over mix.

Pat dough on a floured surface until it’s 3/4 inch thick. Cut into biscuits using a biscuit cutter. This recipe makes 10 to 12 2.5-inch biscuits.

Place on an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden-brown. Serve right away.

Notes

Using very cold or frozen butter is great because it makes the biscuits flaky (the same principle applies to pie crusts), and it’s easy to grate on a cheese grater. No cheese grater? Use a sharp knife to cut the butter into small squares, and then use a fork or a pastry blender to work it into the flour. I have made this recipe using half whole wheat flour and half white flour with great success (sometimes I’ll need to add a few extra tablespoons of milk to accommodate the whole grain flour). I have tried it with 100% whole wheat flour and they didn’t rise very well. I wouldn’t recommend it. I highly recommend buying a biscuit cutter, too. (I have and love these and these, both I got from the King Arthur Flour website. They double well as cookie and donut cutters, too.) The biscuit cutters are pretty sharp on the edge, so you are cutting through the dough and not smashing it down. This will help your biscuits to rise tall. I love biscuits and gravy or a biscuit on the side of an egg and sausage plate, or with a simple butter and jam. Biscuits will keep for a couple of days in a container or up to a week in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Calories198

Carbohydrates24

Cholesterol27

Fat10

Fiber1

Protein3

Saturated fat6

Sodium366

Sugar5