Easy Southern Biscuit Recipe (5 Ingredients)

Name: Easy Southern Biscuit Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour (, packed (if using self-rising flour, omit baking powder and salt) ); 1 Tbsp baking powder ((leave out if using self-rising flour)); ½ tsp salt ((leave out if using self-rising flour)); ½ cup butter, (salted, cut in small pieces (if using unsalted, add ¼ tsp more salt than above)); 1 cup milk ((regular or buttermilk) )

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My easy Southern biscuit recipe was handed down to me by my mom, a fabulous Southern cook, and is simple and quick to put together. It's gotten rave reviews all over, and I think you too will find these easy homemade biscuits to be outrageously fluffy, flaky, and delicious!

Cooked biscuits stacked on plate ready to serve.

Great all by themselves. Or add jam, honey, or molasses. Or you can make them into a breakfast sandwich with ham, egg, and cheese or break them open and cover them with gravy (try my Homemade Turkey Gravy) ... or just scarf them down fresh and hot out of the oven 😉

These biscuits are also perfect with my Southern Homemade Chili, my Ham and Bean Crockpot Soup, my Southern Black Eyed Peas with collards, or as your go-to easy side bread for regular or special meals.

Crisp and flaky on the outside, soft and tender on the inside - can't you just taste them now!

🔎 Quick Look: Southern Biscuits Recipe

⏲️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
🍳 Cook Time: 20 minutes
⌛ Total Time: 30 minutes
🍽️ Servings: 4
📊 Calories: 470 kcal/serving
💖 Why You'll Love: Easy, quick, fluffy, flaky, go with anything.
📜 Ingredients: All-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, salted butter, milk.
♨️ Cook Method: Oven
🥣 Tools Needed: Large bowl, biscuit cutter, rolling pin, sheet pan or cast iron skillet

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🔎 Quick Look: Southern Biscuits Recipe
💖 Why You'll Love These Biscuits
Ingredients You'll Need
📖 Substitutions / Variations
🔪 How to Make Easy Southern Biscuits (Step-By-Step)
💭 Expert Tips
🧐 Southern Biscuit Recipe FAQs
🍲 What to Serve with Your Butter Biscuits
📋 Recipe

💖 Why You'll Love These Biscuits

Easy - These biscuits are so easy, they're practically fool proof. I love easy, and I believe you do too. No need for special techniques or methods. Just mix, roll out (or not - you can also make drop biscuits with this dough), bake, and enjoy!
Quick - Takes about 30 minutes from start to finish - 10 minutes to mix ingredients and about 20 minutes to bake. So these are great for last-minute preparation. Also easy to double the recipe for larger (or hungrier) crowds.
Fluffy & Flaky - Everything you love about a great biscuit.
Go with Everything - So adaptable and great with anything you're serving. Great to use for a breakfast sandwich, eaten with just butter or jam, or dipped in your favorite chili or soup.

I believe you'll also love these easy homemade biscuit variations - my Cheddar Biscuit Recipe, Blueberry Biscuits, and Ranch Cheddar Bacon Biscuits. Give them a try!

Ingredients You'll Need

Ingredients for biscuits, including flour, baking powder, salt, butter, and milk.

Flour - I typically purchase and use all-purpose flour. If you use self-rising flour, you will need to omit the salt and baking powder.
Butter - I use salted butter. If using unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon more salt per ½ cup of butter.
Milk - You can use milk or buttermilk. If using plain milk, I like to use whole milk, as the extra fat adds to the flavor and success of the biscuits.
Baking powder - Make sure you are using baking "powder" and not "soda," as they are completely different ingredients. Baking powder is a rising agent and necessary for your biscuits to fluff up and not turn out flat. Make sure your baking powder is fresh and not outdated - very important for a good rise of your biscuits!

(See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full recipe instructions)

📖 Substitutions / Variations

Flour: If you want to use self-rising flour, leave out the baking powder and salt in this recipe.
Milk: You can use buttermilk instead of whole milk. Just use the same quantity.
Butter: I use salted butter, but you can also use unsalted. If you do, make sure to add an additional ¼ teaspoon salt to the ingredients before mixing.
Drop biscuits: If you want to make these even easier, you can skip the rolling out of the dough and just drop the dough by large spoonfuls onto your baking sheet. They will turn out fluffy with a nice outer crust.

🔪 How to Make Easy Southern Biscuits (Step-By-Step)

Flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl with butter pieces on top.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 450F. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add butter in smallish pieces.

Flour, baking powder, salt, and butter mixed up in large bowl.

Step 2: With your hands (or a pastry blender), combine flour mixture and butter until butter is pea sized and mixture is crumbly.

Biscuit dough in large bowl with wooden spoon.

Step 3: Pour in milk and combine with a wooden spoon until well incorporated, taking care not to over mix.

Ball of biscuit dough on floured surface.

Step 4: With floured hands, form dough into a ball and place on a floured surface.

Biscuit dough rolled out on floured surface with rolling pin.

Step 5: Roll out dough to about ¾ inch thick.

Uncooked biscuit dough rolled out on counter with biscuit cutter.

Step 6: Cut out biscuits with biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or glass, making sure not to twist.

Uncooked biscuits lined up on baking sheet ready to bake.

Step 7: Add each biscuit to an un-greased cookie sheet or iron skillet. For a higher rise during baking, make sure that the biscuits touch each other.

Step 8: Cook biscuits on 450F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 7-9 Southern biscuits that are 2-½ to 3 inches across.

(Scroll down for full recipe and print capabilities)

💭 Expert Tips

One of the keys to making easy homemade biscuits is to use softened butter. This means leaving it out on the counter for an hour or two when I plan to make biscuits. You don't want melted butter - just softened so it's easier to handle and mix together with your dry ingredients.
Mixing all of the dry ingredients together with the butter with bare hands is easier, in my opinion, as it feels like it all gets mixed better and more evenly distributed.
Make sure the dry ingredients, specifically the salt and baking powder, are well incorporated into the flour so you don't have patches of saltiness in your biscuits.
After the dry ingredients are well blended with the butter, you will pour in the milk and combine with a wooden spoon until well incorporated. Take care not to over mix, as the biscuits could turn out tough.
It helps to flour your hands before you handle the dough. This way you don't add unnecessary flour, but it's easier to handle.
I like to pour out a small pile of flour on the counter nearby so I have easy access to more flour for my hands, the rolling pin, or the cutter.
Don't twist your cutter as you're cutting out the biscuits, as this will seal the edges and make it more difficult to get a good rise.
As oven temperature settings vary, you may have to cook them for a longer (or shorter) time. Ideally, you would use an oven thermometer to check your oven's temperature accuracy. I found out that my oven gets 50 degrees hotter than what is indicated. This is very useful to know in order to get accurate results.
Pack the flour before adding - scooping out the flour with the dry measuring cup in the flour bag and leveling on the side before adding to the bowl. If you add the flour gently to your measuring cup or sifting, you will end up with less flour (which could definitely cause a problem with dough being too wet). I know this is unconventional, but this is the way I do it.

🧐 Southern Biscuit Recipe FAQs

Why is my biscuit dough sticky?

The dough is supposed to be a bit sticky and hard to handle - this makes for softer biscuits. It shouldn't be "wet," but it will be "sticky."

Therefore, you should flour your hands before handling the sticky dough, and make sure to add the dough to a floured surface.

You want it to be as sticky as possible while still being able to handle it - this makes for softer biscuits (as above).

Why didn't my biscuits rise?

This could be due to old baking powder or that you handled the dough too much. Make sure your baking powder is fresh and not expired, as this will greatly hinder the rise.

Also, handle the dough as little as possible, so your biscuits remain light and fluffy and able to rise to their highest potential.

Which flour is best for biscuits?

I use all-purpose regular flour. I don't buy specialty flours or special brands. Mine turn out great with the store brand.

Can I make biscuits with just milk and flour?

Even if you are using self-rising flour, you will still need a fat (butter in the case of this recipe) in your biscuits in order to help the biscuits rise and also make them tender, flaky, and more delicious!

🍲 What to Serve with Your Butter Biscuits

If you tried this easy Southern Biscuit Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

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