American🍞 Bread & bakery

Flaky Homemade Biscuits

Name: Flaky Homemade Biscuits
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 cups all-purpose flour; 2 tbsp granulated sugar; 1 tbsp baking powder; 2½ tsp salt; 1 cup unsalted butter; 1.33 cups cold milk; 2 tbsp salted butter; 2 tsp honey

⏱ 70 min🍽 Serves 12

These tender, flaky, buttery homemade biscuits are judged by their height and layers—tall, craggy sides that pull apart into flaky sheets, a tender center, and enough butter that you barely need to add more. The secret is two key techniques: keeping the butter cold, and a quick fold-and-stack method that builds the layers.

Adapted from a video by Preppy Kitchen

Flaky Homemade Biscuits Recipe

Watch on YouTube

Ingredients

all-purpose flour4 cups
granulated sugar2 tbsp
baking powder1 tbsp
salt2½ tsp
unsalted buttercold, cut into small cubes1 cup
cold milkpreferably whole milk1.33 cups
salted buttermelted, for brushing tops; or unsalted butter with a pinch of salt2 tbsp
honeyfor honey butter spread2 tsp

Steps

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1
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2
In a large bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together until well mixed.
3
Add cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using your hands or a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour until you have a range of sizes from small lentil-sized pieces to almond-sized chunks.
4
Gradually drizzle in cold milk while folding with a spatula until you have a shaggy, crumbly dough.
5
Dump the dough onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Pat into a 1-inch-thick square or rectangle.
6
Fold the dough in half, cut it in half crosswise, and stack the pieces. Pat back into a rectangle and repeat the fold-cut-stack process three more times for a total of four folds. This creates the flaky layers.
7
After the final fold and stack, pat or roll the dough to a thickness of 3/4 to 1 inch. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes so the butter sets.
8
Using a 2.5- to 3-inch round cutter floured before and after each cut, press down to cut out biscuits. Do not twist. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
9
Gather scraps, re-form, and cut out additional biscuits until all dough is used.
10
Freeze the cut biscuits for 20 minutes until firm and set.
11
Bake at 425°F for about 20 minutes until puffed and golden brown.
12
Brush the warm biscuits with melted butter immediately after removing from the oven for extra richness.
13
Optional: Make honey butter by mixing room-temperature salted butter with honey (use about twice as much butter as honey). Spread on warm biscuits.

Flaky Homemade Biscuits

Ingredients

Steps

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