A homestyle classic that never goes out of style—this buttery biscuits recipe is the perfect comfort food for any occasion. Whether you’re topping them with savory gravy, sweet jam or jelly, a drizzle of honey, or enjoying them plain as a warm snack, these biscuits are a crowd-pleaser. In this recipe, we’ll show you how to make soft, flaky, golden biscuits from scratch using a cast iron pan for that perfect crispy edge and rich, buttery flavor. If you’re searching for a go-to buttery biscuits recipe, this one delivers every time. Check out our bacon gravy recipe as well!

Ingredients

• White Flour (sifted optional) – 2 cups
• Cold Unsalted Butter – 3/4 cup
• Buttermilk or Whole Milk – 1 cup
• Baking Powder – 1 tbs
• Sugar – 2 tsp
• Salt – 1 tsp

Instructions

Pro-Tip: Check the tips at the bottom before you start to make the perfect biscuits on your first try!

Step 1 – Preparations

Preheat oven to 425°F. Grease a cast iron pan or similar with butter. Chop or grate your butter for the future steps and keep it cold!

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Step 2 – Combine Dry Ingredients & Cut in Butter

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt until well combined.

Next, combine your cold butter with the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the 1/2 cup butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture becomes crumbly and resembles coarse meal. You’re aiming for small, pea-sized bits of butter evenly distributed throughout the flour — this creates buttery flakiness in the finished biscuits.

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Step 3 – Add Buttermilk and Roll Out the Dough

Pour in 1 cup of cold buttermilk (or whole milk) and gently mix until the dough comes together into a sticky, shaggy mass. Don’t over-mix, just enough to combine the ingredients.

Lightly flour a clean, flat surface and transfer the dough onto it. Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough as well. Begin gently folding the dough over itself a few times, then use your hands or a rolling pin to roll it out into a flat layer about ¼ inch thick.

You may need to add extra flour to both the surface and rolling pin to prevent sticking , don’t be shy with it.

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Step 4 – Fold with Optional Butter for Flaky Buttery Biscuit Layers

Now that the biscuit dough is rolled out, here’s where the optional butter layering comes in. Use a cheese grater or slice paper-thin shavings of cold butter, then lightly spread them across the surface of the dough.

Using your hands or a bench scraper, fold the dough in half, pressing down lightly — just enough to help the layers stick together without overworking the dough. This layering technique helps create extra flakiness in the finished biscuits.

Repeat this process 3 to 4 times, adding more thin butter slices between folds if desired. Be careful not to “re-mix” the dough — you want distinct layers, not a uniform mass.

Re-roll the dough out lightly into a squarish shape to roughly an 1/4″. More or less depending on your biscuit thickness preference.

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Step 5 – Shape and Bake the Biscuits

Avoid re-mixing the dough — you want to keep those flaky layers intact. Instead, cut the dough slab into even squares using a sharp knife or bench scraper. If you prefer round biscuits, gently press in the corners of each square to form a circular shape. Don’t overwork them — keep the folds visible.

Place the raw biscuits into your baking pan of choice, spacing them just slightly apart for softer sides or farther apart for crispier edges. Bake at 425°F for 12 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

I suggest checking around the 10 minute mark, especially if you are using a thinner pan.

If you want to double check, you can poke with a toothpick or chopstick. If no dough sticks to the utensil, they are done!

Can’t decide on how to eat your biscuits? Check out this article from allrecipes where there’s 10 ideas to on how to eat those buttery biscuit you just made! We also have a bacon gravy recipe to go along with our biscuits!

Pro-Tips For Your Buttery Biscuit Recipe

99 Problems, Flour A’int One

When initially rolling the dough, don’t worry too much about how much flour to use, just don’t pour the whole bag. Your final biscuit before bake should not be sticky.

Keep That Butter Cold, This Buttery Biscuits Need It!

Freeze the butter and use a thick cheese grater to get fine bits of butter for the initial cut in and layers. Keeping the butter cold ensures easy grating and proper layer/cutting. You do not want the butter to melt before it gets into the oven.

Mo’ Butter Mo’ Problems

It is possible to use too much butter, believe or not. I usually use closer to 1/2 cup and keep the extra layering of butter light. Excessive butter will essentially fry your biscuits, but too little will cause dry crumbling biscuits.

Cheeseaholics Anonymous

Add a layer of shredded cheddar (or your favorite melt-friendly cheese) between dough folds for a savory twist on the classic biscuit.

Sweet Biscuits

For a sweet version, brush a thin layer of honey on the top during the last 2–3 minutes of baking. You can even tuck a touch into the layers for a gooey surprise.