Sunday, February 1, 2026

Biscuits

By: Breanna Molix-Scott  |  Posted: January 27, 2026 

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Oh y'all. The way I LOVE a good fluffy, flaky biscuit that soaks up butter while making a delicious biscuit sandwich. And these, these are it! Combine that with a 12 minute bake time, how could it get much better?? I mean, other than someone else doing the dishes; but we can't have everything, right?



James and I are all about a good breakfast for dinner. There are always scrambled eggs, some form of potato, and a salty protein. I’m personally partial to million-dollar bacon, because how else will I ever live the millionaire life? While those are our constants, we like to rotate the 'carb of honor' between pancakes and biscuits. And oh boy, do I get excited for biscuit night. It’s basically the high point of my week, which probably says more about my social life than I intended.


While these babies are good any time of year, they hit different in the colder weather. There's just something about warm, carb-heavy comfort food when it's below 50℉. It’s the culinary equivalent of a weighted blanket.

Super cold—like 'Arctic tundra' frozen—butter is the key to getting that flaky, high-rising biscuit. You can either cube the butter and freeze it beforehand, or use a cheese grater to shred already frozen butter. I swear by the grater method for all my pastry doughs; it gives my galette, tart, and pie crusts that perfect flake. Either way, seeing those little shards of butter marbled through the dough gives me more feels than that Laying Pipe episode scene from Sons of Anarchy. If you know, you know.


To get those nice layers in the biscuits, we create dough layers through a process called lamination. After rolling out your dough, fold it over on itself before gently rolling it out again. Continue this process to get more layers. I like to do this 4 to 5 times to achieve the biscuits of my dreams.

The Biscuit Building Blocks

  • All-Purpose Flour - The foundation of every good carb-heavy dream.
  • Baking Powder - The "lift" crew responsible for those skyscraper layers.
  • Granulated Sugar - Just enough to make the other flavors wake up and pay attention.
  • Salt - Because a bland biscuit is a personal tragedy.
  • FROZEN Unsalted Butter - We're adding salt anyway, so we don't want super salty biscuits. Shredded with a cheese grater (trust me on the grater method).
  • Whole Milk (or Butter Milk) - Kept in the fridge until the very last second. If you use buttermilk, you'll get that beautiful tangy taste that reminds you of downhome southern cookin'.


Homemade Flaky Biscuits

Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes
Heat: 425°F

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425°F and set your prepared baking sheet off to the side. You can use aluminum foil or parchment paper, but I like to use our reusable silicone baking mats. Go green!

Grate your frozen butter and pop it back in the freezer while you prep the dry ingredients. You can also opt to cube your cold butter then place it in the freezer. Regardless of what you chose, remember speed is your friend here; we want that butter cold.


Lab Notes


PHYSICS?

When those frozen butter shards hit the high heat of the oven, the water inside evaporates instantly. This creates tiny pockets of steam that physically shove the dough upward before the butter has a chance to melt.

✓ Frozen Butter = steam pockets  →  flaky, skyscraper layers.

✗ Warm Butter = melts into the flour  →  heavy, dense hockey pucks.


Keep your cool

If you feel the dough getting warm while you're doing your lamination folds, throw the whole bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes. Your ego can take the hit; a flat biscuit cannot.

Whisk together your flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Once your dry ingredients are mixed together, cut in the frozen butter until you have a pea-sized, crumby mixture. While you can totally do this with your hands, I like to multi-task a bit and use the mixer with the pastry cutter attachment. That way, I can get my pastry mat and cutters set up by the time everything is mixed together. 



Another time saver for me is using the reusable silicone mixing bowl liners James got me for Christmas. Not only do they allow me to quickly change out bowls and bake different recipes back to back, but they double well as a warm proofing bowl when I make bread, and a cooling bowl when making cookies. Science!

After incorporating the cut butter into the dry ingredients, it's time to add the wet. Whole milk is our milk of choice, but buttermilk is a great option when we have it. The only time I really buy buttermilk is if I'm making James's family recipe for banana bread, so it's not too often. But, if I'm making butter from scratch, we use the leftovers for biscuits!

Once all of the dry and wet ingredients have been mixed together and formed a dough, turn the dough ball out onto a floured surface, like a clean counter or a pastry mat.


Roll into a rectangle, fold in thirds like a letter, and repeat 4-5 times to get those nice layers going. Don't overwork your dough! Overworking can lead to more dense and chewy biscuits rather than those light and fluffy ones we're going for. If your dough is too wet, try sprinkling a little more dough onto your surface. On your final roll, you'll want to roll your dough out to about half an inch or so. Don't worry, they will rise A LOT in the oven.

Now to form our biscuits! Cut the biscuits into rounds using a biscuit cutter or mason jar lid. That's right, before I was rolling in the teacher life dough, I used what I could find. If you feel it's needed, dip the bottom of your butter into some flour to keep it from sticking to your dough. Press, don't twist, the cutter! 



I'm usually able to get 3 rounds cut out of my first rolled out piece with the 2 ½ in cutter I use.  Look at all those layers inside of that rolled out beauty! When you have cut out as many pieces as you can, move the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet.


Take the remaining dough and work it again until you roll it out into a new sheet. Satisfyingly enough, I am then able to get 2 biscuit rounds out of the next set, and 1 from the last set. I usually have teeny tiny bit of dough left over that I use as a test piece.



Once all of the biscuits are laid out on the basking sheet, pop those bad boys in the oven and bake at 425°F for about 12 minutes or until golden and glorious. Since they bake at the same temp as the potatoes we were making for dinner, I cook them at the same time. The potatoes start off with about 20 minutes in the oven, then finish in the remaining 12 minutes.




Biscuits are not like cookies. Placing them closer together forces them to rise up rather than spread out. So, while it looks like these are too close to each other, they are actually their own little biscuit support system. Together they'll grow big and strong! If you need them to touch, that's fine. The closer together they are, the taller they will grow!



MiX IT Up

  • Fold in ½ cup of sharp cheddar cheese and a teaspoon of garlic powder for a Cheddar Bay adjacent biscuit.
  • Add finely chopped fresh rosemary or chives to the flour before you cut in the butter. It's like spreading with an herby compound butter without the hassle of making compound butter.
  • Brush the tops with heavy cream and a sprinkle of Turbinado sugar for a crunch.
  • Drizzle them with honey or spread the tops with melted honey butter as soon as they hit the cooling rack. Can you say Churches biscuits as home?



Jump to Recipe



Recipe image
Homemade Flaky Biscuits
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes   |   Cook Time: 12 minutes   |   Total Time: 17-22 minutes
Servings: 6 biscuits   |   Course: Side Dish
Ingredients
  • 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 tbsp Granulated Sugar
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter, very cold, cut
  • ¾ cup Whole Milk or Buttermilk



  • Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, foil, or a silicone mat.
  2. Use a cheese grater to shred your frozen butter into "confetti", or cube it. Pop the shreds back into the freezer for a few minutes while you continue prep so it stays nice and cold.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
  4. Add frozen butter to the dry mix. Use a pastry cutter (or mixer attachment) until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs.
  5. Pour in cold milk. Stir gently until a shaggy dough forms. Do not overwork your dough.
  6. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Roll into a rectangle. Fold in thirds like a letter. Rotate and repeat this process 4–5 times. On the final roll, keep dough at ½ inch thickness.
    • Note: If the dough is too wet, sprinkle with a little extra flour.
  7. Use a 2 ½-inch cutter. Press straight down—do not twist the cutter, as this seals the edges and prevents the rise. Dip the cutter in flour if it sticks.
  8. Place biscuits on the baking sheet so they are nearly touching. Re-roll scrap dough to cut remaining rounds until all dough is used.
  9. Bake at 425°F for 12 minutes (or until golden brown).


Whether you used a fancy pastry cutter or a dusty mason jar lid, you’ve just mastered the art of the laminate. Consider this your gold star for the day. These are best served immediately, steaming hot, and preferably while ignoring whatever dishes are currently soaking in the sink. You earned it! Happy baking!