Best Homemade Biscuit Recipe made from scratch for a soft, flaky biscuit! These biscuits have a light, buttery flavor and are easy to make & perfect to go alongside dinner!
This easy biscuit recipe will easily become your new favorite, watch the updated video with expert advice on how to make homemade biscuits.
Homemade Buttery Biscuits
Our Homemade Biscuits are fantastic served with Creamy Vegetable Soup, Zuppa Toscana or The Best Slow Cooker Beef Stew. Try our Easy Apple Dumplings or Chocolate Coca Cola Cake for dessert!
My family and I love having fresh bread with dinner, but sometimes I just do not have time to make homemade bread from scratch. Enter my favorite biscuit recipe! These are so simple to make and they have great consistency and flavor. Do not let the sour cream confuse you either. You cannot taste it but it adds a nice flaky texture without requiring 2 pounds of lard. I think sour cream sounds much better than lard, don’t you agree?
Tips for making Easy Biscuit Recipe
Making homemade biscuits is very easy! You don’t need an electric mixer or any special tools (although I do love my Ateco Biscuit Cutters!) Keep it fast and simple!
Here are a few tips on how to make the best homemade biscuits:
- Do NOT overmix! Just use a mixing bowl and a rubber scraper or spoon. Don’t use any type of an electric mixer as it’s incredibly easy to over mix the dough. Aim to mix the dough about 15 times and that’s it! I find it usually takes about 15 turns of the rubber scraper to get the ingredients incorporated.
- Grating the butter really makes your life so much easier. I promise! It’s super fast and works really, really well for biscuit recipes. Just use a basic cheese grater and make sure your butter is cold. Grated butter adds a wonderful richness to these biscuits.
- Remember that the dough will be STICKY. Sticky dough yields soft, delicate biscuits with amazing texture. Don’t add a lot of flour when you’re patting the dough out and cutting it into biscuits. Use just enough to be able to cut the biscuits out into circles, that’s it. Yes it gets a bit messy. It’s okay, it will all be worth it! I like to spray my countertop with non-stick spray before I transfer the dough out on top of it, so that I use even less added flour.
- As with most baked goods, be sure to not over bake! That’s one quick way to have hard, dry biscuits, blech!
Ingredients needed for Sour Cream Biscuit Recipe:
Egg: You need 1 egg to help bind all the ingredients in this dough together well.
Sour Cream: Using 1 cup sour cream will provide wonderful moisture and texture to these biscuits.
Sugar: Using 1 tablespoon of sugar will give just the right amount of sweetness to this dough.
Butter: You need a ¼ cup butter for these biscuits. See tip# 2 above for a butter hack that will be helpful.
Flour: Use 2 cups of all purpose flour for the base and structure of this biscuit recipe.
Baking Powder: You need 1 teaspoon of baking powder to help the biscuits rise nicely as they bake.
Baking Soda: Use ½ teaspoon of baking soda for proper leavening agent in this recipe.
Salt: Adding ¾ teaspoon of salt will help enhance all the flavors really well.
How to make Homemade Biscuits
Prep
To make homemade biscuits, first you will need to preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Then, spray an 8×8 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
Dough
In a large size bowl, crack the egg and beat with a fork. Next, add in the sour cream and sugar, whisk to combine.
Next, grate the cold butter into the mixing bowl, stir just enough to mix. Grating butter is a super-fast way to mix small chunks of butter into the dough without taking time to roll the dough multiple times. As a matter of fact, you don’t roll the dough out at all with this recipe!
Then, add in the remaining dry ingredients, the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir just until mixed, the dough will be very sticky.
Shape biscuits
After that, lightly flour a countertop and use a rubber scraper to scrape the dough from the bowl onto the counter. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough and lightly knead a few times. Proceed to shape it into a mound and pat dough out to 1″ thickness. I just use my hands for this step, it is just as easy.
Then, spray a biscuit cutter with non-stick spray. If you don’t have a cutter, you can use the open end of a cup, canning jar rings or simply cut them with a knife and form balls. Cut the dough to form 9 biscuits. If you have leftover dough, divide it up, pat each piece flat and place it on the underside of each of the 9 biscuits.
Bake
Place the biscuits in the prepared greased pan with the sides of the biscuits almost or barely touching. Pat the tops down slightly so that they are smooth on top. Then bake the biscuits in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
Enjoy the biscuits warm, topped butter or better yet, with our Strawberry Freezer Jam! Serve and enjoy!
Homemade Biscuit Recipe with Sour Cream
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Then, spray an 8×8 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Dough: In a large size bowl, crack the egg and beat with a fork. Add in the sour cream and sugar, whisk to combine. Next, grate the cold butter into the mixing bowl, stir just enough to mix.
- Then, add in the remaining dry ingredients, the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir just until mixed, the dough will be very sticky.
- Shape biscuits: Lightly flour a countertop and use a rubber scraper to scrape the dough from the bowl onto the counter. Sprinkle a little flour on top and lightly knead a few times. Shape it into a mound and pat dough out to 1" thickness.
- Spray a biscuit cutter with non-stick spray. If you don't have a cutter, you can use the open end of a cup, canning jar rings or simply cut them with a knife and form balls. Cut the dough to form 9 biscuits. If you have leftover dough, divide it up, pat each piece flat and place it on the underside of each of the 9 biscuits.
- Bake: Place the biscuits in the prepared greased pan with the sides of the biscuits almost or barely touching. Pat the tops down slightly so that they are smooth on top. Bake the biscuits in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Enjoy the biscuits warm, topped butter or better yet, with our Strawberry Freezer Jam! Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Can you freeze Homemade Biscuits?
Yes, you can freeze homemade biscuits in an airtight container for up to 1 month. I find after that 4 week mark, the texture and flavor of the biscuits suffer. Since these are so simple to make, whip up a fresh batch any time you want to enjoy some hot biscuits!
Can you freeze homemade biscuit dough?
Yes, you can freeze the unbaked homemade biscuit dough that’s been shaped into biscuits. Simply place the formed biscuits on a parchment lined baking tray and freeze for several hours. Once solid, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 2-3 months. Once you’re ready to bake the biscuits, place them in an 8×8 greased pan and let them sit out several hours, until thawed. Proceed with the rest of the recipe, baking for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.
Why use Sour Cream for this recipe?
This recipe for biscuits uses sour cream. That may seem odd, but it replaces additional butter (or lard, which was what a lot of recipes called for!) and yields soft, flaky biscuits. Adding sour cream to this biscuit recipe improves the texture. You can also use plain yogurt- regular or Greek yogurt- in place of sour cream, if that’s what you have on hand.
Can you freeze sour cream?
Yes, you can freeze sour cream! Freezing does alter the texture slightly though so I find it’s best to use sour cream in recipes that are either baked or cooked in another way after you’ve thawed it. We use sour cream in our Banana Cream Pie Cookies, our Chicken Cream Cheese Dip and our Lemon Glazed Mini Cupcakes!
Need more biscuit and dinner roll recipes? Here you go!
- Blueberry Buttermilk Biscuits
- Cinnamon Biscuits with Honey Butter
- Easy Parmesan Garlic Dinner Rolls
- Easy 30-Minute Dinner Rolls
- Raspberry Honey Butter spread
- Cheesy Cornbread Muffins
- Best Blueberry Muffins
- Sweet Potato Biscuits
- Strawberry Butter recipe
- Parmesan Garlic Dinner Rolls
- Homemade English Muffins
- Nutella Banana Muffins recipe
- Banana Nut Muffins
- Sweet Orange Dinner Rolls
Homemade Biscuit Recipe made from scratch quickly, to create a wonderful, fluffy, and buttery treat. These biscuits from scratch have amazing flavor, and are easier to make then you might think!
Lorri says
These biscuits are outstanding – light, flavorful and moist. The tips on shredding the butter, and using Pam spray on the countertop to limit the use of extra flour when forming the biscuits (which also makes counter cleanup faster and easier) were spot on. This recipe will replace my original go-to buttermilk biscuit recipe from the Joy of Cooking.
Liz says
This recipe saved the day! Of course, at the last minute, I noticed that I was out of buttermilk! I needed to make some biscuits for our Thanksgiving dinner . I came across this recipe, and I had all these ingredients on hand and figured… well heck why not give this a shot. The biscuits turned out so prefect! They are very moist and flavorful. Absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for this handy biscuit recipe. I will surely make them again!
Amy Fiebke says
These were great and I made them gluten free. I had left over sour cream to use but only had 1/2 cup. I halved the recipe but used one egg and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour, 1 tsp baking powder, no soda. Gluten free often works best with egg and this turned out wonderful. I baked them in my air fryer at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Fabulous and tasty.
Alison says
Thanks for sharing the tips for the gluten free version Amy! Glad this worked for you!
Hannah says
I confess to being very confused as to suggested yield. I made these a few minutes ago and once the dough was patted to 1 1/2 inch thickness I was only able to cut out 5 biscuits using a normal size glass cup. Additionally, my 8×8 pan would never have accommodated 9 biscuits that size. Am I missing something?
Jessica says
Not sure what happened Hannah! I’m guessing the diameter of your “normal sized glass cup” was different than the biscuit cutter I used.
Hannah says
These biscuits were incredibly delicious and will be a regular part of our meal rotation! My only issue was that following the directions exactly my biscuit yield was only five (5) instead of nine (9).
Sooz McInerney says
I LOVE SALT but these were way way too salty for me. I thought twice about using 3/4 teaspoon of salt given the amount of soda and baking powder but figured I’d stick to the recipe as it was my first time out. The rest of the biscuit was delightful but the salt ruined the whole thing for me. I haven’t seen anyone else mention this so I might be the odd man out but think twice before using so much. I will try once more with less salt and will add a wee bit more sugar. The texture is divine!
Jessica says
I’m all for adjusting recipes to your liking!
Mary says
OK I tried it. But there is no way this biscuit will ever replace the real thing, a biscuit made with butter, milk, or buttermilk if you prefer. Also, the amount of baking powder must be mislabeled because 1 teaspoon is not enough! Every other biscuit recipe I’ve ever made called for 1 tablespoon baking powder, not a teaspoon. Granted, this recipe is for two cups flour, not the usual three that I make, but it needs at least two teaspoons of baking powder.
I did not care for the texture of the biscuit because it was too soft. Some people may like it, but I prefer mine to be a little fluffier, and still firm, not soft like this texture.’
Still, I thank you for sharing it. I do love to try new things. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t.
Jessica says
Nothing is mislabeled, I assure you! To each her own I guess! I enjoy soft biscuits, I guess…
Monica says
These biscuits are amazing!! My husband does most of our cooking – he is the better cook. But stuck at home due to COVID19 with sour cream that was expiring prompted me to make these. Also I wanted to avoid going out for bread – not that there is any bread on the store shelves. I followed the recipe exactly as written. I have made biscuits for years but these were truly the best. Even my husband grudgingly agreed they were better than his!
Alison says
It is crazy times that we are living in right now! Glad this could work for you!
Frank DeFelice says
More of a Tea Cake than a flaky southern-style biscuit; but very good; particularly with jellies or jams..
Graded Butter trick works well!
Alison says
Yes we love these with a yummy homemade jam!
Frank DeFelice says
Almost forgot… I believe the comments regarding the lessor number of biscuits is due to a typo; its 1/2″ thick” and not 1 1/2″” thick?
Jessica says
Fixed it, thanks Frank!
Mjohnson says
I’ve been trying all types of biscuit recipes with different ingredients and this one is hands down my favorite!! They were thick, fluffy, had layers and we’re so soft and tasty! Thanks for sharing! I couldn’t fit all 9 in a 8×8 pan but that’s ok.
Jessica says
I’m so glad you liked them- they’re our favorites too!!
Pat says
These were by far the best biscuits I have ever put in my mouth! I made them because I didn’t have the ingredients to make my normal recipe and I had some sour cream that I needed to use before it expired. My family agreed with me! I won’t ever use another recipe again! I made it exactly as written. I did have to bake it a little longer than called for. I used a juice glass to cut them out.
Nellie says
So glad you enjoyed them Pat!
Megan says
These were excellent, thank you! We had a huge tub of sour cream and needed something to use it with, so soup and biscuits sounded perfect. I followed your recipe exactly until you rolled them out. I used two spoons to make them into 9 drop biscuits instead and placed them on a cookie sheet. So delicious and easy.
Alison says
Thank you Megan! Soup is my favorite to have with these!
QDPIE says
My teenage picky son and I like these biscuits a lot. The texture is cooked so nicely all the way through. My son eats many different biscuits and likes these the best. I don’t like biscuits because I don’t ever like the inside texture of biscuits, but the texture of these are good all the way through. Therefore, I like this recipe a lot. When they came out of the oven, my son squeezed one and liked the softness. So to have a softness and a great inner texture is superb. As a bonus, I’m glad I didn’t have to roll them out. Thank you so much for sharing!
Kaylie says
Thank you, QDPIE!
Cara says
Great biscuits, I used White Lilly Self-Rising flour instead of all-purpose, baking soda and powder. Light and fluffy, better than using buttermilk. Winner, winner chicken dinner!
Nellie says
Self-rising flour is a great idea! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Anita Van Zyl says
I followed the recipe and instructions as closely as I could. My husband who is picky said they were delicious, fluffy, nicely salted, buttery and he asked me to save the recipe. Brilliant recipe I yielded about 15 small biscuits and 15 mins was the perfect amount of time. Would definitely recommend and loved it. Please provide more delicious recipes that are quick and easy since I am loving this one!
Kaylie says
Thank you, Anita! So glad you and your husband enjoyed them!
Mary says
Easy and delicious! I had to bake them a little longer than suggested, but they were awesome! The sour cream made them so soft and fluffy. I was very excited about the flavor.
Jessica says
So glad you enjoyed them Mary! I love the flavor too!
Lise Rebertz says
I am 65 years old ,I have made alot of different tea biscuit recipes . This is the one ,this is the keeper .I will never use another recipe.
I rate this one as a 10 . Can’t say enough about this recipe.DELICIOUS . I should be able to score points with my mother in law with this one.
Marty says
These are just fabulous!! Ive been looking for a good biscuit recipe, focusing on buttermilk. But, this morning I had left over sour cream and no buttermilk so I searched and fortunately found this gem.
I even screwed up, missing adding salt. I didnt see it in the ingredients which I found odd but I thought maybe the salt in the butter is adequate. Of course in rereading the recipe AFTER putting the biscuits in the oven, I noticed the 3/4 teaspoons. Duh! They were still light, flavorful and tender. My husband and grandson adored them. I may make another batch tomorrow jugs at to hone my flagging skills.
Alison says
Officially my signature biscuit recipe for life! They are the perfect texture and crumb. Hold up well for biscuit sandwiches & jellies but also soft and tender. So glad I found this recipe- THANK YOU!
Jessica says
You’re so welcome Alison! YES- all those things are exactly what I was aiming for with these biscuits!