Easy Baking Powder Biscuits

They’re light, they’re fluffy, they’re crisp on the edges and filled with a luscious, tender crumb. These easy baking powder biscuits are everything you would expect…and so much more!

Should I Bake Flaky Baking Powder Biscuits from Scratch?

I know, I know.

These days the refrigerator section of the grocery store is loaded with options for biscuits. You can buy large ones, small ones, and everything in-between. You can purchase canned biscuits or frozen biscuits. You can opt for buttermilk or southern. You can buy jumbo packs for a family or tiny cans for a single person.

In short, there are a plethora of biscuit options out there. And let’s be real: Many of them taste great. Just look at some of my former recipes as proof.

Baking with Biscuits

If you’ve been following me for any length of time you know that I’m not averse to using canned biscuits in my baking. I used them in my Monkey Bread recipe, of course. And I made Easy Cinnamon Rolls from Canned Biscuits.

You can make Pocket Pies with canned biscuits. Yum. And it’s so easy to make Apple Pie Monkey Bread Muffins with canned biscuits, as well.

But, let’s be honest…

Nothing tops a homemade baking powder biscuit. I think I proved this conclusively with my Easy Copycat Bisquick Mix post. You can use that recipe to make biscuits and a lot more.

This morning, however, I didn’t happen to have a batch of DIY Bisquick prepared and I just wanted one simple batch of baking powder biscuits. So, I decided to whip up a batch, just for me.

Baking Powder Biscuit Ingredients

You’ll find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for these easy biscuits, but here’s a quick peek at what you’ll need. These are simple ingredients that you’ve probably got in your pantry right now. If this is your first time to make flaky homemade biscuits you’re about to see how easy it is!

• flour
• Crisco
• baking powder
• salt
• granulated sugar
• milk

See what I mean? Simple ingredients!

How to Make Homemade Biscuits

This is an easy biscuit recipe, y’all. They don’t take a lot of time, which is great!

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place flour in large bowl. Add other dry ingredients–salt, sugar, baking powder. Mix well. You could do this part in a food processor but why mess up another bowl?

Grate Crisco with box grater and add to dry ingredients.

Use pastry cutter (pastry blender) to work the shortening into the flour mixture. It will look like coarse crumbs, which is just how you want it.

It’s time to add the milk. Work it in.

Place a piece of waxed paper down to use as a work station and add a bit of flour. Plop the biscuit dough out onto your work surface.

Flour the top and roll dough out to one-inch thickness with a rolling pin.

Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter or cookie cutter to cut out circles. This can be a little bit tricky, depending on how you’ve rolled out your dough.

There are always a few at the end that look a bit rough (after reworking leftover bits of dough) but that’s okay! They taste just fine in the end.

Place biscuits onto parchment lined baking sheet.

Place cookie sheet in oven on middle oven rack and bake for 12 – 15 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Note: You can brush on melted butter before baking if you like. I opted not to do this.

Remove and place baking sheet on wire rack to cool. This will allow air to circulate under the pan, helping them cool quicker and preventing moisture.

Serve while warm or store in an airtight container up to 2 – 3 days once cooled.

What to Expect from these Biscuits

This was the perfect breakfast treat, and so versatile, too! (Full truth: these were the best biscuits I’ve had in ages!)

When you pop open one of these flaky biscuits you’ll be tickled to see the light, fluffy interior. You’ll want to do this when they’re still warm from the oven.

The outside is crisp and lovely, with the perfect bite. The bottoms are lightly crunchy. These are tender biscuits with flaky layers! In a word, they’re perfect.

Perfect with butter and raspberry preserves.

Perfect covered in milk gravy.

Perfect with Nutella.

Perfect with honey butter.

Perfect with a beef stew.

Perfect with ham, egg, and cheese.

Perfect with sausage gravy.

Perfect. Period.

And best of all, this is such an easy recipe.

Variations on this Biscuit Recipe

I loved the recipe for these light fluffy biscuits so much, but you guys know how I am. I’m always looking at ways to change things up.

Here are some ideas stirring around in my brain for how to change up my new favorite recipe.

• Homemade Drop biscuits. To turn this recipe into drop biscuits, just cut back by 1/2 cup on the flour. This will loosen up the dough.
• Cheddar Bay Biscuits. This is the perfect recipe for Cheesy Cheddar Bay biscuits. Just use the drop biscuit recipe. No rolling necessary.
• Buttermilk. Next time, I’m probably going to make buttermilk biscuits. If I don’t happen to have any buttermilk handy I can always add a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to whole milk and make my own buttermilk.
• Cinnamon-Sugar Biscuits. I think it might be fun to turn these into sweet biscuits, loaded with cinnamon and sugar. I would probably use a cinnamon sugar butter, as well.
• Sausage and cheese balls: My mama used to make these by adding fried ground sausage and grated cheddar, then baking with a garlic butter glaze.

More Breakfast Recipes from Out of the Box Baking

If you loved these baking powder biscuits, you’re sure to love the following recipes, which will help you kick off your day in style.

• Monkey Bread from Canned Biscuits: A great morning treat!
• Cinnamon Sugar Muffins: Light, flaky, and perfect for breakfast!
• Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins (with mayonnaise): Yep, you read that right. They’re loaded with mayo!
• Apple Pie Monkey Bread Muffins: Easy to make in a cupcake tin!
• Easy Cinnamon Streusel Muffins with Pecans: Just as the name says. . .and they’re delicious!
• Healthy Banana Pancakes without Flour: You won’t believe how good these are!
• Easy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins: These are some of my favorites. . .ever!

That’s it for this post, friends! I hope you enjoy these yummy biscuits. Serve ’em up warm and watch your family and guests swoon!

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About the Author

Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.