There are so many reasons why I love these biscuits. First of all, they are super easy to make and no special equipment (like a rolling pin or biscuit cutter) is needed. It takes no more than 15 or 20 minutes to make them from mixing the dough to pulling them out of the oven. Then once they are done they are moist and flaky and so tasty (c’mon, look at the picture – you know you 
want one!). And the best part is that they freeze and reheat beautifully (I just throw the frozen biscuits in the toaster oven on the bake setting). So make a big batch, freeze a bunch in a gallon zip lock freezer bag, and then the next time you want to add a biscuit to your breakfast, lunch or dinner they are ready to go. It honestly couldn’t be easier…so go ahead and throw away that refrigerated tube of dough you bought from the grocery store!
Whole Wheat Biscuits
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur’s white whole wheat organic flour)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cold unsalted butter
- 1 cup milk (any kind)
In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well with whisk or fork. Cut the ½ stick butter into little pea sized pieces and then mix the pieces into the flour mixture. Using a fork, try to mash the butter pieces as you mix it together with the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs. It is okay if the outcome just looks like the same pea sized pieces of butter covered with flour. Then pour in the milk and mix it all together. Knead the dough with your hands 8 to 10 times and then turn out onto a counter or cutting board. Pat it out flat with your hands until the dough is a somewhat even ¾-inch thickness (sprinkle with a little flour if necessary). Turn a drinking glass upside down and cut out biscuit rounds. I have also used shaped cookie cutters (like a heart or star) if you have little ones helping you! Then put them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Yield: 8 – 10 biscuits (depending on the size that you cut them)
Enjoy!
What is it with ROUND biscuits? I mix up the dough, pat it out to about 3/4″ and just cut it into nice squares with my chef’s knife. No scraps, no re-rolling, no drinking glass or biscuit cutter to wash; just nice, SQUARE biscuits!:-)
BTW- I reduce the baking powder to 3 teaspoons (1T), add 1/2t baking SODA, then use buttermilk (or soured milk as Anna Ford did) instead of fresh milk.
Amen!
[...] Recipe: Super Easy Whole Wheat Biscuits from 100 Days of Real Food http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/08/super-easy-recipe-whole-wheat-biscuits/ [...]
I am SO trying these tonight, with my chicken stew. Thanks!!!
Lisa,
You ROOOOOCK!!!!! Thank you so very much for this whole grain biscuit recipe. These biscuits actually taste great! Not like the hockey-puck disasters I’ve had in the past. Keep up the great work.
p.s. I want to post the recipe on my blog, with a link to this site and big props to you of course.
LifeBliss Lisa
I used this recipe to make strawberry shortcakes and they were delicious! I made the biscuits and cut in half and added fresh whipped cream and strawberries and my boys were asking for seconds and thirds! A new favorite treat around here!
Hi Lisa! Just wanted to let you know this is my all-time favorite biscuit recipe! I’ve never had success with biscuits…they usually turn out more like hockey pucks! I’ve always been a sucker for frozen pillsbury biscuits, but obviously can’t eat them as part of a real food diet. Your whole wheat biscuits are so easy and delicious, my husband and I can’t get enough of them, and they turn out great every time! Thanks!
Does anyone know how to figure the weight watcher points for these?
I loved how easy and so few ingredients it was. We used soy milk and it worked just fine. We live in the mountains and I have been trying for almost 6 years to try to find a healthy, biscuit recipe where because of altitude the end result wasn’t dense, dry chunks of stone. Thank you for saving our family from many sad breakfasts with stones for biscuits =) YAY! Amazing.
Made these for the first time tonight, but it will not be the last! So good, and it was great knowing that they are healthy.
Can you freeze them? If so when, before or after you cook them?
sorry i didnt read the whole discription! Yeah cannot wait to make them!
Yes, they can be frozen after they are cooked…and possibly even beforehand (as raw dough), although I have not tried doing that yet myself.
I’ve found many recipes with ‘cold butter’. Where do I find “real food” cold butter, as opposed to store bought tub of butter!? Thanks for your recipes! I’ve won my picky husband over with nice meat recipes that taste wonderful, and I’m constantly making homemade tortillas and granola bars!
I am not sure what stores you have access to, but there is usually an organic butter option (in a stick) and if you can find organic grass-fed butter (or it’s sometimes called “pastured” butter…the pasture being the grass) then that’s even better.
They turned out to be absolutely smashing. Only change was that I used clarified butter (home made) instead of the normal kind & added a tbls. of sugar to make them a bit sweet. My kids loved them. Will definitely make them again.
I tried this recipe for the first time last night…. my biscuits did not look like as lovely as yours )-: They were not nearly as high as the ones in your picture. And they seemed a bit dry to me too, but that could be just because I’m finding the switch to whole wheat quite a challenge for myself. I’m using King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat flour, but I just can’t seem to get used to the taste. Maybe I need to take it more slowly and do 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 regular flour for awhile. Any thoughts?
Yes starting with half whole-wheat and half white at first might help. Here’s a post with some ideas: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/02/03/real-food-tips-6-ways-to-ease-the-switch-to-whole-grain/
My dough was VERY STICKY as well – so I had to add some more flour in order to knead it and flatten it out. Maybe that affected the outcome?
If the dough was very sticky then adding the flour was the right thing to do…are you sure you followed the recipe exactly?
Mine were also flat. They were wet and sticky so I added extra flour too! Probably should not have done that. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We all still ate them!
Imade these today and they turned out great! Biscuit dough is normally sticky you just have to dust your hands with flour and dust the board you are working on so you can roll them out. Mine weren’t as high as lisas look but I think I may have put in too much butter. They definitely weren’t flat though. Also if you overwork your dough the biscuits will be flat and tough. I love these.they are awesome. I use Bob’s red mill white whole wheat pastry flour…some of you might prefer this type. I ordered mine from vitacost.com and if any of you guys want to order from them if you give my name (carissa fleming) as a referral you will get a $10credit
I found lots of good stuff on their site and the shipping was pretty cheap. Anyway I did the nutrition data on these in case anyone is interested…calories 80 total fat 4.6 saturated fat 2.8 cholesterol 12mg carbs 9…I got 12 biscuits out of my dough so this is the nutrition on 1.
These look so easy, I’m making these today
[...] version was adapted from Super Easy Whole Wheat Biscuits by 100 Days of Real Food. Boy was I surprised at how good they were. Being that I low carb [...]