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Why I Love These Homemade Biscuits
There are so many reasons to love these biscuits! First of all, they are super easy to make and no special equipment (like a food processor, rolling pin, or biscuit cutter) is necessary.
It takes no more than 20 or 25 minutes to make them from mixing the dough to pulling them out of the oven. Then once they are done they're moist and flakey and are so tasty (c’mon, look at the picture—you know you want one!). And best of all, they can be tossed in the freezer for later.
It honestly couldn’t be easier ... so go ahead and throw away that refrigerated tube of dough you bought from the grocery store!
Featured Comment
I am so happy to say that these turned out beautifully! Puffed up, flaky, tasty.
Ingredients for Whole Wheat Biscuits
- Whole-Wheat Flour - Whole-wheat pastry flour is a great lighter choice for this recipe.
- Baking Powder - Be sure your baking powder is fresh, otherwise they might not rise.
- Salt - A ½ teaspoon of salt is all it takes.
- Butter - Make sure to use cold butter.
- Milk - You can use any kind of milk for this recipe, but I used organic whole milk.
How to Make Whole Wheat Biscuits
- Heat oven to 450 degrees.
- Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk with a fork.
- Cut the butter into small pieces and mix it into the dry mixture.
- Mash the butter pieces into the mixture using the back of a fork. It's okay if the mixture just looks like tiny butter chunks covered in flour. You can also use a stainless steel dough blender.
- Pour in the milk and stir to combine.
- Knead the dough with your hands 8-10 times, but do not over-knead it.
- Pat it flat on a floured surface so that it's an even ¾" thickness.
- Cut out circular shapes using a drinking glass upside down, or you can use a cookie cutter.
- Bake on an ungreased baking sheet for about 10-12 minutes, or until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.
Easy 3 Ingredient Biscuit Recipe With Self-Rising Flour
Self-rising flour is just regular flour with baking powder and salt already added to it. Some people prefer it for southern style recipes like biscuits because it saves on prep time, and you don’t have to stock as many ingredients.
To make these biscuits with whole wheat self-rising flour, simply omit the baking powder and salt. You’ll be left with an easy 3 ingredient biscuit recipe!
The amount of baking powder in self-rising flour and this biscuit recipe may differ; if you find your biscuits don’t rise with self-rising flour, add an additional teaspoon of baking powder to the mixture.
Biscuit Recipe FAQ
If you've seen our Real Food Rules, you know we prefer 100% whole grain flours (check out my post on understanding grains to learn more). For this recipe, you can use whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour (recommended)! We stay away from refined grains such as white flour and all-purpose flour.
These are a much healthier version than the store-bought biscuits, by far! And as long as you stick to the recipe and use whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour, these are definitely good for you. Plus, making anything from scratch is always a better choice so that you know exactly what ingredients are being used and there are no unwanted preservatives or added sugars.
Yes! That's the best part about these biscuits, they freeze and reheat beautifully. So make a big batch, let them cool completely, and freeze a bunch in a gallon zip lock freezer bag. Then the next time you want to add a biscuit to your breakfast, lunch, or dinner they are ready to go.
You can throw the frozen biscuits in the microwave or toaster oven on the bake setting. This makes for a quick addition to dinner for those busy weeknights.
Healthier Toppings for Homemade Biscuits
If you like biscuits and gravy: Swap out the traditional sausage and white flour gravy with homemade gravy made from roasting pan drippings.
For biscuits and jam: Use homemade jam or opt for 100% pure store bought varieties with no added refined sugar.
Breakfast biscuit sandwich: Make a healthier version of this fast food breakfast at home with egg, cheese, and your choice of meat.
Other yummy real food biscuit spreads: Honey, natural peanut butter, homemade whipped cream, fruit, and butter.
Why Your Homemade Biscuits Didn’t Rise
If you’re new to making homemade biscuits it might take a bit of practice to get a perfect light and fluffy texture. Here’s some of the most common reasons whole wheat biscuits don’t rise properly and what you can do to correct it.
Old Baking Powder
First, check to make sure your baking powder hasn’t expired, especially if you don’t bake often. Even if it's not expired, baking powder loses its potency about 6 months after opening. This can be even shorter if the container isn’t airtight.
To test baking powder, add ¼ teaspoon of baking powder to ½ cup of hot water. Good baking powder should activate and fizz when it hits the water.
Over Kneading the Dough
It’s important to knead the dough by hand as few times as possible when you make homemade biscuits. Mixing in an electric mixer or over kneading will make the dough rubbery, which doesn’t bake well.
Butter Too Warm or Oven Too Cool
When you place biscuits in the oven the cold butter heats up and produces steam. This steam adds air between the biscuit layers which, along with the baking powder, helps biscuits rise.
For best results, make sure your butter has been chilled before adding it (straight out of the fridge), don’t let dough get too warm while you work it, and wait for the oven to preheat fully before baking your biscuits.
Weather or Altitude
If you’ve tried everything and still can’t get your biscuits to rise your altitude or the weather might be to blame.
In areas with high humidity baking ingredients can draw moisture in from the air, which affects their performance. Even if you’re not in a humid area, a string of rainy weather can have the same effect too. If this could be the issue, try making some adjustments for baking success.
Altitude is another issue for baking; it can affect how baking powder reacts and how quickly liquids evaporate. Since baking is a chemical reaction, even small differences in how ingredients react can have a negative effect on your baking.
Try a Different Whole Wheat Biscuit Recipe
If you want to try other biscuit recipes, check out these super fluffy biscuits using buttermilk instead.
Other Whole Wheat Biscuit Recipes
- The Fluffiest Whole Wheat Biscuits
- Cinnamon Raisin Yogurt Biscuits
- Whole Wheat Buttermilk Cheese Biscuits
- Whole Wheat Cheddar Garlic Drop Biscuits
- Biscuits and Gravy
The Best Whole Wheat Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole-wheat flour (or whole-wheat pastry flour)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons butter (cold, unsalted)
- 1 cup milk (any kind)
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl combine the dry ingredients. 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 or pastry blender, try to mash the butter pieces as you mix it together with the flour until the mixture 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 (for best results do not over-knead the dough) and then turn out onto a floured surface (like 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 place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet or in a cast iron skillet and bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!
April Hambrick says
Lisa, what kind of baking powder do you use? Is it aluminum free or anything special?
100 Days of Real Food says
It's nothing special...I can't find "good" baking powder w/o junk in it (at our regular healthfood store) and I figure it's such a small amount so I don't stress about it.
Tina says
Made them out of desperation as I had no white flour or any other way to make biscuits! The dough was too sticky to roll, so I added about 1/4 cup or so more milk and made drop biscuits. They rose beautifully and were quite tasty. My picky-eater boyfriend even liked them!
100 Days of Real Food says
Glad it worked out! Just so you know next time if they are too sticky you can just add flour to get the right consistency for rolling them out.
steve says
Thanks for this recipe. It's great. I use it all the time!
Babs says
Do you have to get used to the taste of whole wheat biscuits? Mine were not good at all :( I also made the whole wheat banana bread and no one in my family liked it either. I really didnt want to have a bad post listed here but i dont understand why it tastes so bad. I just tried another recipe of banana bread that had me soak the flour in yogurt for 24 hours and use maple syrup instead of the honey but havent tried that yet...any words of wisdom :)
100 Days of Real Food says
What kind of flour did you use?
Franki says
Whole wheat flour spoils easily. Make sure yours is fresh. It also sits on the store shelves longer so even if you just bought it, it can be old. It smells rancid if its too old to use. It really ruins whatever you bake if it's old!
Jennifer says
Hi Lisa. Just discovered your blog two days ago and I'm really enjoying it so far. Thanks for posting so many great looking recipes! We have diary allergies and I have a butter alternative, but I was wondering if you think rice milk would work as a sub for milk? Thanks!
cindy says
Is there any nutritional information available? Specifically, number of calories per.
100 Days of Real Food says
No sorry...we don't track that stuff on purpose.
cindy says
Is there any nutritional information available? Specifically, number of calories per.
Thanks.
Amy says
Made these tonight to go with homemade chicken and rice soup. All I can say is WOW! THANK YOU for the recipe!!!!
Kristy Williams says
I made these to go with butternut squash soup for dinner. My brother and my two year old loved them. (o.k. my 2 year old ate them without protest, but had fun cutting them out) My husband came home from work and asked why they were brown and I don't him they were whole wheat. He tried them and said they were pretty good and ate several. So excited that my little introduction's to my very picky eaters are paying off.
jill robinson says
Just made these this morning for breakfast. My first attempt at homemade biscuits. Well, I thought I did a GREAT job. My 6yr old had 1.5 biscuits and said, "Mom these are goooooooooood." I think he would have had another one if I let him. Also my 19month old ate it all up. Now, my husband said, "Why did you make biscuits out of whole wheat flour."(He ate the entire biscuit!) Thanks for a great recipe!!!!
Kristen says
Can this dough be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge? I’d like to mix the dough one day, refrigerate, and bake a day or two later. Is that possible?
Thanks!
100 Days of Real Food says
I have not tried that myself, but it might just work...let me know how it goes!
Kristen says
Can this dough be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge? I'd like to mix the dough one day, refrigerate, and bake a day or two later. Is that possible?
THanks!
Tiffany says
Do you have to use all whole wheat flour or can you sub 1 cup of oat flour or other flour?
100 Days of Real Food says
I've never tried substituting a different flour so it would be an experiment if you want to give it a shot!
Patricia says
Any ideas what I can sub for the butter? We don't eat dairy or soy in our house due to alleries! I occasionally use ghee, but a little goes a long way and 1/4 cup is ALOT of ghee!
100 Days of Real Food says
Hmmm...I usually suggest ghee as a butter substitue (for dairy allergies). Check out this post for some other ideas: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/14/mini-pledge-week-10-no-refined-oils/
Patricia says
I make my own organic ghee from organic butter....it's surprisingly easy and waaaay cheaper. you can look at videos online to see how it is done. I'm going to try it....I'll keep you posted! :)
Jennifer says
Earth Balance has a soy free and diary free butter. We've used it and it tastes the same as margarine. Nice to have something like butter for people with food allergies. It's been a blessing for us.
Casey says
I'm wondering if there is a lower calorie/healthier fat option than butter for this recipe. Any ideas?
100 Days of Real Food says
Butter actually is "healthy" unlike what we've been told for so many years...check out these posts for details:
https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/04/15/mini-pledge-week-6-no-low-fat-lite-or-nonfat-food-products/
https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/tag/imitation-food/
https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/14/mini-pledge-week-10-no-refined-oils/
Becca says
You could try subbing avocado for the butter (http://www.californiaavocadosdirect.com/13/use-avocado-as-a-healthy-butter-substitute.aspx). It will lower your calories and give you the healthier fats you are looking for. Confession: I haven't actually tried using it with this recipe and am not sure if it would affect the taste since there aren't any strong spices or flavors. Also, it might turn your biscuits a little green...
Andy says
Would it be possible to replace the butter with olive oil?
100 Days of Real Food says
I have never tried that personally, but I don't think it would work since the butter is basically solid when used in the recipe.
Jessica says
I replaced the butter with olive oil last night and they turned out great! Tasted just like normal :)
Stephanie Amos says
We had the BEST breakfast this morning! These awesome whole wheat biscuits with homemade blackberry jelly and a peanut butter and banana smoothie. So good!
Jaedyn says
I made these tonight after scouring Pinterest for the yummiest looking whole wheat biscuits I could find. I LOVED them! They were light & flaky, and very much like my regular white flour ones. Delicious! Thanks so much for sharing!!
n82 says
Can you freeze these before you bake them or are can they only be frozen once baked?
Thanks!
ps - found your site yesterday and love it so far :)
100 Days of Real Food says
We've frozen them after they were baked and it works great. Might be able to do it beforehand as well, but I have not tried. Welcome to the blog!
Mary Kircher says
Im a new comer to this website and have been scrolling down lots of recipes. What I have seen are a lot of recipes requiring whole wheat flour. I am sensitive to wheat therefore I should not eat anything that contains wheat products. I eat only brown rice noodles and use brown rice flour. But I was told that the brown rice flour does not hold things together as far as baking goes! I was just wondering if anybody has a sensitivity to wheat and if they have used a subsitute flour, such as brown rice, and had success?
susan says
I made these and they were delicious. Too delicious because I ate 3 of them! I was wondering about the flour measuremnet. Is that 2 cups SIFTED flour? Thanks
100 Days of Real Food says
I don't sift my flour...glad the recipe was a hit!
Ashlee says
mine didn't rise either, I used a cutter but went strait down and up no twisting, I guess the trick is the glass, I will try that next time. All of my ingredients are fresh also. HUMM
Your are lovely in the picture, I hope i can get there ;)
erica thompson says
* mixed fruit (fingers slipped :O) )
erica thompson says
We call these scones over here in the UK. Pronounced scon or scoan depending where you live. They are usually eaten as a dessert, slit in half horizontally and spread with butter, sometimes also with jam (you call it jelly) and often with thick cream as well. They are sometimes made with dried mixdx fruit (sultanas, currants, candied peel, etc)mixed into the dough, and sometimes with grated cheese mixed in for more of a savoury scone. I have never had them served with a meal the way you do over in the US, so I am looking forward to trying this.
Kris says
I made this recipe, the tortillas, and the chocolate cake. They are amazing thank you. I currently am working this week and then will be marrying and staying home with my children starting Labor Day. I'm excited about getting back to eating healthy and I'm amazed how EASY!! and healthy your recipes are. Thank you. Btw: Do you know where I can get bulk grains and beans?
100 Days of Real Food says
So glad everything has been a hit! A lot of people have recommended Bread Beckers to me for bulk grains, but I have not tried them yet myself: http://www.breadbeckers.com/store/pc/home.asp
Sarah says
Here's a great gravy recipe that is delicious over these biscuits!
4 TBS Butter
4 TBS flour (I used the white whole wheat.)
2 small cans tuna
3 cups milk (any kind; I used 2%)
salt and pepper to taste (I also added garlic powder and Mrs. Dash.)
Place butter in saucepan over medium high heat. When melted, add the flour and whisk. Reduce heat to medium and add milk. Continue to stir occasionally to keep gravy from sticking to pan. Let sauce get bubbly and thick. Serve over biscuits! Super easy and yummy! All three of my kids loved it!
Meg says
A great dessert option with berries and a little vanilla yogurt. I'm making it tonight!
Teresa says
Hey, I made this this morning with 1/2 milk and 1/2 cream and added a handful of grated sharp cheese and a handful of homemade cooked scrambled turkey. I only cut them out to get eight tall biscuits. They were wonderful; nice biscuit texture and a nice flavor of cheese and sausage. : ) Thought you might enjoying knowing. : )
mamag says
I made these this morning. And although mine did not rise to get fluffy and that
"layered" texture that makes biscuits so fun to eat, these were still delicious. We enjoyed them with homemade no-sugar jam.
Tami says
Are you freezing the extra biscuits before or after baking?
100 Days of Real Food says
After they have been baked.
Tami says
THANK YOU - that helps! Gonna whip up a batch or two!
Anna Ford says
These were awesome! I used unpasturized whole milk that had gone sour and I didn't bother to roll out. Just spooned some into my hand, shaped a bit and pressed onto cookie sheet. My husband loved them under sausage gravy. Next time I'll try adding a little cheese, garlic and onion.
George says
This the easiest recipe that I have found for graham (whole wheat) biscuits. I was concerned about trying it after a problem with other recipes, but found that they were perfect with the first try.
They taste like real Southern type graham biscuits and not "graham lite".
Maggie says
I love that you have so many things that are so easy to freeze. I am going to actually finally need my dream deep freezer!!
Donna says
Thanks so much for the recipe. I searched for something made with whole wheat flour as my kids are doing the Daniel's Fast and were wanting something different. I did substitute Extra Virgin Oraganic Coconut Oil for the butter as they currently can have no animal products at all and used soy milk. It worked great. I will be using this recipe again (only with the butter when they get done with the fast)! Donna B. in Okla.
kitzzy says
I've made these twice now and I am in love. I'm impressed at the results from such simple ingredients and truly 100% whole wheat! How do you cut up the butter? That seems to be the hardest part of this whole thing and take forever to cut it all up and mix it in. Do you have any tips?
100 Days of Real Food says
I am so glad you liked the biscuits! We love them too. I cut the butter into little tiny pieces with a table knife before I mix it into the flour. I think it only breaks up a tiny bit more once it is in the flour mixture. This seems to work for me every time. I hope that helps!
Corinne says
I'm a southern girl and make lots of biscuits, and here's what I do:
Cut the butter into pats.
Use your fingers to quickly rub the butter and flour mixture between your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse sand/dirt in texture.
Using your fingers makes it much easier to combine, and you don't have to cut the butter as much. You just need to be careful to work quickly so you aren't melting the butter with your body heat.
Lisa P says
Thank you thank you! I am on South Beach Diet, JUST say NO to processed crap and have been looking for a suitable whole wheat biscuit recipe. Most I have found still contain sugar, honey or even white flour how can that be considered whole wheat hahah. If these turn out I would love to feature them on my blog with a link to you of course. I love posting healthy recipes to share with my readers!
100 Days of Real Food says
I know I hate all those "whole wheat" recipes that are still made with half white flour. Good luck and enjoy!
Sherri Johnson says
Hi Lisa. I am curious about how many biscuits I could expect from this recipe. Obviously it depends on the size of the cutter but can you give me a general idea?
Thanks!
Sherri
Lisa says
Between 8 - 10 biscuits like you said depending on the size. About 8 big ones and up to 10 or so small ones. I will add the yield to the recipe!
Michelle says
I made these this morning & I was so excited! However...my biscuits did not rise & are certainly not fluffy. I followed the recipe exactly. Help please!
Lisa says
Do you know how long ago you bought your flour and baking powder? And are you storing your whole-wheat flour in the fridge or freezer? One possibility is that some of the ingredients could have been old or spoiled.
Michelle says
Flour & baking powder were purchased this week, so old ingredients are not the issue. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, I've tried several things but every time I make these biscuits they do not rise. They taste good, but they are flat. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Lisa says
I've been racking my brain on what the problem could be...just to confirm are you sure you are using baking powder (not baking soda)? They can sometimes be confused.
Bob says
I know in the past I have found that if you overwork biscuit dough it tends not to rise properly you might try kneading it as little as possible
Susan says
Did you use a cutter? If you use a cutter and twist or smooth the edges, the biscuits may not rise properly. Just push straight down and lift.
Sherry says
These sound delicious. I was curious about the whole wheat flour (having just read your post about store-bought breads). If making these from scratch (or making bread at home) using store-bought whole wheat flour is as good as, say, the bread from GH where they mill their own wheat? Also, do you happen to know if they sell their own raw materials? Thanks!
Lisa says
Sherry that is a great question! I just got off the phone with the Whole Grains Council and a very knowledgeable person there shared with me that for the most part the nutritional value of freshly ground whole wheat flour vs. store-bought whole wheat flour is just about the same. She said that after the flour is ground in a factory it is stabilized to make sure no important nutrients are lost. You may get a very minimal amount of extra nutrients out of the flour you grind yourself, but the difference is so small it would not even make a difference to the health of your body. She said it would be similar to eating a green bean you picked yourself today vs. leaving it in the fridge for 2 days before eating it - the difference is so incredibly minimal that there would be no added benefits for your body if you ate it right away instead of waiting. I hope that makes sense!
Stacy says
Lisa, that is not necessarily true. I think they just want you to buy flour instead of grinding it yourself. Ground flour loses it nutritional value after 24-36 hours. When you grind your own and use it immediately or freeze it, it keeps it's nutritional value and is not lost. The wheat germ and oils are all still intact. The bread does taste better and actually lasts longer in loaf form than it does when you use store bought flour.
Here are some resources:
http://www.healthbanquet.com/fresh-milled-flour.html
http://www.nutritionlifestyles.com/homemill.htm
100 Days of Real Food says
Stacy - I spoke to the council about this again recently and the reason for their answer is that they don't want people to lose focus of what is really important...which is eating whole grains. There is a small difference between freshly ground and store-bought flour, but they say that difference is very minimal and as long as the eater is eating whole grains in some form they will benefit from all the goodness available in a grain. I hope that makes sense! (PS - I grind my own flour b/c I agree with you...it tastes much better than the store-bought stuff!)
Teresa says
I agree whole heartedly! I grind my own oat flour in food processor or high powered blender (Vitamix) for all recipes not requiring gluten (bread) ie muffins, cookies. As soon as I can get the Vitamix grain mill, I intend to grind my own wheat too.
Andrea says
We grind our own flour for these very reasons, Stacy. We have been convinced after reading about the research that has been done on how quickly nutrient value is lost after the wheat is ground. Sure, it is still a whole grain, but we want all those vitamins and minerals please!
Lisa says
I will add that some say the taste of bread may be better and "fresher" if you are grinding the wheat fresh - but that would just be a personal preference with no affect on your health!
Sherry says
Excellent information, thanks so much!
tinker says
those sound so good and nutritious. i have a kitchenaid mixer. can i use the dough hook instead of mixing them by hand?
Lisa says
Yes that would definitely work to use your kitchen aid mixer with the dough hook or even a food processor with the dough blade. I love to use my mixers, but with this recipe the stirring was really so easy and quick that I personally didn't find it worth it to get one of them dirty.