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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 1/2 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 3/4″ 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!
I was nervous to try the recipe after reading the reviews, about the salt content, particularly because I was making them for my toddler. No need, they turned out great! I wonder if the people complaining about the salt maybe used salted butter. ♀️
I love that they are whole wheat as well.
These are the best biscuits I have ever made! Thanks so much for the recipe
Awful. Tastes like a salt block. Way too much baking powder.
Sorry to hear they didn’t turn out to your liking. We have some readers who have said they needed to add more salt. We have tons of other biscuit recipes to try out. – Nicole
I am on a strict no cholesterol diet. Could I substitute the butter with applesauce?
We have not tried this substitution before. It may not lead to the same consistency. If you give it a try, please let us know how it goes so other readers are aware. – Nicole
I accidentally doubled the butter!
To compensate I reduced the milk by the same amount and they turned out great. (Though the such was quite wet and I ended up rolling them lightly into balls lol).
I agree that the baking powder was a little strong. Might try reducing and adding baking soda next time, with vinegar in the milk for the reaction.
Best whole grain biscuits I’ve tried yet, thanks!
Glad to hear they still came out great! – Nicole
Quick and delicious – thanks for this recipe! My only changes were skipping the kneading, just mixing well, and scooping instead of rolling and cutting. Fast and easy with less cleanup.
Can I add raisins???
Hi Tracy, we have not tried, but I think raisins would work best in a biscuit like this one: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/cinnamon-raisin-yogurt-biscuits/ – Nicole
What happens if it won’t cook throughly? I used keifer and yogurt mixed for the milk. Could it be too much liquid? I was trying to make spoon bread
Good Afternoon,
You are my kind of person who is really keeping it 100% to be health conscientious.
Yummy!!!
The first time I made these they were flat….the butter must not have been cold enough…but they spread instead of rose. Today I used 4T of butter flavored crisco instead. They were perfect!
The bisquets camr out good, but a little bit bitter in my opinion baking powder should be decreased to 3 tsp
I used whole wheat pastry flour and buttermilk. Also used a cheese grater for the butter . This makes it even easier to combine with flour . Absolutely delicious! Light, flaky and a little crunch. This is a real keeper recipe! Thanks so much.
Glad to hear they came out great for you! – Nicole
I just made these and did the thing with grated butter. A little less salt. They’re really good.
They are good… but They do need more salt. I added half tablespoon more butter and about two tablespoons more buttermilk. I fluffed the flour and leveled it out to make sure it was as accurate as possible. They do need to be close to an inch thick when cutting to get a good rise.
I made these exactly as recipe says with plain almond milk and they are perfect! Thank you!
Glad to hear they turned out great! – Nicole
Is is 4 tbsp or 1/2 a cup of butter? Not the same.
Hi, 1/2 a stick of butter is 4 tablespoons. – Nicole
I am a terrible baker. I have no patience and I’ve convinced myself that I loathe baking.
That said, upon reading the reviews, I thought I would pull the tray out of the oven to find little dense hockey pucks… THAT WAS NOT THE CASE! I am so happy to say that these turned out beautifully! Puffed up, flaky, tasty. Made them exactly as the recipe said and used oat milk as the milk.
This is a keeper!
So glad to hear that they turned out great for you. – Nicole
Well , I’m going to give this a try…
Let us know how it turns out for you! – Nicole
I think your sodium level is incorrect. You have about 1150 mg of sodium from salt and 1952 mg from 4 tsp of baking powder. That is 3100 mg of sodium divided by 8 biscuits is about 388 mg of sodium per biscuit. This is almost double what you have. Are you sure the baking powder level is correct?
These were soooo bitter tasting from the huge amount of B. P. Not a fan
Sorry to hear this recipe wasn’t a hit for you. We have tons of other ones that you could try out. – Nicole
These always turn out well for me. I follow the ingredients and instructions exactly until step 6…i don’t cut them out, just pull off chunks because i like the imperfection of drop biscuits. I use a well buttered cast iron skillet and top them with a bit of butter too.
Awesome! Glad you enjoy them. – Nicole
My kids really likes these biscuits. I have to add extra liquid almost 1/2 cup. live in Oklahoma the humidity is low and my breads always need extra liquid. Thank you. For sharing.
Glad you were able to make some changes so that work for your climate! – Nicole
I love the recepie, mine didn’t look as fluffy as the one on the picture but they taste great. Any idea why I didn’t get that texture? I tried to knead it as the instructions said and still didn’t rise enough?♀️
We always recommend having fresh ingredients. Then making sure to not over knead. Also, sometimes your altitude of where you live can be an issue. – Nicole
These taste good, but mine didn’t rise nearly as much as in the picture. May be because my baking powder has been around for a while. They were super easy to mix and get into the oven, so I’m down to try again.
Sorry to hear they didn’t rise as much. Making sure all ingredients are fresh will definitely help that, a well as not over kneading them. – Nicole
I recently checked the baking powder, it was 2 years past expiration. A nice fresh batch makes a difference!
I seen it was 131 per biscuit, seen it on fitness pal.
Numbers will vary between nutrtional calculators. – Nicole
I added 2 tbs of cinnamon just for a lil flavor.magnificent!
That’s great! We’ll have to give it a try next time. – Nicole
Turned out just fine. Will make again.
Glad to hear they turned out good for you! – Nicole
Great recipe without issues. It could use a little extra salt.
I cut the biscuits with a knife (crosshatch). instead of using a round cutter. I used 2% milk.
It was hard to find a biscuit recipe online with regular whole wheat flour. I will keep this one.
Thank you!
This was the recipe I decided to try out with my very first batch of flour from my shiny new grain mill. Rich, flakey, and absolutely delicious! Well worth the effort of grinding the flour.
This recipe worked beautifully for me. I have a low carb flour mix, that includes whole wheat. I had to add a little more liquid to balance the coconut flour in that mix, but they came out perfect. Thank you.
if using buttermilk, shouldn’t we use baking soda instead? substitute 1 tsp of baking soda for the 4 tsp of baking powder.
I got zero rise…. just hard pebbles:-(
Were all your ingredients fresh and did you follow the directions exactly?
Have you ever tried this recipe with almond, oat or coconut milk?
These biscuits still work great with other types of milk … as well as buttermilk! – Nicole
Mines didnt rise and they tasted horrible didnt look anything like the picture maybe I went wrong idk
Were all your ingredients fresh and did you follow the directions exactly?
Hi I’m going to give your recipe a try. I’m calorie counting so I just wanted to confirm that its 171 kcal per biscuit correct? would you say the glass you use it roughly 3 inch diameter? I don’t wanna give up my carbs but I need to be accurate with my counting to see some results! Thanks for the recipe, they look as good as regular biscuits!
Hi. Yes, it’s per biscuit, and that’s about the diameter of the glass used. Hope they turn out great for you. Just make sure you don’t over-knead the dough! – Nicole
I tried this recipe never having made my own biscuits before and they turned out pretty well! I got a good rise on at least four of my eleven biscuits. I may have slightly over-kneaded the dough by one or two counts, but I stopped while I was ahead and I’m glad I did. Also, I accidentally bought salted butter, but I used it anyway with the measurements it called for (and the same level of salt listed), and my dough was not nearly salty enough! I was concerned about over-salting it, but that was hardly the case.
Overall, it’s a really good, basic recipe. I appreciated that it didn’t have too many ingredients and that they would be generally easy to find in most stores anywhere, with no specialty ingredients. I look forward to making more and possibly adding cheeses or other items to future biscuits. ☺
Thank for not making scroll forever just to get to the actual recipe! These turned out great. I melted the butter in a glass bowl then added 1 C of milk plus 1TB of apple cider vinegar, whisked it all together then let it sit for 5 + minutes (until I could see little balls of butter forming). I then followed the recipe from there. Such beautiful buttermilk wheat biscuits!
How can you say these are vegan when they call for butter?
Hi Judi, we don’t categorize them as vegan, only vegetarian. – Nicole
These came out beautiful and tall. I didn’t follow the directions exactly …flour combination instead of 100% ww flour. Kneaded them about 8 to 10 times. And then I brushed the tops with heavy cream before putting them in the oven, this helps them to rise more. They are beautiful tall towers of biscuits! I hope they taste as well as they look. They are fresh out of the oven and I’m going to let them cool a bit while I scramble some eggs and bon appetit! I also added 3tsps of sugar. I like a little sweetness to my bread.
Okay, before I let them cool too much, I pinch the corner off of 1. They are tasty. I remembered that I added a bit of oat flour , maybe about an eighth of a cup , to my mix;also AP flour as well. So, total, I had about a cup and 1/4 of ww. flour and the rest was a combo of AP and oat flour. I don’t keep whole wheat flour on hand as much as I should.
These biscuits have changed the game. This is my first time using wheat flour to make biscuits and I don’t think I can ever go back to using white flour. These biscuits were soft, thick, AND moist!
I added a little agave and 2 tbsp of sugar to mine.