There are so many reasons why I love these homemade 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!
Super Easy Whole Wheat Biscuits
This biscuit recipe is so quick and easy - plus it has only 5 ingredients!
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
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In a medium sized bowl combine the dry ingredients. Mix well with whisk or fork.
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Cut the ½ stick butter into little pea sized pieces and then mix the pieces into the flour mixture.
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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
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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 floured surface (like a counter or cutting board).
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Pat it out flat with your hands until the dough is a somewhat even ¾-inch thickness (sprinkle with a little flour if necessary).
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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!
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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!
Recipe Notes
If you like buttermilk biscuits, use buttermilk in place of regular milk.
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Good morning
I just came across your website seems to have a lot of useful information. I made the Whole Wheat Biscuits and I think they are “great” :) I am going to make another batch right away. Thank you
I followed the recipe exactly, and mine were so flat :(
Mine too!!
help mine where flat and hard like hockey pucks. I followed the recipe word for word.
Your baking powder might be old :(
Good recipe base. Had to add a 1/2 c. of additional flour to get a good consistency to work with. I also swapped out the butter for coconut oil and it added a really nice dimension of flavor.
Is it the King arthur unbleached flour? Or does it have to say whole wheat?
It should say 100% whole wheat for both pastry flour and white whole wheat.
My batch came out scrumptious! Thanks for the recipe.
Love love love! I made them tonight, super easy, flaky, buttery and soooo good. It’s a keeper ;) thanks a lot for the recipe .
How do you cut butter into pea size pieces??
Hi. This might help: http://ourbestbites.com/2008/05/cutting-in-butter/.
Best whole wheat recipe ever!
Very adaptable. I tried rolling out one of the biscuits and putting butter n coconut sugar on top then rolling it up again like a crescent roll and it was amazingly good! Thank you for this recipe, its easy n healthy n fluffy.
I also found the recipe has WAY too much milk called for… I should have known, since looking back I see it is 1/3 cup more than my standard recipe with same amount of flour. I had to add 1/2 cup more per recipe to even be at the consistency for drop biscuits. If you want to actually knead and cut your biscuits into nice rounds, I think you will need to cut milk almost in half. These are a great idea though and I doubled as suggested to freeze…
How would one make this gluten free??
Hi there. You could try replacing with a whole grain gluten free blend.
Not fliffy at all bad recipe
Mine came out flat too. I followed the recipe exactly. Maybe some baking soda and some buttermilk will lift them up so they are fluffy,
I had the same problem. Then I read that super cold butter is key – even put it in the freezer while you are gathering your ingredients together. The steam from the butter melting as it hits the warm heat of the oven is what causes your biscuits to rise (:
The flour is the difference!
Yes! The flour is 100% the difference,
Use a Whole wheat pastry flour, or I use Bob’s Red Mill whole Wheat Pastry flour. and the biscuits turn out fine. Basically you need a balance in the glutens and the density. The flour is the key!
Love the smell wow amazing cooking well done. Made it for a get together and everyone loved it. Would not change a thing. Thank you for posting.
The biscuits were hard and tasteless. Used whole wheat pastry flour, organic. Will not make them again!
Yeah, mine were like hockey pucks, not sure what went wrong. I also followed the directions as outlined.
I’m a southern girl and grew up eating southern-style biscuits, but I have to say that I prefer these right here!!! These biscuits are my go-to! The key is to use GOOD whole wheat flour (I only use my own milled flour or Bob’s pastry flour), and SIFT it to have fluffier biscuits. Five stars!!!
I made these and they came out great! I used buttermilk and organic whole wheat flour. I didn’t handle the dough too much after it was mixed well and baked them for 10 minutes.
Is there any substitution for whole wheat flour in this recipe or any of the muffin recipes? Sometime too much whole wheat flour makes me feel a bit bloated.
Hi there. Spelt is an easy sub with whole wheat.
These used to be good. I followed the recipe exactly as written. I made them fairly regularly. Then suddenly every time (about 3 times) I made them, they would taste bitter (and I mean bad! Yuck! Non-edible!) I thought my flour had gone rancid every time until I tried them again with new flour, and once again, they were bitter. I decided it was the baking powder. Although, I don’t remember when I switched to non-aluminum baking powder, I have never had any problems with either of the brands or types of b.p. I’ve used in anything. I was going to toss the recipe but decided I’m going to just try using less b.p. Hopefully, 2 teaspoons will work. Any ideas why this would happen? I’m baffled.
Did you try again with less? or considered trying another brand?
That happened to me too, then I realized I accidentally used baking soda instead of baking powder.
These are by far the easiest Whole Wheat recipe I’ve tried and yield good tasting biscuits. They don’t rise as high as the photos, but better than all but one recipe I’ve tried. I really wouldn’t call them “flaky”, but they are very good. If you want them to be “browned” I needed to increase cook time to 15 minutes and don’t crowd them. I’ve made these 10 times now, and they are always good.
I made these yesterday. I have no ideal what went wrong but they did not rise up at all. I am making them again to today and using buttermilk to see if it makes a different. Plus given them a few mins to rest before I bake them. So far I think The buttermilk, rest and letting them rise up is working. right now they a double the size they was yesterday after they baked. I haven’t even put them in the oven.
How many calories are in one of these biscuits? I’m hankering for some biscuits and gravy, but doc put me on a weird diet….. These things look really tasty!
Hi there. Sorry, we do not provide nutrition details on recipes.
In Athens, Ga, there is a fabulous bohemian-chic vegetarian restaurant called, The Grit. I have used their biscuits and gravy recipe for 20 years. I have used this biscuit recipe ever since finding it. You can vegan it up by changing the dairy products to soy, and it makes very little difference in the flavor. Here’s the b&g recipe from The Grit cookbook.
1/2 butter
8 vegetarian sausages. I use Morningstar farms..they are the best.
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 cups milk
2 Tbs vegan Worcester sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 scant tsp ground sage
1/2 scant tsp rosemary (optional)
Fresh ground black pepper to taste.
Use about a tablespoon of the butter to fry the sausages until crispy on the outside. Cut them up and continue cooking until they are well browned all over. Set aside.
In a sauce pan (I use the same pan), melt the rest of the butter and stir in flour. Heat until it bubbles, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in milk while stirring vigorously. Allow it to thicken. Add Worcester sauce and spices. Adjust heat to thicken roux. Add sausage. Remove from heat and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Then eat! You can thin the gravy with milk if necessary.
I suggest a tip when you reheat your biscuits in oven. Spritzing the biscuits with water when reheating them in the oven, since the moisture from water can moisten the biscuits like they were before.
I just made these and they were the best whole wheat biscuits I’ve made. I recommend leaving them a little thicker. I was careless when I rolled out the dough and some were thicke. Those rose very well and the thinner ones barely rose at all. Very easy to throw together. Easier than pancakes.
Thank you so much! This is my go-to recipe for whole wheat biscuits. I love the simplicity of it. Mine always rise and are a hit in my house. I do add a couple of tablespoons of honey with the milk, though, because I love the taste of honey and wheat together.
These always turn out so good. My go to recipe for biscuits!!
These came out great! Golden brown and they rose sky high. I got 10 biscuits out of the recipe. I love that it’s so simple. I love biscuits with home made chicken (or turkey) soup. Can’t wait to have one tonight with my turkey soup.
A little tip I learned, use a cheese grater to ‘cut’ up your butter into the flour. Then just stir gently with a fork!
Money. 2nd time around doing this had much better results.
Just made these for the first time. Yummy! Finally, a biscuit recipe that actually turns out well. Tip – do not roll the dough. Just pat it into a square and cut biscuits into squares to maximize the dough mixture. I used reduced-fat buttermilk. Awesome!
Can light butter with canola oil be used, since its not a stick can it be melted and added in with the milk? Ive never really baked before, but am trying really really hard to give
up white flour, guess im gonna have to learn fast!
In this case the butter is important to the texture of the biscuits. If you want to us coconut oil in it’s solid form, it won’t be the same, but it will be closer than olive oil. I suppose if you refrigerator the olive oil, or freeze it… you would have to be quick because the olive oil melts quickly.
I loved these biscuits they were the best ever I added half cup oats
Do these freeze well?
They do.
Does the recipe change for high altitude? I’m a 7000 ft.
Hi there. This might help: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html.
How do you freeze them and what degree do you need to reheat them on?
Hi. This will help: http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/content/baking-101/biscuits/storage-and-freezing-biscuits.aspx.
Can you use baking soda instead of powder? How much?
Hi there. This might help: https://www.thoughtco.com/substitute-baking-powder-and-baking-soda-607372.
Can you replace the milk with unsweetend almond milk?
Yes, you can.
Can I use whole wheat bread flour for this recipe?
I would stick to regular Whole-Wheat Flour for this recipe, as the biscuits might come out a little chewier if you use whole-wheat bread flour. – Nicole
Can i freeze the dough?
You can.
I took one look at a store bought can and decided it had to be healthier to make these! I was pleasantly surprised with the simple and healthy ingredients. These were very easy and I am no Chef! Thank you for making clean eating practical! I liked the cookie cutter idea and made hearts:)
I just made these tonight and, while mine didn’t rise (user error, I’m sure–first time biscuit maker here!), they were DELICIOUS. So much better than the can, so easy to make, and so yummy!
Hi! I just made these with almond milk instead of dairy milk, they are INCREDIBLE!
I have been making these for a while now and love the taste but they never rise to even half the size in the picture. What should I be doing different? DO you store your dough and baking powder in the fridge/freezer? Thanks!
It could be an issue of not having fresh ingredients. The life of flour is prolonged in the freezer.
Hi I used white whole wheat with about 3 1/2 tablespoons of baking powder and mine rose fantastically!
I am surprised there is no egg listed in the ingredience
This recipe did not work out for me. I measured out the ingredients, but still ended up needing about 1 cup of flour to make the dough come together. I let it sit for a while before I baked them, they did not rise at all, came out hard, dry and tasteless.
I just made these biscuits and they came out perfect with all ingredients measured out EXCEPT the milk, I maybe used about 3/4c.
When you start off mixing dough it may seem to wet, which is why this reads “to knead for 8-10min. Eventually the dough comes together as bread dough. And there is no need to let it sit to rise.
Not 8 to 10 minutes, 8 to 10 times. It would be very tough if you kneaded it 8 to 10 minutes.
Same happened to me as original post. Wet dough, added flour, and didn’t rise in the oven. If extra steps are needed, they should be included here.
Hi Jon whisk an egg into the milk… with additional baking powder, mine rose fantastically!
Add an egg to the milk, also I used white whole wheat flour… and additional baking powder (at least 3 tablespoons) they’ll rise!
So yummy! I only kneaded mine about 1 min. Until a stretchy dough began to form. This keeps them light and fluffy. Add milk a little at a time if you worry about runniness. So glad I found this recipe! Thanks!
This worked great for me! I used 3/4 cup of milk as suggested by Val. As for the biscuits not rising, whole wheat flour results in a lower rise (than white flour). This recipe rose as much as my other whole wheat and butter biscuit recipe does. These tasted great, and had a wonderful texture!
did not rise at all,yuck!
Very good, they rose fine! I would suggest to those who’s biscuits didn’t raise, check the date on your baking powder, could be old or out of date. Also, make sure counter is floured to keep from sticking while kneading lightly. The ingredients and directions are plain, simple, and work find. Glad for this recipe. Thanks:)
I made them a vegan!
Sub Coconut Oil (at room temp, solid-ish) for the Butter and used almond milk.
AMAZING! So simple, light, fluffy. No problem with the rise. Whole wheat doesn’t puff up as much as white flour but for me they rose quite well.
The dough goes from shockingly dry, to wet, to perfect as you mix it, SO BE PATIENT!
Thanks for these! it’s a new breakfast staple.
Thanks I am trying these tiis morning. I love biscuits and so does my husband. I want a healthier version and these may be it!
Honestly the best whole wheat biscuits I’ve ever had. I put in about 1 cup of aged marble cheese into the dry mix. And then after baking I put on some melted butter mixed with salt and garlic on the warm biscuits. Amazing and super easy for novice biscuits.
These were so quick, and amazingly fluffy! I used almond milk and plant-based spread, with just the addition of a little more wheat flour and the turned out perfect! I really do think these are the best whole wheat biscuits I’ve made. Thank you for sharing!!!
Nutrition info?
Hi there. We do not provide that information. This post helps explain: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/healthy-eating-defined/ and https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/10-reasons-to-cut-out-processed-food/.
I can understand your reasoning for no nutrition facts, I think. But those of us that are diabetic carb and sugar information is very I important. Managing glucose levels depend on it.
Need nutrition fact on these biscuits.
Hi there. We do not provide that information. This post helps explain: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/healthy-eating-defined/ and https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/10-reasons-to-cut-out-processed-food/.
I am 66 yrs.old and I made my FIRST biscuits from SCRATCH with this WONDERFUL EASSSSY RECIPE. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH. NICE AND EASY!!!!!!
The dough was drowning in milk! I had to add so much more flour just to get it out of the bowl let alone work it! They turned out flat and tasteless … I should have just “dropped” them because their consistency was more like a drop biscuit. Will try doing that next time. Thanks anyway!