Who can resist steaming-hot biscuits right out of the oven? Make them with just a few kitchen staples: flour, salt, baking soda or powder (leavening agents that make dough rise), butter and milk.

Biscuit dough requires a gentle hand and cold ingredients. Small bits of very cold butter mix loosely into the dough and form the biscuits’ layers. Cold milk binds together the dry ingredients.

Feathery biscuits are ready for anything. Stuff them with scrambled eggs, top them with sausage and gravy, fill them with ham and cheese, or add them to chicken enchilada casserole. Flavor biscuit dough with Cheddar cheese, roasted garlic and/or herbs. Spoon berries and whipped cream on halved biscuits for shortcake.

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Foolproof Biscuit Fixes

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Dry: Overbaking dries out dough. Many recipes call for baking a short time (around 12 minutes) in a very hot oven, then brushing biscuits with melted butter and baking 1 minute more for the desired golden brown color. Dry biscuits also can be the result of too much baking powder.

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Flat: Overmixing dough dissolves the butter. Cold bits of butter are needed to create pockets of steam and the biscuit layers. Using expired baking powder also can cause flat biscuits. Baking powder generates gas in the dough, which adds volume and height to the biscuits.

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Crumbly: Too much flour makes biscuits dry and crumbly. When measuring flour, spoon it into a measuring cup and level it off with a knife instead of scooping the cup into the flour, which packs the flour too densely. Also, avoid dusting your work surface with too much flour; the excess will work itself into the dough, which should be sticky.

How to Make Biscuits

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See the Classic Biscuits recipe

3 Ways to Use Biscuits

Smoked Salmon Biscuits Benedict

Fluffy biscuit halves hold poached eggs, smoked salmon, cucumber slices and hollandaise sauce for a fresh and flavorful turn on eggs Benedict. Serve with radish microgreens.
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View recipe

How to Store Biscuits

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Place cooled biscuits in an airtight container or sealable bag (push as much air out as possible) and store at room temperature up to 2 days, in the refrigerator no longer than a week, and in the freezer up to 3 months.