These easy homemade biscuits for a crowd are flaky and delicious! Only 6 pantry ingredients and ready in under 30 minutes. Vegetarian.
This large batch biscuit recipe is very easy to make and great when you have a crowd. This biscuits for a crowd recipe makes 24 - 2 inch biscuits. Need more? Use the handy 2x or 3x button in the recipe to multiple the recipe. Add some butter, jam, honey, or gravy for a delicious addition to any breakfast or brunch table. Serve with butter and honey for a BBQ side dish.
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Only 6 ingredients!
See recipe for exact measurements of ingredients.
- All-purpose flour. We have found there really is a difference in flours and love King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill for the best texture in our biscuits.
- Butter. We use unsalted butter in our baking so we can control the salt in the final product.
- Baking powder. Use an aluminum-free baking power like Bob's Red Mill or Rumford. If you’re using a baking powder with added aluminum, you may notice a slightly bitter or metallic taste in your baked goods.
- Milk. Use whole, 2%, or 1% - we don't recommend non-fat milk.
- Other staples. Baking soda and salt.
Try another of our favorite breakfast recipes.
Ham and Gruyere Egg Casserole for a Crowd
How to make homemade biscuits
Because this is a large batch biscuit recipe we are using our Cuisinart to cut in the butter with the dry ingredients. This saves a lot of time from cutting it in with a pastry cutter or our hands but these biscuits can absolutely be done without a food processor.
- Fit Cuisinart with the steel blade and add dry ingredients to the bowl.
- Add small cubes of butter to the bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Fit the lid on the food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles small peas. Try not to pulse too long or you will not have as many flaky layers in your biscuit.
- Pour flour-butter mixture into a large mixing bowl.
- Add milk to mixture in bowl.
- Use a spoon (or your hands) to mix the milk with the flour-butter mixture. Combine JUST until mixed.
- Turn the biscuit dough onto a lightly floured cutting board.
- Pat dough out. Fold over on itself and pat again.
- Use a biscuit cutter to cut the biscuits.
- Place on a baking sheet, brush tops with melted butter, and bake until golden brown.
Tips for making biscuits
Scratch made biscuits are actually easy and quick to make, but there are a few tips that will help produce a fluffy, flaky, soft biscuit.
- Keep it cold! Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a food processor, a pastry cutter, or your hands. Work quickly so the butter doesn't melt. If the butter gets soft (at any step) place the entire mixture into the fridge before moving on to the next step.
- Use a kitchen scale! Measuring flour by volume (in cups) is notoriously unreliable, so if you must measure the flour in cups, use the scoop and level method for best results. Our recipe lists the gram measurements first followed by the volume measurements in the ingredients list.
- Don't overwork the dough. Mix wet ingredients with the dry ingredients with a spoon JUST until they are well combined.
- Fold the dough before cutting. Start by patting the dough to a thickness of about ½ inch. Then, fold it over on itself and pat it down again until it's about ⅔ inches thick. Cut the biscuits and place them on a baking sheet. Following this process will result in beautiful layers in your biscuits after they are baked.
- Chill the biscuits before baking. We place our biscuits, on the sheet pan, in the freezer for 10 minutes or refrigerator for 20 minutes before baking. This allows the butter in the dough to firm up, which is crucial for creating the desired layers. During baking, the water in the butter will evaporate, resulting in a light and airy biscuit.
- Brush with melted butter before baking. This is totally optional, but we love the flavor (plus the look) of the biscuits when brushed with melted butter.
Make ahead of time
These biscuits can be made ahead of time and stored baked or unbaked. Storing cut, unbaked biscuits in the freezer makes it easy to bake the exact number of biscuits you need as you need them. Make sure biscuits are always stored in airtight containers.
- FOR BAKED BISCUITS
- Refrigerate up to 2 days.
- Freeze up to 1 month.
- FOR UNBAKED BISCUITS
- Refrigerate overnight, bake in the morning according to recipe.
- Freeze up to 2 months. Place frozen biscuits on a metal baking sheet and place in a pre-heated 425°F oven for 12-18 minutes. Baking biscuits from frozen will take a few minutes longer than if they were baked fresh.
Favorite riffs
If you prefer buttermilk biscuits, this recipe can easily be adapted by using buttermilk instead of regular milk. Alternatively, you can create a substitute for buttermilk by combining ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar with 1 ¾ cups of milk to make sour milk. Simply stir the mixture together and add it to your biscuit dough for a tangy flavor.
Add some fresh herbs; rosemary, thyme, chives, and parsley are all great. We like fresh herbs here but you can also use dried herbs, just use ⅓ as many as if they were fresh.
Add other mix-ins; cheese (cheddar, parmesan, asiago, gruyere), crispy bacon, roasted peppers (jalapeño, seranno, anaheim, poblano).
Shape of biscuits. These biscuits can be cut with a round cutter, cut into squares with a knife, or made into a drop biscuit.
Saving leftovers
These biscuits will last on the counter 1-2 days. They will start drying out if stored much longer. You can keep them in the fridge for up to a week or freeze them up to 1 month. Make sure they are always stored in airtight containers.
To reheat biscuits wrap them in foil and place in a 350°F oven for 5-8 minutes. Uncover the tops of the biscuits and heat an additional 3-5 minutes. Wrapping them in foil first helps keep them from drying out. You can also reheat in a microwave in 10 second intervals until warm. They can dry out fast if heated too long in the microwave so heat in short intervals checking after each interval.
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Some common FAQ's about homemade biscuits
Yes! They can be baked and stored on the counter (up to 2 days), in the fridge (up to a week), or frozen (up to 1 month). They can be stored unbaked overnight in the fridge or up to 2 months in the freezer.
No! We actually don't use a rolling pin, you can if you like but we find it ends up making the biscuits a little less fluffy. Work quickly with your hands to pat the dough out and cut the biscuits.
No problem! Pat the dough into a rectangle and use a knife to cut biscuits into squares. You can also make drop biscuits by just dropping small scoops of dough onto a baking sheet.
This recipe adapted from Life As A Strawberry.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a comment and star rating below and let us know how it turned out!
📖 Recipe
Easy Homemade Biscuits for a Crowd
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 24 biscuits
Description
These easy homemade biscuits for a crowd are flaky and delicious! Only 6 pantry ingredients and ready in under 30 minutes. Vegetarian.
Ingredients
- 640 grams (4 to 5 ⅓ cups) all purpose flour
- 38 grams (2 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoon) baking powder
- 10 grams (2 teaspoons) baking soda
- 12 grams (2 teaspoons) kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) COLD unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 cups milk
- 2 Tablespoons butter, melted (OPTIONAL)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In the bowl of a Cuisinart stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the cold cubed butter to the bowl and pulse until the mixture resembles small peas. This should only take a few pulses. Work quickly so the butter stays cold!
- Transfer the flour-butter mixture to a large mixing bowl.
- Add milk and stir, by hand, just until combined. The dough will be shaggy and may not hold together yet. It should not be sticky and you should not see any dry flour.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured cutting board.
- Fold the dough over on itself a few times (I like to fold it in half, gently pat it out a bit, and fold it in half again). This gives you lots of layers for maximum flakiness.
- Pat dough to roughly ⅔″ thick and cut biscuit rounds with a 2″ biscuit cutter.
- Place cut biscuits on a sheet pan lined with a nonstick baking mat.
- OPTIONAL: Brush the tops of each biscuit with melted butter.
- Place the biscuits in the freezer for at least 10 minutes before baking. This step is completely optional but it helps the butter get cold again so it releases maximum steam when they bake which helps produce a flaky biscuit.
- Bake at 425°F for 10-15 minutes until biscuits are lightly browned.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
NOTE: This can also be done using your hands or a pastry cutter to cut butter into the flour mixture until mixture is coarse and has small butter pieces throughout.
No biscuit cutter? Cut into squares using a sharp knife.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 biscuit
- Calories: 182
- Sugar: 1.1 g
- Sodium: 319.5 mg
- Fat: 8.9 g
- Trans Fat:
- Carbohydrates: 22.1 g
- Protein: 3.5 g
- Cholesterol: 23.3 mg
Mike says
This recipe was so easy to make! Didn't have to change a thing, and ended up being the perfect amount for 5 people, they were devoured immediately! Will definitely be making again for big breakfasts too.
Rhonda says
So glad you enjoyed them!
clay hudgings says
can biscuit dough be made the night before and baked in the morning?c
Rhonda says
Absolutely! Make the dough, form the biscuits, and place on your lined baking sheet. Cover tight and place in the fridge until the morning. Preheat your oven and bake!
clay hudgings says
can biscuit dough be made the night before and baked in the morning?c
Kevin Gallagher says
Have you tried doing this with buttermilk? What about freezing the butter and shredding on box grater before mixing?
Rhonda says
We tried to keep the ingredients and equipment simple so didn't use buttermilk or a box grater. Buttermilk is a great substitution and will add more depth of flavor. Some of our staff prefer grating the butter and others like the dicing method. We've found it easier to grate very cold butter (not frozen) and then freeze it while we get everything else together. If you keep the butter cold and don't let it melt, both methods work great!