Say goodbye forever to canned biscuits. This recipe is a winner. It’s quick, easy, inexpensive, and so practical. Best of all, you control what ingredients go in it, unlike canned biscuits that you buy at the store.
My little biscuit-making helper!
Homemade Freezer Biscuits
- 4 cups flour
- 2 Tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shortening, butter, or coconut oil (I used all coconut oil in the last batch and it worked well, but they did taste a little coconut-y.)
- 1 3/4 cup milk
Mix dry ingredients together. Add in the shortening or butter and mix until crumbly. (If you have one, you can use a KitchenAid or food processor to save time and effort). Add in the milk and mix until a ball forms.
Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into biscuits.
To Freeze: Freeze on a cookie sheet for 1-2 hours. Then remove and place in a airtight freezer bag.
To Bake: Pull the desired number of biscuits out and let thaw for 30 minutes to an hour. Bake at 450 degrees for 8-12 minutes. You can bake them straight from the freezer but they won’t rise much.
Makes 24 biscuits. Recipe adapted slightly from Favorite Freezer Foods.
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{ 92 comments... read them below or add one }
oh, this does look simple; can’t wait to try them!
Try straight from the freezer but, let the sides touch in the pan…this may solve the rising problem. Thank you for the recipe! :0)
Perfect! Thank you for such nice recipes. A question though , do I use all purpose flour?
I am assuming you use AP flour and not self-rising because there is baking powder in it.
I’d love to see a pic of how they turned out once they were cooked!
Me too!
Me too!
Me too!
I’d also like to see the finished, baked product!
My favorite part of the post is your adorable biscuit making helper. What a cutie pie!!
Yum i needed this recipe
If you use expeller pressed coconut oil, it won’t taste coconut-y
. Looking forward to trying this and substituting almond milk for milk!
What type of milk do you use? And did you use whole wheat flour for the biscuits?
Any kind of milk should work. I used whole milk because that’s what we usually have on hand. I’ve not tried whole wheat flour yet, only unbleached. If you try it, let us know!
Is coconut oil healthy. Just asking. I was wondering can you use canola oil?
For consistency, you want to use a solid for the fat, thus butter, lard, shortening, coconut oil. I know there is more to it than this, I just can’t think of it right now.
I actually sub in fat free plain yogurt for the oil or butter – still taste great without the fat.
Canola is almost always GMO (genetically modified).
A solid fat will make a more crumble-y mixture rather than a dough-y misture before you add the milk. The crumbles are what make biscuits flakey and a biscuit rather than a roll.
Trader Joes doesn’t sell GMO products, so canola from them should be fine
I don’t believe Trader Joes sells canola oil.
I just checked. I have trader joes canola oil in my pantry
If it’s not organic I would be very wary.
The other thing to consider is, canola is very high in Omega 6 which is bad when taken in too great a quantity to Omega 3s.
Coconut Oil gets a bad rap sometimes, but it is actually widely believed to be quite good for you. A little internet research will provide you with a wealth of information on all its potential benefits. We use it whenever possible and have found the good hype to be true.
Yes, coconut oil is MUCH healthier than canola oil. Read about it on www.100daysofrealfood.com. Also, best to use whole wheat flour over all purpose.
Yum, thanks Crystal! I was just going to look for a recipe like this and you posted! Do you take your scraps and re-roll for more biscuits? I am just curious. Some people don’t as they claim the re-rolled biscuits are tough. Personally, I have never thought it a big deal.
Yes, re-roll the scraps… I can’t tell a difference if they’ve been re-rolled.
Try cutting them in squares…. no need to re-roll then.
LOL – that’s one of those things you never think of doing but makes soooo much sense when somebody points it out to you… square biscuits from now on.
If I’m in a hurry, I use a pizza cutter to make the biscuits into squares instead of circles. Saves a lot of time not having to re-roll the dough.
Yes, square/rectangle biscuits taste exactly the same as round ones and are much quicker
If I don’t freeze them, can I bake them as soon as I roll them out or do I have to let them rise? Sorry I have never baked from scratch
LOL
Yes!
You know, they don’t take that long to make, why freeze them and then wait 30 minutes before baking, just make them and bake them, we do it all the time.
You absolutely can. However, I *love* having the ease of not having to worry about mixing anything up on a busy day!
Has anyone tried to make these or a version of these using rice milk or some other non-dairy milk?
I think it would work. Let us know if you try it!
I make them with soy milk with no problems.
I use unsweetened soy milk. I think even regular might give them a slightly sweet taste (which would be fine for breakfast biscuits but maybe not dinner).
I have some of these in the freezer as we speak (or rather write!)
I like how simple they are to make, how few ingredients there are and how perfect they are for my dairy/nut allergy children!
I too used coconut oil for the shortening and there was a bit of residual flavour … but no one here complained!
Michelle
Yeah! Thanks for the recipe. I’m just getting back into making less processed foods so this is a nice baby step.
Thanks for the recipe, will be trying this one! We use expeller-pressed coconut oil, which won’t give the coconut taste in your foods.
Just a tip!
I use this same recipe, they are delicious! And my Grandma taught me, so I’m very fond of making these with her.
I love adding homemade jam or gravy to them.
I keep meaning to try this! I am going to head over to the printer right now and do it. I know later in the day it will seem like to much effort to drag my laptop out and turn it on and print out the page (I am too messy of a cook to bake with a laptop on my kitchen counter). Yep I am that lazy…well that and I am trying to stay off the computer except for set hours and once my laptop is up and running it is really hard to stick to that goal.
Any basic biscuit recipe can be shaped, frozen and stored for later use. Or you can refrigerate shaped biscuits for a day before baking if they are well wrapped. A period of resting actually helps to relax the flour and solidify the fat, resulting in a flakier final product.
Victoria…another Pinterest post I loved, might just be what ya need too! A hanger with clips (the one you hang a pair of pants on). Hook the hanger on an upper kitchen cabinet knob, and hang the recipe page on the clips *slappin forehead* Whatta concept!
These sound great! However, I am a little bit weird with my biscuit recipe. I simply substitute the amount they call for butter or shortening with fat free plain yogurt. They turn out delicious and easy to cut out. And much more healthy!
Thanks for the tip!
These just went on my pre-baby freezer cooking list. Thank you! I’ve never tried freezing biscuits for fear they wouldn’t rise afterward.
Your photographs for this entry are very good. Nice job!
Thanks so much! I’m having fun experimenting with my camera!
My biscuit recipe calls for 3/4 cup of milk. I add an additional 1/4 cup for a total of 1 cup milk, then spread the dough in a prepared pan & bake 15-20 minutes for an 8 x 8″ pan. The above recipe is double the ingredients, so should do a 9 x 13″ pan if adding an additional 1/2 cup milk. The pan biscuits save roll out & a little counter clean up time. I’ve never tried freezing them though.
You can also pat out biscuit dough on your baking pan, cut2″ square biscuits with a knife or pizza cutter (like you do scones), then bake.
Thanks for the creative suggestions! I’ll have to try that sometime soon!
You’re very welcome!! I love $ & time savers!!
Those look delicious and simple! I love the ingredients compared to the store bought brand. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
WOOHOO!! Is that Oberweiss milk I spot?? Yum! We just had our delivery yesterday!
I too have some of these in my freezer right now! soo good!
I was wondering how long these will keep in the freezer?
I’d say up to two months if in an airtight freezer bag.
Can I use olive oil and do I have to freeze them or can it go straight in the oven. Thanks for posting
I don’t know that olive oil would work since it’s not more of a solid oil. However, you could try and let us know.
And yes, they can go straight into the oven if you prefer.
TY
Can’t wait to try these!
Could you substitute buttermilk for the regular milk?
Yes, that should work — and they might even taste better!
Awesome! Thank you!
I wonder if they rise really high when they cook? I’ve tried to make biscuits in the past and they just turn out so flat!
I used coconut oil and it was so solid that when I added the milk it was just a soupy mess! About 30 seconds in the microwave and handmixer turned it into a nice dough! Just in case anyone else is using really hard cocnut oil
They look beautiful in the oven and my daughter is having a blast with the small handful of scraps making a nest for her toy puppy.
If using butter, should it be softened to the consistency of shortening (Crisco)?
Yes — good question.
I am sooo making these. Could you just form the dough into a log and then slice it instead of cutting them out? I think I am going to try it
Can you use the homemade baking mix in this recipe?
Do you think these biscuits could be used to substitute in recipes that call for refrigerator biscuit as a dough (if used before freezing)?
Example: Take refrigerator biscuits, separate and flatten then top with a small filling and pinch together before baking.
Yes, I definitely think so.
Great! I can’t wait to try these as both biscuits and to try to sub in recipes. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thanks for sharing the recipe. Trying it right now…
I’d like to keep these on hand for our church’s meal ministry. They’d be very convenient to share frozen for meals delivered ready to bake, or quickly bake before a hot meal delivery.
I made a batch of these the other night. I used EP coconut oil as well as a combination of all-purpose flour & white whole wheat flour (1/2 of each). I baked some right away & froze the rest. My 14 yr. old son said they taste like McDonald’s biscuits. (Not sure how he knows that since we rarely go to McD’s, especially for breakfast, LOL!)
His comment gave me the idea to make egg & cheese biscuits. I tried that this morning, using some of the biscuits I had frozen. What a BIG hit w/my teenage sons & hubby! (Adding a bacon slice would also be delicious!) Next time I’ll be trying them w/sausage to make sausage biscuits.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I made these tonight with my little 2.5 year old helper girl. Originally she was very excited about using the rolling pin, but once we got going it was cutting out the biscuits with a cup that she really enjoyed.
I forgot to take my butter out of the fridge to soften first, so I just cut it up into small tabs and then let it run in my kitchen machine with the dough hook for a few minutes. My dough was really sticky and never really did form a ball. Once I turned it out onto the floured table and added just a small sprinkling of flour over it, it did fine.
We froze most of them, but I baked a small batch and we had them as a snack before bed. Very easy! I’ll definitely make these again.
Do you have a gluten free verison?
I have been DYING for a recipe like this! The tube stuff is way too high in sodium for our diets, and I can adapt this easily. Thank-you!!
I have been using this recipe for many years and I almost always use buttermilk. Using regular, thinner milk will give you a crispier biscuit. Rolling the dough out and folding it over a couple of times before flattening it out again will produce the flaky layers. Also, instead of the mixer, I use a hand pastry blender to dice up the butter into the flour before adding the buttermilk. It seems to work out better if I don’t let the butter get too soft. You can also pinch off a small bit of dough, roll it in your hand and then flatten it out slightly on the bread pan if you aren’t a big fan of rolling out the dough. My grandmother would add a small bit of sugar (maybe half a cup) to the flour and then proceed in the same way to make shortbread for strawberry shortbread dessert.
What great suggestions! I so going to try adding sugar for shortbread.
I now have a bag of these beauties in my freezer and am hoping for a snow day to try them out
Okay, just made these and they were AMAZING! I used butter and halved the recipe. I was just really hankering carbs and had none in the house so I didn’t freeze. Thanks, Crystal!
Has anyone made these using white whole wheat flour or a combo of regular and whole wheat?
I’m thinking to try it this week and will let you know how it turns out!
I have used a 50/50 mix and they came out okay. I like using just unbleached flour better.
I have been making these since Crystal first posted about trying them. I have found shorting and butter both work great. I look forward to trying it with coconut oil.
I usually don’t have time to to thaw, so I bake frozen. I have found if you want to still have them “rise” when you bake frozen you need to roll them thicker. There is a fine line when it come to the thickness. If you roll them too thick, the center won’t bake.
Not sure if its been asked yet or not, but was wondering how it would work if I put them in fridge the night before to use at breakfast time? Would it give it too much defrost time?
I haven’t tried it, but I think it would work!
How thick was your dough when you rolled it out? I made these last night and think I might have rolled them to thin as they didn’t seem to rise much.
I should add that they were otherwise great
I’d say to make them at least an inch.
That was my problem. Mine were 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Thank you!
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