There are so many reasons why I love these 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!
Whole Wheat Biscuits
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur’s white whole wheat organic flour)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cold unsalted butter
- 1 cup milk (any kind)
In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. 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, try to mash the butter pieces as you mix it together with the flour until it 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 and then turn out onto 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 put them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Yield: 8 – 10 biscuits (depending on the size that you cut them)
Enjoy!
those sound so good and nutritious. i have a kitchenaid mixer. can i use the dough hook instead of mixing them by hand?
Yes that would definitely work to use your kitchen aid mixer with the dough hook or even a food processor with the dough blade. I love to use my mixers, but with this recipe the stirring was really so easy and quick that I personally didn’t find it worth it to get one of them dirty.
Don’t know about you or anyone else but there was no way to knead these without adding a lot more flour which probably won’t make the biscuits good anymore (they’re in the oven now). First I though there must be a mistake with the amount of milk but I checked other recipes and they seemed to have the same flour to milk ratio. It was just a big sticky mess. How can you possibly knead anything that wet? I hope they come out ok.
I haven’t heard of many similar issues…are you sure everything was measured correctly?
These sound delicious. I was curious about the whole wheat flour (having just read your post about store-bought breads). If making these from scratch (or making bread at home) using store-bought whole wheat flour is as good as, say, the bread from GH where they mill their own wheat? Also, do you happen to know if they sell their own raw materials? Thanks!
Sherry that is a great question! I just got off the phone with the Whole Grains Council and a very knowledgeable person there shared with me that for the most part the nutritional value of freshly ground whole wheat flour vs. store-bought whole wheat flour is just about the same. She said that after the flour is ground in a factory it is stabilized to make sure no important nutrients are lost. You may get a very minimal amount of extra nutrients out of the flour you grind yourself, but the difference is so small it would not even make a difference to the health of your body. She said it would be similar to eating a green bean you picked yourself today vs. leaving it in the fridge for 2 days before eating it – the difference is so incredibly minimal that there would be no added benefits for your body if you ate it right away instead of waiting. I hope that makes sense!
I will add that some say the taste of bread may be better and “fresher” if you are grinding the wheat fresh – but that would just be a personal preference with no affect on your health!
Excellent information, thanks so much!
[...] Super Easy Whole-Wheat Biscuits [...]
[...] rather than having meat as the main course. You could pair it with some baked sweet potatoes and whole-wheat biscuits to make one delicious, filling and healthy meal. I do want to preface this recipe though by saying [...]
[...] 8, 2010 by Lisa These biscuits are simply a slightly altered version of the original whole-wheat biscuit recipe that I posted a few months ago. Instead of using regular milk you use buttermilk and also [...]
I made these this morning & I was so excited! However…my biscuits did not rise & are certainly not fluffy. I followed the recipe exactly. Help please!
Do you know how long ago you bought your flour and baking powder? And are you storing your whole-wheat flour in the fridge or freezer? One possibility is that some of the ingredients could have been old or spoiled.
Flour & baking powder were purchased this week, so old ingredients are not the issue. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, I’ve tried several things but every time I make these biscuits they do not rise. They taste good, but they are flat. Any suggestions are appreciated.
I’ve been racking my brain on what the problem could be…just to confirm are you sure you are using baking powder (not baking soda)? They can sometimes be confused.
Did you use a cutter? If you use a cutter and twist or smooth the edges, the biscuits may not rise properly. Just push straight down and lift.
Hi Lisa. I am curious about how many biscuits I could expect from this recipe. Obviously it depends on the size of the cutter but can you give me a general idea?
Thanks!
Sherri
Between 8 – 10 biscuits like you said depending on the size. About 8 big ones and up to 10 or so small ones. I will add the yield to the recipe!
I have tried to make these several times. They do not rise. I use fresh everything. I grind my own wheat just before making these using a fine grind. Maybe a coarser grind? I have backed off on the amount of milk as the 1 cup makes the dough real wet. Adding more flour just makes them dry. Have tried adding a small amount of cornmeal, that did not work either. Since I do not buy my flour at a store, do you have any suggestions? Am not giving up, and will try a few more ideas I have found. There are very few recipes without white flour added in.
I am sorry you are having so much trouble! I’ve started grinding my own wheat as well and found that with these biscuits (and other recipes) I need to use a coarse grind and add a few extra tablespoons of flour. They worked out perfectly for me when I did this with the freshly ground flour and tasted even better than before so I hope it works for you!!
These are great! Recipe as-is is perfect (I live at high-altitude as well – no changes needed)! I cut in the butter with a pastry cutter – which was a breeze. I did use a rolling pin to roll the dough out, fold it over, roll it again, fold it again and then cut the biscuits, so they had the layers that everybody loves about biscuits. Thank you for posting this recipe – all other “whole wheat biscuit” recipes use part whole wheat, part white flour – so this was a refreshing surprise! Thank you…
[...] of The Food Illusion. Advertisement GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); [...]
I’m about to try this. Sounds easy peasy. How would it turn out if I add say three or four tbsp of sugar to the mixture? My husband has sugar tooth and I thought I could transform this into a sweet snack.
I tried these with about a tablespoon of honey and they were delicious.
I am a relic…majored in Food Science and Nutrition and used to teach High School Home Economics before they canceled the programs here in Ontario Canada. I was looking for a biscuit recipe that had no white flour (I know, we only used white flour 40 years ago). I found this recipe to be quite sticky as noted in previous posts. However, I sparingly added just enough flour to be able to fold the dough over 8 or 9 times and just be able to handle it. Worked out fine…the biscuits were quite tender and I would use this recipe again. Maybe I will try the buttermilk cheese version next time!
Thanks Lisa,
Judy
glad it worked out!
I made these exactly as written and they turned out great! I also used a white whole wheat flour and non fat milk. Thanks for the great recipe!
Absolutely delicious! I also used the whole wheat white. I use this same recipe with oat flour that I grind myself. Works just as well! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe…
Just wanted to added that I grate the cold butter with a cole slaw grater into my batter (Use the large grating side) Then stir everthing together. Works perfect and a lot faster!
I used spelt instead of wheat – they were delicious. They are so light and fluffy. I even added a little bit of honey for a small touch of sweetness. I did cheat though and use my Bosch Mixer with my cookie paddles. Thanks for the recipe!
Just a few suggestions…Make sure everthing is cold. I even put my flour in the freezer for a few minutes to make sure it’s cold too. I seem to get a better result with buttermilk. Also DO NOT knead dough. The less you handle it the better. Biscuit should be cold when they go in the oven too. If your not going to bake immediately…put them in the fridge. I’ve discovered they actually come out better if they rest for about 30 minutes or so. Gives the whole wheat flour a chance to absorb moisture.
This is the first recipe I’ve seen that didn’t contain a little baking soda, so you might want to review that. Dough is better if a little sticky. Adding more flour could make them dense and heavy.
[...] and gravy popped into my head. I scoured the web and found a delicious (and easy) recipe for Whole Wheat Biscuits to pair with my soysage gravy and went straight to [...]
Just made these biscuits, they are delicious! So very quick and easy to make. It is important to make sure you cut the ingredients together before adding the milk. And the milk and Butter should be cold. The less you handle them, the fluffier they will be. Thanks!
I just made these and they are delicious! They are crumbly, not like traditional biscuits. To avoid very stiky batter use cold ingredients. I also took apt be tip on shredding the butter and it worked very well!
I also added 2 tbs of ground flax meal to make them more nutritious.