Name: Freshly Ground Whole Wheat Biscuits
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 9
Ingredients: 420g Whole Wheat Flour; 1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar; 4 teaspoons Baking Powder; 1/2 teaspoon Salt; 1 Dried Egg Yolk (See Notes); 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup (or other sweetener); 1 cup Buttermilk; 1/2 cup Cold Butter plus 1-2 Tablespoons for layering

Home » Best Easy Homemade Fresh Ground Whole Wheat Biscuits Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.

Learn how to make fluffy whole wheat homemade biscuits from scratch! These biscuits are easy and can be made with freshly milled flour or store bought whole wheat flour. This is a no-guilt treat the whole family will love! They can be doctored up with so many toppings they are great for snacks, breakfast, dinner, AND dessert!

This whole wheat biscuit recipe is sure to get your family swooning. This fast and easy recipe with simple ingredients will fill your family!

Here is the video of me making the recipe! See you there!

I used not to like biscuits.

I know, I know.

Horrid right?

Well, I had only had dry, crumbly biscuits with coarse crumbs and zero flavors. 25 years.

I don’t know how I had gone so long without a yummy biscuit.

But it happened. And it wasn’t until I made them from scratch myself that I discovered how delicious they are!

Why did I try to make biscuits at home when I didn’t like them?

Well, I am a romantic, and I love reading pioneer romance stories.

Of course, one of the major foods from that time, especially on the prairie, is light, cloudy, and to die for flaky biscuits. These delicious pastries are what the men fall head over heels over and daydream about while they are on the range.

Being the romantic I am, I had to try.

And yes, they really can be so delicious!

Those are not totally those biscuits, though. But, these are about as flaky as you can get with freshly ground whole wheat.

Which flour to make biscuits?

This is a freshly ground whole wheat flour recipe that is specifically tailored to biscuits. You could use white whole wheat flour, but plain ole’ regular whole wheat flour is going to be your best bet if making this from store-bought ingredients.

So, I accidentally made this recipe with einkorn flour (an ancient grain) once, but they were not super fluffy biscuits. They were just a bit denser.

I chose to use soft white wheat berries to make my own flour for this recipe.

I used soft white wheat berries because it has less protein which decreases the gluten in the dough.

Less gluten equals more flaky layers!

Can I switch out AP flour for whole wheat flour?

No, you cannot switch out all-purpose flour or self-rising flour for wheat flour in this recipe. Whole wheat flour needs more liquid in order to hydrate the dough. Using AP flour in this recipe will lend a very dense and doughy biscuit without flaky layers. No one likes hockey pucks!

Why use a dried egg in biscuits?

Eggs are used in biscuits to coat the flour in fat so that it decreases gluten formation. While the yolk in a fresh egg is mostly fat, the whites are 88% water. That does not help out the cause.

By utilizing dry eggs, whether in powdered or freeze-dried form we are decreasing that water content and coating the flour in fat as well.

It’s a win-win!

Here are powdered eggs if you don’t have any at home!

If you don’t have freeze-dried or powdered eggs, don’t fear! You can hard boil two eggs and use two egg yolks in the recipe. Simply mush the hardboiled yolk into the flour really well.

Why use cream of tartar instead of baking powder?

Cream of tartar is an ingredient in baking powder (the other ingredient is baking soda). By using just the cream of tartar, it results in small air bubbles, which help the dough rise. It also adds a slight tang to the dough.

Amazon link to cream of tartar!

How to make the best homemade biscuits from scratch!

Pour the dry ingredients into a medium bowl and mix them until combined. We want to mix the dry ingredients together before we add the wet ingredients in order to prevent us from having to mix the dough more than we have to. The more you mix the dough once the liquid is added, the more gluten is formed, and gluten equals not fluffy biscuits.

After mixing the dry ingredients, combine the wet ingredients together in a small bowl. Whisk together.

(Here is my favorite dough whisk!)

On a cutting board or plate, use a cheese grater to grate refrigerator cold butter. You could also use a pastry cutter and cut the butter into the flour.

The cheese grater does an excellent job at making the butter the perfect size. Toss the butter into the flour and coat the butter well with the flour.

If there are bigger chunks of butter, squish the butter into a flat coin flake between your thumb and second and third fingers

After your butter is cut into your flour mixture, add your wet mixture to your dry mixture and mix until just combined. The dough will look dry and crumbly. Thats okay! Let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes to allow the flour to hydrate.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands, bench scraper, or other kitchen tool to coax the dough into a rectangular shape of about an inch thick. Cut the dough in half parallel to the short side and grate a tablespoon of butter onto one side of the dough. Then, stack the non-buttered dough on top of the buttered dough into a thick rectangle.

Using your hands or the bench scraper, pat the dough back down into a rectangular shape and do the process over again. You are going to do this about four times in total.

After the last time patting the biscuit dough down, cut the square into biscuits. In order to have the flakiest biscuits, use a knife or a bench scraper to cut straight down through the dough. This prevents the layers from squishing together and undoing all the hard layering work we did earlier.

I like to cut the dough into 9 square biscuits.

Yes, this does create square biscuits. I am sorry! But I believe this creates the tender biscuits we all love. You could use a round biscuit cutter. Just be careful to push straight down and back up. Don’t twist as you go down with a round cutter or that muddles and seals the layers together.

Once you are finished cutting, place the biscuits on a greased cookie sheet or cast iron skillet. Make sure they are evenly spaced, but it is okay if they touch.

You can brush butter on the tops of the biscuits before you place them into the oven if you would like. Don’t use an egg wash or that will seal the layers together.

Place the pan into the hot oven and let cook until the tops are nice and golden brown. It takes about 15-20 minutes unless you are using a basic oven which it may take up to 30 minutes. Sigh…

For best results, brush butter on the tops of the biscuits after pulling them out of the oven. The delicious butter will melt on top and glaze down the sides like a beautiful waterfall. It truly is decadent.

Allow the biscuits to cool for 10-15 minutes before eating if you can withstand temptation that long! It will allow the biscuit to finish cooking and prevent the denser biscuit due to the heat and steam.

The last step is to enjoy your biscuits!

They are so delicious with gravy, honey, more butter, jam, and even peanut butter.

They really are a nice filling and healthy way to help your family to get their whole grains in!

With these whole wheat flour biscuits, I don’t feel guilty eating them.

They are a healthy snack that is a perfect addition to a healthy diet.

The whole family will truly enjoy these fluffy biscuits!

Talk to you later, my friend!

Freshly Ground Whole Wheat Biscuits

Yield: 9 Biscuits

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

These biscuits are easy and can be made with freshly milled flour or store bought whole wheat flour. This is a no-guilt treat the whole family will love! They can be doctored up with so many toppings they are great for snacks, breakfast, dinner, AND dessert!

Ingredients

420g Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Dried Egg Yolk (See Notes)
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup (or other sweetener)
1 cup Buttermilk
1/2 cup Cold Butter plus 1-2 Tablespoons for layering

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine Whole Wheat Flour, Cream of Tartar, Baking Powder, Salt, and Egg in a large bowl. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine Maple Syrup and Buttermilk and mix.
Grate 1/2 cup cold butter and toss into flour mixture. Make sure Butter is well coated in flour mixture. Press clumps of better between fingers to create flakes.
Combine Flour mixture and Buttermilk mixture. Stir until just combined.
Allow mixture to sit for about 30 minutes.
Dump the mixture onto the countertop.
Shape and press the dough into a rectangle.
Grate 1 Tablespoon butter on one half of the dough. Cut the dough in half and layer the non-buttered half onto the buttered half of the dough.
Repeat steps 8 and 9 3-4 times.
Complete a final shape into a rectangle and cut into biscuit shapes or squares.
Place evenly on a baking dish and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Pro Tip: Brush melted butter on top for an extra decadent treat!

Notes

You can hard boil two eggs and use two egg yolks in the recipe. Simply mush the hardboiled yolk into the flour really well. You could also use freeze-dried egg or egg powder. Just use the equivalent of one egg.

If there are bigger chunks of butter, squish the butter into a flat coin flake between your thumb and second and third fingers.

You can brush butter on the tops of the biscuits before you place them into the oven if you would like. Don't use an egg wash or that will seal the layers together.