Drop Biscuits
These homemade Drop Biscuits are extra soft, buttery, and tender, with a classic buttermilk flavor. You only need 5 simple ingredients to make them!
These are so easy that I make them with my 4-year-old. Anyone can make these, and you will be rewarded with fluffy little clouds of soft buttery goodness. They are wonderful to add to so many meals, or to a piping hot bowl of Chicken Spinach Tortellini Soup.
I’ve made drop biscuits on my site before (see Cheddar Drop Biscuits or Pumpkin Sage Drop Biscuits), but I felt inspired to tinker with my base drop biscuit recipe a little bit.
Specifically, I wanted to see if I could get a bit more butter in there and make them extra soft and tender and rich.
Thanksgiving has been on my brain, after all. And I consider biscuits to be absolutely essential for the holiday table. Or for a comfort food meal with Buttermilk Fried Chicken or Oven BBQ Pork Spare Ribs and Coleslaw.
After several rounds of testing, these biscuits are the softest and most deliciously buttery version yet. It is quite a delicious recipe that still only uses a minimal 5 ingredients.
And in true drop biscuit style, they are ridiculously easy.
I’ve always said that drop biscuits are perfect for the people who are intimidated by classic cutter-style biscuits (like these Cheddar Scallion Biscuits). They’re like the gateway biscuit where you get your confidence. It’s also a great recipe for kids to make, because of its simplicity.
Step by Step Overview:
While it’s possible to make this by hand (details are at the end), since most people have a food processor, I’m going to walk you through this method.
To start, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, and kosher salt:
Pulse that together a few times to evenly combine the dry ingredients, then add cold cubed butter:
Pulse the butter into the dry ingredients until you get pea-sized pieces of butter:
This is one essential key to flaky layers.
Pour cold buttermilk in to the bowl with the flour mixture (no need to do this while the machine is running):
Please use true buttermilk for this recipe, and not a whole milk + lemon juice substitute that you whisk together in a measuring cup.
Buttermilk is an important flavor and ingredient here. If you have leftover, I have some awesome buttermilk recipes on my site like Lemon Buttermilk Pie, Buttermilk Pancakes, Blueberry Muffins, and Chocolate Muffins, to name a few. Buttermilk can also be frozen.
Pulse the buttermilk in until the dough clumps up to one side of the food processor, making sure not to go beyond this point, or you will have less tender biscuits:
Use a large 3-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the sticky dough straight from the bowl:
Drop the biscuit dough scoops onto a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper:
And in case you didn’t know already, this is where they get their name. No need for any sort of biscuit cutter here!
Want to Freeze the Biscuits?
If you wish, you can put the baking tray in the freezer for several hours, until the scoops are completely firm. Then you can place them in an airtight freezer bag and store for up to two months in the freezer.
When ready to bake, bake them straight from frozen on a parchment lined baking sheet, adding 3-5 minutes to the baking time.
Bake in a 425 F oven for about 15 minutes, until the biscuits are just beginning to turn golden brown:
These are supposed to be soft, tender, and buttery, so make sure not to overbake them or you will lose a little bit of that fluffy texture you want. They aren’t supposed to have much color on them.
I recommend enjoying the fluffy drop biscuits while they are warm, but you can also let them cool on a wire rack until you’re ready to enjoy them. This ensures they don’t get soggy.
A warm biscuit is incredible with Tomato Bisque, but these also make for a nice classic biscuit for the table.
You can also make a classic sausage gravy and serve with eggs as a great option for breakfast. Enjoy!
Tips and FAQ:
Yes. Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then cut the butter in, ideally using a pastry cutter or pastry blender (affiliate), but if you work quickly, you can get away with using your fingertips. Pour in the buttermilk, and mix with a spatula until the ingredients come together as a dough. Proceed with recipe as printed below.
Make the recipe up to the point of scooping the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, then put the tray in the freezer for several hours, until the scoops are completely firm. Then you can place them in an airtight freezer bag and store for up to two months. When ready to bake, bake them straight from frozen on a parchment lined baking sheet, adding 3-5 minutes to the baking time.
Since there are no preservatives, you can only keep these at room temperature in an airtight container for a day or two before risking mold. If you have leftovers, I recommend freezing them fully baked. They will thaw at room temperature in 30-60 minutes. You can also store in a ziptop bag in the fridge for a week, but they can dry out like this.
Recipe Variations
These are fairly traditional biscuits as written in the recipe card, but you can absolutely add cheeses and herbs to this recipe.
Cheese – Pulse in a 1/2 cup of whatever shredded cheese you like (cheddar is my favorite!) along with the butter cubes.
Fresh herbs – The same is true for herbs, and a few of my favorites are rosemary, thyme, and chives. I would start with 1 tbsp each of those.
Spices – You may add spices from the pantry like paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, etc. I recommend not adding more than 2 teaspoons of spices total. Add it to the flour mixture.
Extra butter – To make them extra buttery, brush melted butter on top of each of your homemade biscuits right after baking.
Did you enjoy the recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Or, follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest!
Drop Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (286g, or 10 ounces by weight)
- 2 tsp baking powder (9g)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt (3g)
- 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter cubed (1.5 sticks)
- 1 cup buttermilk (I used lowfat cultured organic)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a food processor, pulse to combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Once those ingredients are combined, add the cold butter cubes and pulse about 10 times to break the butter down into small pea-sized pieces.
- Add the buttermilk, then pulse about 10-15 times, until the dough clumps together on one side of the food processor (see blog post for photo). Take care to not overmix.
- Use a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop to drop scoops of the biscuit mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. You should easily get 12 full scoops, though I sometimes get 13 if I don't scoop them fully enough.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes, until they just begin to turn golden brown. Don't fully brown them, as they are best on the softer side. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
3 Comments on “Drop Biscuits”
Joanne,
My BF has Crohn’s and is lactose intolerant, so buttermilk is out. I use Lactaid instead of milk. Do you think this substitution along with lemon juice will yield a good—maybe not great—biscuit?
Thanks!
The flavor will be different, but I think it should work out okay!
Joanne as always, has the quickest, most scrumptious recipes to be found most anywhere!