Best Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
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The Best Buttermilk Drop Biscuits are tender and fluffy inside, and perfectly crispy on the edges. Slice them in half, add a dab of butter, and enjoy this southern classic for breakfast, lunch and dinner! They're a little bit of heaven right here on earth.
Jump To
- Why You'll Love Drop Biscuits
- Why Make Biscuits From Scratch?
- Ingredient Notes
- Simple Step by Step Guide
- How to Make Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
- Pro Tips
- Why are Biscuits Baked at a High Temperature?
- Variations
- Recipe FAQS
- What to Serve with Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
- Storage and Freezing
- Top Baking Tips
- More Recipes to Serve with Biscuits
- Recipe Card
- Reviews
Why You'll Love Drop Biscuits
- Quick & Easy Recipe: simple to make homemade biscuits in just minutes!
- Economical: simple ingredients already found in your pantry
- No Fancy Equipment: no need to use a pastry cutter, food processor or rolling pin
- Reliable: creates the perfect drop biscuit every time!
- Small Batch: make easy drop biscuits in a small batch that's perfect for dinner or brunch
Why Make Biscuits From Scratch?
If you've never made homemade buttermilk biscuits, you'll appreciate this easy drop biscuit recipe. There's no rolling pin or pastry cutter allowed. You won't need a food processor or anything fancy like you use when making traditional biscuits.
These little mounds of deliciousness are drop and go. They're practically fool-proof, and the best southern buttermilk biscuits ever!
Granny taught me how to make cathead biscuits in her tiny little kitchen years ago. This buttermilk drop biscuit recipe is similar, but it's much smaller and goes well with southern dishes like chicken fried steak and shrimp and grits. This is also my go-to recipe when making strawberry shortcake or old fashioned blueberry cobbler.
You'll love this made-from-scratch recipe that's great when nothing else will do but a flaky biscuit, a dab of butter, and a drizzle of honey or strawberry jam. Need a great breakfast or brunch recipe? Hot biscuits are essential when making biscuits and gravy.
But, the most delicious way to enjoy southern-style buttermilk biscuits is to crumble them into my Cornbread Biscuit Dressing. This vintage recipe is a holiday classic and will turn you into a biscuit lover with just one bite!
Ingredient Notes
The best biscuits start with the best flour. In my opinion, White Lily (ad) is the flour that produces excellent results every time. White Lily flour creates light and tender biscuits made with soft winter wheat flour that will melt in your mouth!
- all purpose flour - use White Lily flour for great results. Make sure not to pack the flour in the measuring cup. Instead, scoop it out and level it off when measuring.
- baking powder - is the leavening agent that helps biscuits rise
- baking soda - reacts with buttermilk to cause biscuits to fluff up
- salt - the stuff of life. You can use table salt or kosher salt if desired.
- frozen butter - place a stick of butter in the freezer overnight
- cold buttermilk - keep buttermilk as cold as possible in the fridge until ready to use
Only six ingredients will help you make southern-style biscuits in just 35 minutes! Sugar is not necessary unless you're making a strawberry shortcake or cobbler.
Don't forget to add honey or jam to your shopping list. See recipe card for quantities.
Simple Step by Step Guide
How to Make Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
Making southern buttermilk drop biscuits is easier than you think! All you need is a great recipe with minimal ingredients. You don't need a bunch of tools or fancy gadgets.
To make a classic biscuit the old fashioned way, the only equipment you need is your hands!
- Start by greasing a round pie plate or cast iron skillet with butter.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Whisk together until light and fluffy.
- Grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients with a box grater. Use the large holes for best results. If you forgot to freeze the butter, you can use cold butter from the refrigerator.
- Mix the cold butter pieces into the flour with one hand until dough is crumbly and coarse.
- Make a well in the middle. Pour buttermilk in the middle of the well.
- Gently combine buttermilk into the flour with one hand until barely moistened.
- Sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough, and gather all of it to make a mound.
- Pinch the dough into 8 equal balls and drop onto a greased pie plate or greased cast iron skillet that's 10 inches in diameter. You can also use a sheet pan or parchment-lined baking sheet as long as the biscuits are touching.
- Place one ball of sticky dough in the middle, then work around the pie plate or skillet making sure the biscuits are touching. Pat down each biscuit slightly and brush the tops with melted butter.
- Bake in a 450 degree F oven for 20 minutes until biscuits are golden brown. Serve warm as a side dish or slather it with gravy!
Pro Tips
The best drop biscuits need to be touching in the pan so they can rise up and greet the sky! It's also important not to mix the batter too much or they will turn out tough and dry.
Why are Biscuits Baked at a High Temperature?
Combined with cold butter, high heat produces a great deal of steam, which allows the biscuits to rise as high as possible. To be safe, use a thermometer to check the temperature of your oven to make sure it reaches at least 450 degrees.
Variations
If you want to experiment with different flavors, try adding these ingredients to your biscuit dough...
- sharp cheddar cheese
- onions or chives
- dried rosemary or thyme
- brown sugar and cinnamon
- ground ginger and lemon zest
- blueberries or raspberries
Recipe FAQS
Buttermilk contains acid which reacts with the baking soda to make the biscuits rise. If you use plain milk or another liquid instead, you may get a flat biscuit.
Just add one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of whole milk and stir well. This mixture works great in most recipes as a buttermilk substitution.
Yes, you can use a biscuit cutter if you like! But dropping the biscuit dough by the spoonful is so much easier. It's the way Grandma used to do in her cast iron skillet!
Biscuits need to touch to help each other rise up nice and high. They're kinda like most folks...they do better when they have something to lean on. A hot oven is also needed to help biscuits rise.
Frozen butter makes a difference! Grating frozen butter into flour and mixing until lightly crumbled is the secret to flaky layers. If you work the butter until it melts, your biscuits may turn out flat.
What to Serve with Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
- honey butter chicken - a trendy chicken biscuit made even better with honey butter
- bacon and gravy - most folks love sausage gravy, but bacon gravy is a special treat
- chicken and dumplings - delicious biscuits go perfectly with this southern classic
- pot roast and gravy - serve biscuits open faced and smother with pot roast gravy
- pork tenderloin and veggies - a one pot dish brings out the flavor of this southern staple
- pulled pork barbecue - no southern meal is complete without BBQ and biscuits
- tomato gravy - yes, you heard right, tomato gravy is a real southern treat!
Storage and Freezing
STORAGE: After biscuits have baked, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for one day. After that, it's best to refrigerate them and reheat in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes before serving.
FREEZING: Biscuits can be frozen for up to 3 months if wrapped well and sealed in an airtight container or freezer bag.
REHEAT: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat in a 350 degree oven for best results.
Top Baking Tips
- freezing butter beforehand is worth the extra effort
- try not to overwork the dough or it might create tough biscuits
- the best way to bake biscuits is in a cast iron pan or skillet
- use unsalted butter since salt is already added to dry ingredients
- make sure you check the expiration dates on your baking powder and baking soda
More Recipes to Serve with Biscuits
There's really nothing better than warm biscuits with butter and jam. Here are some great southern recipes that just scream for easy buttermilk drop biscuits.
Sop up some tomato gravy or add a little side dish to your dinner tonight!
Recipe Card
Best Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
*See notes in blog post for detailed tips, photos and instructions.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (I use White Lily)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick frozen butter (8 tablespoons)
- 1 ¼ cup cold buttermilk
- 2 Tablespoons melted butter to brush tops of biscuits
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Grease a round pie plate or 10 inch cast iron skillet with butter.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Use a whisk to mix it together.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Grate the cold butter with a box grater into the dry ingredients. Use the large holes. (If you forgot to freeze the butter, it's fine to use cold butter from the fridge.)1 stick frozen butter
- Mix the butter into the flour until dough is crumbly. Use one hand to keep from working the dough too much.
- Make a well (indention) in the dry ingredients. Pour 1 cup of the buttermilk in the middle of the well and gently mix into the flour with one hand until barely moistened. If you need more buttermilk to mix in with the dry crumbles, add the other ¼ cup.1 ¼ cup cold buttermilk
- Sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough, and gather all of it to make a mound. Pinch the dough into 8 equal balls and drop onto the greased pie plate or small cast iron skillet.
- Place one piece of dough in the middle, and then work around the pie plate or skillet making sure the biscuits are touching.
- Pat down each biscuit slightly and brush the tops with melted butter.2 Tablespoons melted butter to brush tops of biscuits
- Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes until biscuits are golden brown on top.
Notes
- freezing butter beforehand is worth the extra effort
- try not to overwork the dough or it might create tough biscuits
- the best way to bake biscuits is in a cast iron pan or skillet
- use unsalted butter since salt is already added to dry ingredients
- make sure you check the expiration dates on your baking powder and baking soda
Nutrition
Nutrition info is an auto generated estimate.
Tried this Recipe and Loved It? ❤️ Please scroll down and leave a *STAR* review!
I made these for breakfast this past weekend and they turned out great! I love how easy they are to make.
Thanks Kara! They are easy once you get the hang of using one hand to mix everything.
These were really great!
So glad you tried them and they turned out well! 🙂