Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

Buttermilk drop biscuits are the easiest homemade biscuits you’ll ever make! They’re soft and flaky, and full of rich buttery flavor.

Homemade biscuits are one of my most favorite things to bake because they’re so fast and easy to make— only 6 staple ingredients and 30 minutes required! And there are few things as tasty as a buttermilk biscuit hot from the oven.

Now I’ve made biscuits even easier! This is my basic buttermilk biscuit recipe, but there’s no rolling or cutting involved. Just drop dough by the spoonful on your pan before sliding them into the oven for a quick bake. Leave them plain, or feel free to to add your favorite mix-ins for variations like garlic and herb, bacon and scallion, and cheese.

Biscuits make a great accompaniment to any meal— topped with butter or jam, covered with sausage gravy, or served alongside a bowl of soup or another cozy meal.

Ingredients you’ll need

Let’s get baking, shall we? Here’s everything needed to make these buttermilk drop biscuits (full recipe below):

• All-purpose flour
• Butter
• Buttermilk
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Mix-ins (keep reading for suggestions!)

What if I don’t have buttermilk?

Buttermilk is one of my favorite ingredients for baking and it’s always in my fridge, but don’t worry, you can also make your own. It’s not exactly the same, but it’ll work in a pinch.

Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (bottled or freshly squeezed) to a liquid measuring glass. Add enough regular milk (preferably 2% or whole) to measure 1 cup. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then give it a quick stir before using.

How to make easy buttermilk drop biscuits

1. Mix dry ingredients. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a bowl.

2. Cut in butter. Add cold cubed butter and cut it into the flour using a pastry blender, or two knives (here’s how to cut the butter with knives) until butter pieces are about the size of peas.

3. Add buttermilk (and any mix-ins). Add all of the buttermilk to the bowl and blend with a spatula or spoon until mixture forms a wet and sticky dough. If adding mix-ins, add them when a few streaks of dry ingredients remain to avoid over mixing.

4. Scoop. Use a large cookie scoop or spoon to drop dough onto a parchment lined sheet pan.

5. Bake. Bake biscuits at 400°F for about 20 minutes until bottoms are golden brown and tops are just starting to brown.

Then, enjoy! I prefer biscuits when they are hot from the oven, and recommend serving the day they are baked.

Add mix-ins for more fun and flavor

Now for the fun part! You can add almost anything to these biscuits to create different flavors and combinations of flavors. Here’s a rough guide to help you create the biscuits of your dreams.

Mix up to two of the following:

• ½ cup any shredded or crumbled cheese such as cheddar, swiss, parmesan or feta.
• ½ cup bulkier ingredients like scallions, crumbled bacon, nuts, dried fruit, sliced jalapenos, etc.
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• ½-1 teaspoon dried herbs
• ½ teaspoon spices or seasoning such as cinnamon, ground black pepper, garlic powder, etc.

Shown in this post are the following variations:

• Cheddar biscuits
• Garlic and herb biscuits
• Bacon and scallion biscuits

 

Tips for baking the best biscuits

• The butter and buttermilk should be cold and used straight from the fridge. The visible bits of cold butter throughout the dough is what creates the flaky layers and rise. If the butter is too warm, it will incorporate into the flour and you’ll end up with flat dense biscuits.
• Do not overwork the dough, and it results in tough biscuits. Mix only as needed to bring dough together.
• I like to use a large cookie scoop to shape these biscuits, but you could also use a large spoon. Biscuits shown here were made from rounded 3-tablespoon size scoops.
• Bake biscuits close together on the sheet pan for soft biscuits, or more spaced out for biscuits with a crispier exterior. I like to bake these biscuits on a quarter sheet pan to keep them closer together.
• Both baked and unbaked biscuits freeze really well! To prep biscuits in advance, place unbaked biscuit rounds on a parchment lined sheet pan, cover with a double layer of plastic wrap and freeze until ready to bake and serve. Bake from frozen and add a few minutes of baking time.

More biscuit recipes to try

• Whole Wheat Cheddar Biscuits
• Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy
• Cinnamon Roll Biscuits
• Cheddar-Jalapeño Cornmeal Biscuits

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