These drop biscuits are so easy to make and are the best tasting, soft and buttery biscuits! Ready in 20 minutes, this small batch recipe delivers the perfect number of biscuits to serve one or two people. Easy step by step instructions included in the recipe.
Homemade biscuits are a breakfast favorite at my house and this simple biscuit recipe is one you'll find yourself using over and over again.
This easy small batch recipe is adapted from the biscuit recipe I used for many years when my kids were growing up.
Why This Recipe Works
- The ingredient list for this biscuit recipe is short and you're likely to have all of the necessary ingredients already on hand.
- It takes just minutes to mix up the biscuit dough and under 15 minutes to bake the biscuits.
- Enjoy drop biscuits with beef stew, a bowl of minestrone soup or in the morning with a dab of melted butter and homemade jam.
- This is truly the only biscuit recipe you need. This small batch biscuit recipe will yield 4 drop biscuits.
RELATED: 20 Single Serving Breakfasts Worth Waking Up For
What You'll Need
How To Make Drop Biscuits
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking or cookie sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Toss 3 tablespoons of cold butter (chopped) into the dry ingredients. Working quickly using your fingers or a pastry blender, rub or cut butter into flour until it resembles coarse sand.
- Add the milk and stir just until the dough comes together.
- Using a large spoon, drop spoonfuls of the batter onto the baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.
Expert Tips
- The secret to excellent biscuits is cold butter. It's true, room temperature butter is not what you want.
- When making biscuits, you want it cold because the butter creates steam as it melts in a hot oven. The steam from the melting butter expands between the layers of dough. This creates pockets of air which will give you a flaky biscuit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Either cut the butter into small pieces and keep in the refrigerator or in the freezer until ready to use, then use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the mixture when ready.
The second method is to use you fingers to blend the butter and the flour together. Basically, press the butter and flour together with your fingers until the flour mixture resembles wet sand.
You can substitute buttermilk for regular milk in this biscuit recipe. Buttermilk is slightly thicker than regular milk so you will need to use a little more to get the dough to the right consistency. Start with slightly more than 1/2 cup of buttermilk and gradually add more as needed.
Other Small Batch Breakfast Recipes
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Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons salted butter , cold, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup milk
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Toss butter into the dry ingredients. Working quickly using your fingers or a pastry blender, rub or cut butter into flour until it resembles coarse sand.
- Add the milk and stir just until the dough comes together.
- Using a large spoon, drop spoonfuls of the batter onto baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.
Notes
- The secret to excellent biscuits is cold butter. It's true, room temperature butter is not what you want.
- When making biscuits, you want it cold because the butter creates steam as it melts in a hot oven. The steam from the melting butter expands between the layers of dough. This creates pockets of air which will give you a flaky biscuit.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I looked for a 3 1/2 qt stand mixer, but I could not find one. Where can I get one?
Excellent. Wonderfully easy for the occasional baker and taste great. Thanks for sharing this!
Easy, only a few ingredients, and very good!
I also topped them with a little Everything Bagel seasoning and ate them with some homemade sausage gravy. So good.
How much milk?? Thanks!
1/2 cup of milk.
I’ve been using this recipe for the past six months. It’s so easy to remember and so satisfying when you want a biscuit but don’t want to make a huge batch. The texture is amazing! Since I’m not a consistent baker, my biscuits come out a little different each time but they’re always soft inside with a light crust on the bottom. I bake them in my toaster oven. They are perfect! I use buttermilk instead of regular milk however. I think the buttermilk really sets them off!!
I’m so glad you love the recipe. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know and for leaving your feedback.
Tasty! Made these to go with a pot of veggie/beef soup, really hit the spot!
could these be frozen? And if so which stage would you do it make the dough and freeze them uncooked or bake them and then freeze them. I cannot wait to try these
Hi Marda,
I haven’t frozen these biscuits but I have frozen other breads. When I freeze scones, etc. I make the batter and shape them, then I put them on a baking sheet (not touching) and freeze. Transfer them to a zip topped bag or other airtight container and keep in the freezer. Bake when you’re ready to enjoy them. You’ll need to add an additional 5 or more minutes to the original baking time.
I have been looking for a recipe like this for awhile. I am so glad I found it because tomorrow morning I am going to have SOS which I have been craving lately. Thank you.
delicious and easy! thank you