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.
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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.
The best biscuits that I’ve ever had. Easy prep. Foolproof. Ready in mins. Right amount for a small batch. Thank you thank you!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them. Thank you for your feedback.
hello this is my fist time making biscuits well my family uses margarine instead of butter can i use it. oh and i can’t find baking powder how can i replace it with something. please help
Yes, you can use margarine but the taste and texture of the biscuits is so much better if you use butter. As for the baking powder, yes you do need to use it with this recipe. The baking powder helps the biscuits rise.
These were so good. Flaky. Buttery. Light. Easy. I used my food processor to make these. This is my go to recipe for biscuits from now on. Thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the biscuits. Thank you for your feedback.
This was the first time I made biscuits. I loved them. I used cold butter and it was great. The dough was sticky and I had little difficulty dropping them on the baking pan.
That said, husband loved them. Thank you so much.
Mauri
I’m glad you both enjoyed the biscuits. Thank you for your feedback.
I wanted something to go with beef and barley soup but I didn’t want to spend a lot of time rolling out dough. This recipe was perfect, it came together easily with just a few pantry staples!
I used buttermilk powder and whole milk for a nice tang. I also opted to melt my butter and pour it into really cold milk. I prefer this method when I’m short on time.
I’m so glad you loved this biscuit recipe. Thank you for your feedback.