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Our small batch biscuits recipe is a perfect example of biscuits for two, ideal for whenever the craving strikes. This quick biscuit recipe comes together in just 5 minutes of prep and bakes in 15 minutes, leaving you with warm, buttery biscuits in no time. Enjoy them for breakfast, dinner, or alongside your favorite soup – these tender treats are a delightful addition to any meal.
After trying this easy biscuit recipe, explore more with our herb-filled Buttermilk Biscuits, luxuriously buttery Butter Swim Biscuits, rich Cheddar Biscuits, and the herb-infused Biscuit with Sausage Gravy.
Why You’ll Love This Biscuit Recipe
- Effortless: No rolling or cutting required—just drop and bake!
- Quick: Ready in 20 minutes from start to finish.
- Versatile: Pairs beautifully with a wide range of dishes.
- Scalable: The recipe doubles easily for when you have more mouths to feed.
What Are Drop Biscuits?
Biscuits are a classic American side dish, known for their flaky, soft texture. Drop biscuits, a fuss-free variant, save you the time and effort of rolling and cutting. Just drop spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet, and you’re good to go.
Ingredients
Recipe Variations
Feeling creative? These biscuits offer a blank canvas for culinary artistry.
- Cheese & Herb Biscuits: Add shredded cheese and herbs like chives or parsley.
- Spiced Variation: Include a pinch of cayenne pepper for a bit of heat.
- Blueberry Biscuits: Add fresh blueberries for a sweet twist.
How To Make Biscuits For One Or Two
These step-by-step photos and instructions help you visualize how to make a small batch of biscuits. See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Get the oven ready: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius). To prevent sticking, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Cut in the butter: Add cold, chopped butter to the dry ingredients. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, work quickly to rub the butter into the flour until it looks like coarse sand.
- Add the milk: Now, pour in the milk and stir it just until the dough comes together. You don’t need to overdo it here, just mix until there are no dry bits left.
- Shape the biscuits: Grab a large spoon and scoop out portions of the dough, dropping them onto your baking sheet. Leave some space between each biscuit for them to expand in the oven.
- Bake until golden: Pop those biscuits in the oven and bake them for 10-12 minutes, or until they’re nice and golden brown. That’s your cue to take them out and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Cold Butter Is Key: To achieve flaky biscuits, you must use cold butter. The steam generated when it melts in a hot oven creates pockets in the dough, making the biscuits airy and flaky.
- Don’t Overmix: Overmixing the dough will develop too much gluten, making your biscuits tough rather than tender. Combine the ingredients until they just come together.
- Use a Preheated Oven: Always put your biscuits into a fully preheated oven. This immediate high heat helps the biscuits rise quickly, setting the structure and locking in flakiness.
- Space Wisely: Make sure to space the biscuits close but not touching on your baking sheet. This helps them rise upwards rather than outwards, ensuring a taller, fluffier biscuit.
Serving Suggestions
These biscuits are versatile and pair beautifully with a variety of dishes. From savory to sweet, the options are endless.
- Classic Sausage Gravy: Serve these biscuits with a traditional sausage or mushroom gravy.
- Jam and Clotted cream: Perfect for a sweet treat at breakfast.
- Italian Chopped Salad: Complements a leafy green or fruit salad wonderfully.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, just make sure to thaw before reheating.
There are two effective ways to blend butter into your flour mixture for perfect biscuits. First, you can dice the butter into small pieces and chill them in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to mix. Then, employ a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour. Alternatively, you can use your fingers to manually blend the butter and flour. Simply press the mixture together until it takes on the texture of damp sand.
If you’re using buttermilk instead of regular milk in this biscuit recipe, keep in mind that buttermilk is thicker. To make buttermilk biscuits, you may need a bit more than the 1/2 cup called for with regular milk. Start by adding about 1/2 cup of buttermilk and increase gradually until you reach your desired dough consistency.
Yes, you can. Self-rising flour contains flour, baking powder, and salt.
While it’s hard to predict the exact ratios of flour to baking powder to salt, you will most likely still get great results. Just be sure to leave out adding any additional baking powder and salt until you’ve seen how it turns out with your particular brand of self-rising flour.
To get the best results, I recommend following the recipe using all-purpose flour.
More Small Batch Breakfast Ideas
Expand your breakfast repertoire with these delightful single serving or small batch options:
What To Do With Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder or you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
For information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our recipes, please visit our FAQ page.
For examples of the dishes used at One Dish Kitchen, please visit our Store page.
If you’ve tried this easy biscuit recipe or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
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Small Batch Drop Biscuits
Watch How To Make This
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons salted butter , cold, cut into ¼-inch pieces
- ½ 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
- Cold Butter Is Key: To achieve flaky biscuits, you must use cold butter. The steam generated when it melts in a hot oven creates pockets in the dough, making the biscuits airy and flaky.
- Don’t Overmix: Overmixing the dough will develop too much gluten, making your biscuits tough rather than tender. Combine the ingredients until they just come together.
- Use a Preheated Oven: Always put your biscuits into a fully preheated oven. This immediate high heat helps the biscuits rise quickly, setting the structure and locking in flakiness.
- Space Wisely: Make sure to space the biscuits close but not touching on your baking sheet. This helps them rise upwards rather than outwards, ensuring a taller, fluffier 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.
These were so good! I used half the salt because i’m trying to reduce my sodium and they were still delicious. I used my food processor to crumb the butter and dry ingredients. I did need to cook them for 15 minutes to get some browning. These remind me so much of the Bisquick drop biscuits from my childhood.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the biscuits. Thank you.
These are delicious! I followed recipe exactly. It made the perfect amount for two people. I have my own recipe for sausage gravy for one or two if you’re interested!
I made these biscuits and added a 1/2 tsp garlic salt and 1/4 cup shredded cheese. They were delicious!!
Will definitely try these biscuits. Thank you for posting
amazing, I cooled my room temp butter in the freezer while measuring out the dry ingredients, and made 5 big biscuits! Took a little longer to cook in my convection/humid oven, worth the wait. I will definately make them again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the biscuits. Thank you for your feedback.
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.