Easy Flaky Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
These easy flaky buttermilk drop biscuits are amazing. No rolling, no cutting out…they are just as delicious as finicky, classic homemade biscuits.
Biscuits are probably one of the most oft-made carby side dishes in our house. Long before I conquered the intimidating-to-me classic, rolled out biscuit, drop biscuits were there to save me.
In fact, I probably can’t even begin to count how many times we’ve made these easy flaky buttermilk drop biscuits. And by “we” I literally mean all of us. They are so easy, even my kids can make them with hardly any helicoptering.
They’re the perfect beginner biscuit recipe. But they’re delicious enough to stick around as an all-time favorite.
Let’s Make Them
Toss all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium-ish bowl. This recipe makes about 12 biscuits.
Here’s the secret to this recipe
Then, in a liquid measuring cup or smaller bowl mix together the buttermilk and melted butter.
This, right here, is the secret to getting such an easy drop biscuit to be flaky and tender.
As the warm, melted butter mixes with the cold buttermilk, small clumps of hardened butter form. It’ll look a little curdled and gross, but don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours, because those small bits of butter are what make the texture of the biscuits absolutely perfect.
Add the butter/buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to combine everything together.
Don’t Overmix
Just like any other good biscuit recipe, you don’t want to over mix the dough. Mix just until everything is combined.
A few little lumps and bumps here and there are just fine.
How to drop the biscuits
Since these are “drop biscuits” – you don’t need to mess around with rolling out the dough and cutting out the biscuits. The dough literally gets dropped right onto a baking sheet.
Lightly grease a 1/4-cup measuring cup with cooking spray and scoop out a pretty even mound of biscuit dough.
You could also use a large #20 cookie scoop {aff. link}. Basically you want about 1/4 cup of dough for every biscuit.
I use a butter knife to gently extricate the tad bit sticky dough from the cup. If you’re measuring cups have special powers, perhaps the biscuit dough will just fall right out.
Lucky you. 🙂
Plop those biscuits onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
You can space them a couple inches apart, or you can put them much closer together if you want the attached-, pull-apart biscuits vibe going on.
Bake them in a piping hot oven for about 12 minutes. Maybe 14. Maybe 13 1/2. Watch them closely. Every oven is a bit different.
These easy flaky drop biscuits are insanely delicious right out of the oven. Smother them with butter and jam, and I guarantee you won’t even care what else is being served for dinner, why the laundry hasn’t magically folded itself, or what your name is.
They are that good.
Even next-day, these biscuits are super tasty. We like to warm them up with a quick 8-second stint in the micro, but it’s not necessary. And let’s be honest, there usually aren’t any leftovers.
A couple extra notes
- This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled
- The jam you see slathered on those biscuits is a strawberry bluebarb (blueberry + rhubarb) concoction I made and canned last summer and is easily the tastiest jam I have ever made and wouldn’t you know it, I only made six jars, and now I can’t find where I wrote down the recipe. I’ve literally torn my house and pantry and unorganized recipe note files apart to no avail. I’m drowning my sorrows in drop biscuits, hoarded jam jars, and chocolate.
- I have made this recipe with buttermilk substitutions like lemon juice + milk and sour cream + milk, and while they work in a pinch, nothing beats real, live buttermilk in this recipe.
FAQs for Simple Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
I just pop them in a ziploc bag and store them at room temp (we pop them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds for a quick warmup before eating the leftovers).
Yes, you can make the batter and refrigerate it until you’re ready to bake.
The recipe relies on acidity (from the buttermilk) to turn out properly so the biscuits are tender and fluffy. Using plain milk may not yield the same results. But you can sub in half sour cream/half milk for the buttermilk.
Easy Flaky Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk chilled (see note)
- 8 tablespoons (113 g) butter, melted and slightly cooled (I use salted butter)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In a 2-cup liquid measure or small bowl, stir together the chilled buttermilk and melted butter until the butter forms small clumps and the mixture looks curdled.
- Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula just until the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture slightly pulls away from the edges of the bowl.
- Using a greased 1/4-cup measure or large #20 cookie scoop, portion the dough and drop them onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart.
- Bake the biscuits until the tops are golden brown, 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, brush with additional melted butter. Serve warm.
Notes
Recipe Source: from America’s Test Kitchen
Recipe originally published May 2011; updated January 2020 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
Oh my gosh these are amazing! I’m going to make another batch right away to put in the freezer but I think I might try adding cheddar cheese and a pinch of garlic powder. I can’t get over how soft they are on the inside! Delicious
Hi! Mel has a recipe for the biscuits you speak of. Search for: THE BEST CHEESY GARLIC DROP BISCUITS {RED LOBSTER KNOCKOFF}
That should do it! 🙂
I never have any luck making a good drop biscuit but I wanted some to go with my old fashioned chicken and noodles from scratch. I decided to try this recipe and these did not disappoint. They turned out fantastic. I went by the recipe exactly and they’re fluffy and not falling apart but not tough either. I will definitely be making these again. Thanks for sharing.
This is my new buttermilk drop biscuit recipe! I was a little skeptical about melting the butter first, as I’ve always cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter. But I couldn’t believe how tender and flaky on the inside and how much they rose! I’m 72 and have been cooking for many years, but especially when it comes to cooking, you have to be willing to try new things, and I’m so glad I did. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!!! Blessings to you!!
These were a hit tonight with my family who is already particular about biscuits. And they were easy to make and stress free, so thank you!!
I was very pleasantly surprised with the results of this recipe. I’ve always cut the butter into the flour mixture, then add the buttermilk and combine. But I liked the end result of this recipe much better. Thanks for a great idea. This will be my new drop biscuit recipe from now on.
Very Good, easy to make, family loves them!!
So fast and easy, and so fluffy! Very tasty – thank you!
I have been very unsuccessful in the past when it came to making homemade biscuits, but this was easy and fun to do and it taste good. Thank you so much
OMG! Just made these for shortcake – they are hot from the oven I’ve already eaten two just as they are. An easy, delicious recipe! Can’t wait to serve them this evening with strawberries & cream. If there’s any left!
It has been around 5 years of making these at least once a month, often every other week. These are perfectly delicious, can be made cheese or chocolate chippy easily, and are so freaking foolproof and easy to make. THANK YOU for this invaluable recipe!
This is a wonderful recipe! Super easy and fast. I would like to know if they can be frozen so I can make a bunch =) I will be making these way too much!
Yes, they freeze great!
These were delicious! Thanks
These biscuits are FAN-TAS-TIC!
However, I need to lower my cholesterol, so next time I’ll substitute coconut oil for some, most, or all of the butter.
I’ve had a fierce craving for fresh-baked bread and strawberry jam, so I got everything lined up and — alas! — my yeast was dead dead dead.
So I thought — biscuits! But, naw — they’re too much work, and I haven’t made biscuits in forever. But then I remembered — DROP biscuits.
The only alteration I made to this recipe was using milk soured with vinegar (to approximate buttermilk) instead of regular milk.
They came out great! A sort of crunchy thin outer layer with a moist and tender inside. I had to bake mine about half an hour due to the vagaries of my toaster oven.
Next time I might explore using part coconut oil for some of the butter to reduce the cholesterol. But there will DEFINITELY be a next time!
Awesome recipe! we’re currently living in a camper and rolling and cutting biscuits has lost all it’s appeal lol. We love biscuits and gravy and this has made preparing it a breeze. I’ve probably made this recipe a dozen or more times and it always turns out wonderfully. I may never go back to rolling and cutting!
I, too, have experienced difficulties with the rollout biscuits. I also figured that the drop biscuit version might be a bit easier for me, as a novice biscuit baker.
Well, this recipe was indeed easy and delightfully delicious. My family loves them; whether plain, with jam, or with the sausage gravy, these biscuits were fabulous. Thanks!
Excellent, easy. I made 9 larger biscuits so I could bake them in my counter top oven.
One word about this recipe: WINNER.
My advice to newcomers: (1) The quality of your ingredients (particularly your butter and flour) and (2) your technique will determine whether this recipe (or any biscuit recipe, really) will turn out for you. If you try to stir the crap out of this batter, don’t use cold buttermilk, etc., you won’t be as satisfied. Follow the instructions, use good quality ingredients, and you’ll never want to buy canned biscuits again.
I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to1 gluten free flower to make this recipe. Best biscuits I’ve ever made. Yes, gluten free flower works!
Super easy! Turned out perfect so definitely saving this one
Great recipe!! I halved it because it’s just me and my fiance. I was in the mood for cinnamon. So, I used this recipe as a base, added cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and brushed them with cinnamon honey butter when I pulled them out of the oven. Soooo good and sooo fluffy! Thank you!!
I have made countless recipes of yours and you are a household name here! I can’t thank you enough. I would like to make these the night before Thanksgiving and wonder the best way to reheat a whole batch or two without drying them out?
Thank you, Bernadette! I’m not sure how these will fare being made a day ahead of time, but I’d suggest warming them in a foil-covered baking dish at 275 degrees and see how that goes!
Hi Mel! Which brand of Large Cookie Scoop do you use when scooping your biscuit batter? These turned out delicious!
I have the OXO brand.
I’ve made this recipe probably 30 times at this point! It is my go to for drop biscuits and biscuits in general. My favorite part is mixing the melted butter in the cold buttermilk. Brilliant! I always add extra buttermilk as needed bc my mixture tends to run on the dry side. After the initial 1 c in the recipe, I measure with my heart (an extra glug or two). Mel you are my hero! I do have one question. What is the best way to reheat these?
This is a genius recipe! I love that it doesn’t require cutting in cold butter. I made this so fast and they came out amazing!
Amazing, fluffy a d flavorful drop biscuits every time! Genius recipe!
So much easier than rolling and folding dough – less mess & clean up. Fluffy too. Thanks
Oh…my…goodness! I lost my old cookbook with my standard drop biscuit recipe. I’m so glad I did! These were fall of the log easy and tasted wonderful! Note to self: don’t bake on cast iron griddle in the oven. I think the amount of butter caused them to flatten. Like fluffy cookies. But they still had a wonderful crust on the bottom & tasted great!
Wrote this one down for my personal home recipe book. So simple, old fashioned, and delicious. The first time I made this recipe, I ate 5 biscuits in a row – they were so good!
perfect
GREAT!! Easy, tasty, & quick! Made the biscuits exactly as in the recipe!! The melted butter mixed with the buttermilk is a neat idea! Thank you!!
Can I make the dough the day before and refrigerate, then drop and bake the next day for a quick breakfast?
I don’t see why not!
I finally made something that turned out. For people who think, like me, more salt. This recipe is perfect and going up to a teasp is too much, but biscuits still yummy despite my effort to mess it up! Thank you!
I like to use only pastry flour for biscuits, shortbread and pie crust. I make whole milk buttermilk by adding a little cultured lowfat buttermilk from the store to whole milk and letting it work at room temp for a few hours. The live culture buttermilk is also healthy to drink. I’m going to give this recipe a try with these modifications.
Love the buttermilk/butter method. These were simply and quick and delicious! My brother asked for “crispy biscuits” which sent us all pondering and finally I realized he meant a drop biscuit. These are perfect!
This my go-to biscuit recipe. I double this all the time (use only 1 1/2 sticks butter) then put them in the freezer once baked and cooled. Reheat in microwave! Add a sausage patty and you’ve got the perfect sausage biscuit Bfast sando for on the go.
Thanks for the great recipes, Mel! Your recipes are on rotation in my kitchen weekly and this one is made almost every Saturday morning. We discovered a trick to this one. If you make two balls, each about 2T in size and lightly press one down on top of the other, then the biscuits are quite easy to separate in half for jam, honey, etc. My 3 year old actually did this on accident when helping me make them recently. Thanks again for the great recipes!
Oh my goodness, this is such a great idea!! Thanks for sharing!
I enjoy these very much. The first time ,made 1/2 batch baked perfectly. Second time made ahead of time,took out of refrigerator 1/2 ahead of time . In oven rose while sitting sank. Why ? New baking powder and baking soda. Used store bought buttermilk.
This is my new favorite recipe! I am 47 years old and I have to wonder why I’ve never tried making my own biscuits! I have just always used the frozen buttermilk biscuits because I was convinced that if I tried making them, they would be too dry, or too flat, or too doughy. But these were SO easy to make and literally perfect! Thank you for another easy and delicious recipe!
These came out way too dry. To the point where the dropped biscuits just fell apart before going in the oven. Next time I’ll try using 1-1/2 cups buttemilk instead.
Will the same melting technique work if I use half veg shortening and half butter? Thanks.
I haven’t tried that, Emily, but I think it would work fine.
We LOVE these biscuits! I have made them many times over the last year. Yum! I am wondering if you think the melted butter stirred into cold buttermilk idea would work when making scones?? I love how it works in this recipe!
What a great, easy biscuit recipe! Tastes great and takes no time to throw together. The biscuits were ready to go in the oven as soon as the oven was heated. I will be using this as my go-to recipe from now on.
I’m not big on baking or cleaning up messes, but I was able to follow this recipe through with great success. Preparation was easy, with very little clean up. I monitored the baking carefully and the ten drop biscuits turned out perfectly. I am going to slice one in half tomorrow and try it for strawberry shortcake.
Yum yum yum!! These are so delicious and super duper easy. My kids devoured them. Thank you for another great keeper!
This is my go-to biscuit recipe: as-is with soups, with the addition of sugar as a cobbler topping, as the crust of a roasted autumn vegetable pot pie. It even converted my buttermilk-averse friend!
These are the BEST biscuits I have ever made!! My husband even raved about them (his mom and sister are professional bakers) and we both were in heaven. Perfect for biscuits and gravy or just with butter and jam. Absolute perfection!! Thank you. I’ll be keeping this recipe in my back pocket from now on.
Is that fine salt or kosher salt?
I use table salt.
Wonderful flavor and texture. Perfect. Thank you!
Delicious ! I used self-rising flour as that is all I had at the time. They turned out great. They held up topped with turkey and gravy. I loved the ease of blending the buttermilk with the melted butter. I took the buttermilk out of the fridge too early so it was not cold enough to curdle the butter. I put the mixture in the freezer 5 minutes or so and it curdled just fine. This recipe is all ready in my recipe box.
Thank you for the recipe! These are the best biscuits and they are so simple to make!