Few things are as comforting as a biscuit. The versatile quick bread can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner as a side or the star of the show. Traditional biscuits are made by mixing a basic dough with flour, butter, and buttermilk as the main components, turning it out onto a floured surface, and repeatedly stacking it together to create the layers of dough and butter that will bake into the flaky bread. While not necessarily hard, this method can be time-consuming. Drop biscuits are made with basically the same dough, but it’s mixed in one bowl and spooned onto a baking sheet. To ensure your biscuits come out as light and tender as possible, perfecting your technique is crucial. To that end, we spoke to Jay Craddick, the executive chef at Humble Baron, for his top tips.
When asked what is the best tool to mix drop biscuit dough with, Craddick had only one utensil in mind, “[A] fork. It helps reduce gluten formation which makes a soft and tender biscuit.” While it’s tempting to reach for a whisk and go crazy, using a fork is a better way to prevent overmixing your dough, which could lead to tough biscuits. As for the ideal texture to look for, Craddick notes that “the texture should be coarse like meal before adding wet ingredients.” He’s referring to how the mixture should look when you’ve cut your butter into the dry ingredients; you want the butter to be in very small pieces, with some pea-sized chunks.
Making your biggest biscuit dreams come true
While drop biscuits simplify the process, there are even more shortcuts you can take. Don’t want to bother meticulously cutting the butter into the flour? Skip it. Instead, opt for these two-ingredient drop biscuits with just self-rising flour and heavy cream. The batter can be scooped into individual biscuits and baked or placed on top of any sort of casserole or savory pie in place of pastry dough. In fact, Ina Garten simplifies her chicken pot pie with biscuit-topped stew, a secret ingredient that proves that biscuits are far more versatile than one might think.
Biscuits can be tailored to both sweet and savory palates — spread them with butter and jam for sweetness or top them with gravy for a savory treat. The batter itself is also easy to customize. Who says you need to make plain biscuits? You can add almost anything in, from shredded cheese and green chilis to chopped fruit and chocolate chips. Add herbs, cheddar cheese, and corn to make sweet corn buttermilk biscuits, which have all the flavors of cornbread and biscuits. The possibilities are endless.
