Create Tender and Buttery Drop Biscuits Using Only 3 Ingredients

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Biscuits are delightful little pastries, often with savory-forward flavor profiles, plenty of buttery tenderness, and flakiness that no other baked goods can quite compete with. When it comes to determining whether you should make drop biscuits or roll-and-cut biscuits, two big factors are how much time you have and how many ingredients you want to pull out of the pantry. If you find yourself more in the low on time, low on ingredients party, then these three-ingredient buttery drop biscuits from recipe developer Jessica Morone are just the quick fix you need.

Requiring just 25 minutes of time to make (including both prep and cook time), it’s no wonder the ease and quickness of this recipe are two of Morone’s favorite aspects of it. “I love that these are so easy to make and so quick,” she says, adding, “There’s no kneading like some biscuits, and with only 3 ingredients you can make them pretty much whenever you want.” And, with the help of a food processor, the process for making tender drop biscuits requires virtually no elbow grease on your end, making this recipe an ideal one to keep in your back pocket for busy mornings or afternoons when you want a savory little treat.

We weren’t joking around about the “three-ingredient” aspect of this recipe. To make these drop biscuits, you’ll simply need self-rising flour, salted butter (both for the biscuit dough and to brush on top of the baked biscuits), and buttermilk.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

Add the flour and cold butter to the bowl of a food processor.

Pulse the mixture until the butter is cut into the flour and it resembles coarse sand.

Pour the mixture into a separate bowl, add the buttermilk, and mix until a dough forms.

Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop the biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown.

Brush melted butter over the top of the biscuits or serve with toppings of your choice.

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Simplicity is the beauty of this recipe, and it really doesn’t get much simpler than three ingredients. Of course, if you have other flavors you’d like to add to the mix, you aren’t limited to three ingredients here. Or, if you don’t have self-rising flour or buttermilk on hand, there are easy swaps you could make there, too. Regular milk will work in place of the buttermilk, though your biscuits will be missing the tenderness and that slight tang that buttermilk provides. You can also sour regular milk with a dash of lemon or vinegar, and it will act just like buttermilk. And fear not if self-rising flour isn’t a staple in your kitchen: “If you don’t have self-rising flour, you can use all-purpose flour and add 3 teaspoons of baking powder and about ½ teaspoon of salt to it,” Morone advises. If you’re using buttermilk or soured milk, add a pinch of baking soda to the mix as well. 

There’s also plenty of room to add extra ingredients to the biscuits and expand upon the buttery flavors at play. Morone recommends adding extras like cheese or cooked bacon bits to the biscuit dough for a little extra oomph. “Or go for an herby version with rosemary, garlic, or chives,” she suggests. You could also lean to the sweet side with the addition of cinnamon or a spice mix like a pumpkin spice blend. Fruit, whether fresh or dried, makes a welcome addition as well. Berries work well in the summer months, and raisins or dried cranberries add a sweet-tart pop all year round.

As easy and quick as this recipe may be, it does revolve around having one pretty essential tool: a food processor. There are quite a few good uses for a food processor, including making homemade nut butter, blending up your own oat flour, whipping up pancake batter, and of course, making perfect drop biscuit dough. So, a food processor wouldn’t collect dust if you add it to your kitchen appliance repertoire. But in case you don’t have one, you can absolutely still make this drop biscuit recipe. 

The first non-food processor option is a pastry blender, a handheld tool with rounded blades at the bottom, making it perfect for cutting through cold butter and incorporating it into flour. Though it will take a little extra manual labor, pastry blenders are designed for tasks like creating biscuit dough, so it’s a great alternative to a food processor. In fact, because you’re working the dough less, you might end up with flakier, more tender biscuits using this method. Morone also recommends simply using two knives to incorporate the butter into the flour, in case it’s not in your plans to invest any extra kitchen tools.

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