3 Ingredient Drop Biscuits are truly made with only three common ingredients - self rising flour, butter and milk! These delicious, buttery biscuits cook until the tops and bottoms are golden brown and perfectly crisp, but still remain fluffy, tender and moist in the middle!
Nothing screams comfort food like homemade biscuits do! I love biscuits year-round, but I especially love biscuits in the fall and winter.
Whenever I whip up a batch of biscuits, I feel like I've really mastered the art of pulling together a family dinner. It's the best feeling when I know that absolutely nobody in my house will complain that I've made biscuits as a side dish with dinner!
Homemade biscuits are beyond easy to make, and they're the perfect baking recipe for the beginner baker. Just like my homemade Dutch Oven Baked Bread, 3 Ingredient Drop Biscuits are practically impossible to mess up.
The recipes across the internet for biscuits made with three ingredients are all pretty much the same. When something works, it works, right? You need to read about my recipe though because I've packed this blog post with tips and tricks to make sure that you're successful in your biscuit baking adventure!
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Warm and comforting - Like I've already said, this is 100% comfort food that can be enjoyed at breakfast, lunch or dinner!
- So easy to make - With only 3 ingredients, this is definitely a quick and easy recipe that's perfect for the beginner baker!
- Easy to customize - Do you want to add a little something extra to your biscuits? Try some shredded cheddar, a drizzle of honey or some sliced jalapeno peppers! Top your biscuits with sausage gravy or dip them in runny egg yolks!
Ingredients
Ingredient #1 - Self-rising flour: Self rising flour is all purpose flour that has baking soda and salt already added to it. In order for this recipe to work you absolutely have to use self rising flour. I find that self rising flour is very smooth, light and airy compared to flour that isn't self-rising. The common brand that you'll easily find in grocery stores is King Arthur.
Ingredient #2 - Butter: Make sure to use cold butter. During baking, the water in the cold butter will evaporate and create pockets of steam, which give biscuits their signature flaky layers. If you have it in your budget, use a high-quality butter from grass-fed cows like Nellie's Free Range Pasture Raised Butter. Also make sure to use salted butter! Since we aren't adding any salt to this three ingredient biscuit recipe, we need to use salted ingredients when possible.
Ingredient #3 - Milk: Similarly to cold butter, cold milk will contribute to that flaky texture that we want in homemade biscuits. Whole milk is my preference, but 2% milk would also work.
Equipment needed
- Medium-sized mixing bowl
- Dough blender, dough cutter or pastry cutter
- Measuring cups
- Optional: Cookie scoop or ice cream scoop
How to make
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Carefully measure out the all purpose self-rising flour into the mixing bowl.
Step 2: Cut the butter into small chunks using a butter knife. Drop the chunks of butter into the bowl of flour. Disperse the butter as you're dropping it.
Step 3: Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour. Cutting butter into flour is a baking technique where you essentially mash the butter into flour, creating tiny, crumbly pieces of butter that are coated in flour.
Your flour will look like course crumbs. Do your best to break apart any large chunks of butter.
Step 4: Pour the cold milk into the flour and butter mixture. Using a large spoon, stir the milk into the flour to fully moisten and incorporate all of the ingredients. Your dough will eventually turn into a sticky, lumpy ball.
Step 5: Using either a cookie scoop, ice cream scoop or measuring cup, drop approximately ¼ cup sized biscuits onto the parchment lined baking sheet. You'll end up with 12-13 biscuits.
Step 6: Bake the biscuits at 450°F for 13-15 minutes. When the biscuits are done they should be light, fluffy and golden brown on top and on the bottom.
Expert tips
- Use cold butter and cold milk for this 3 ingredient biscuit recipe! Cold butter and milk are what give biscuits their signature flaky texture.
- When reheating your 3 ingredient drop biscuits, brush the tops with a little melted butter if you want a little extra "something" to help perk them up!
- When reheating frozen biscuits in the oven, I find that they aren't as moist and flakey after being baked a second time around. Just plan on this and make sure you're serving them with a sauce or a gravy... runny egg yolks work well too!
- When adding your milk, pour the milk in slowly and mix as you go. Pour a little milk in, then mix, pour some more in, then mix. If your biscuits are too dry and not turning into a sticky dough ball, add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time, until you reach the right consistency.
- Their is a right way and a wrong way to measure flour. The correct way to measure flour is to spoon the flour into your measuring cup until you have a heaping pile of flour on top of the cup. Use a butter knife to scrape across the top of the measuring cup to level out the flour. You do not want to densely pack flour into a measuring cup. This will result in an incorrect measurement.
- You can make your own self rising flour at home using all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. For every 1 cup of flour, add in 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- If you don't have a pastry cutter, you can use the backs of two forks or use your hands! I've done both and both methods will work.
- Make sure you do not overwork your dough. Over working the dough results in tough biscuits.
Variations and substitutions
Biscuits are the best because of how easily you can customize them! I just love recipes that I can put my own special spin on.
Make them sweet: Add a a couple of tablespoons of honey or sugar to your dough recipe. You could also top your biscuits with a homemade honey butter with cinnamon or jam.
Make them spicy: Add in sliced jalapeno peppers. To make the drop biscuits extra spicy, include some of the jalapeno seeds and membranes or add a pinch of cayenne or red pepper flakes.
Make them savory: The best way to make a biscuit savory is to add cheese and/or fresh herbs. Sharp cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, rosemary, thyme and sage are all common additions to baked biscuits and breads.
Storage, freezing and reheating
How to store: In order to prevent leftover biscuits from going stale, you need to prevent air from getting to them. While you can store them in an air-tight container, you'll have better results if you wrap each biscuit individually in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped biscuits in a zip top plastic bag with the air squeezed out. Store the wrapped biscuits in a cool, dark place in your kitchen.
How to freeze: Let biscuits cool completely. Wrap each biscuit tightly in plastic wrap and then place all of the biscuits in a freezer bag before placing them in the freezer.
How to reheat: Reheat frozen biscuits in a 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes. You can place a piece of foil over top of the biscuits to prevent the biscuits from getting too brown.
Reheat room temperature biscuits in the microwave for about 30 seconds at a time, until you reach your desired temperature. To prevent drying out, wrap the biscuits in a damp paper towel.
Dinner recipes to serve with
3 Ingredient Drop Biscuits can be served with almost any dinner recipe! Whether you're making chicken, turkey, ham, beef, pork, fish, seafood or a simple soup, biscuits are one of the best sides to serve!
- If you're trying to figure out what protein to serve made from scratch biscuits with, I highly recommend my Air Fryer Turkey Tenderloin, Whole Roasted Garlic Herb Chicken and Blackened Cod.
- If you're looking for a soup recipe, I know you'll love my Creamy Tomato Soup, Dutch Oven Chicken Noodle Soup and my Cheesy Broccoli Zucchini Soup!
- If you're in the mood for fish then my Panko Crusted Cod or my Air Fryer Salmon are both amazing!
3 Ingredient Drop Biscuits
3 Ingredient Drop Biscuits are truly made with only three common ingredients - self rising flour, butter and milk! These delicious, buttery biscuits cook until the tops and bottoms are golden brown and perfectly crisp, but still remain fluffy, tender and moist in the middle!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings
- Category: breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 cups self rising flour
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter (cold)
- ¾ cup whole milk (cold)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Measure out your flour and pour it into a large mixing bowl.
- Cut the stick of butter into cubes. Drop the cubes of butter into the flour. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the flour and butter mixture forms a course, crumb-like texture.
- Pour the milk into the butter and flour mixture. Using a large spoon, mix the milk into the flour until the flour has formed a dough. The dough should be pasty, sticky and moist.
- Drop ¼ cup sized biscuits onto your parchment lined baking sheet. You'll end up with 12-13 biscuits.
- Bake in a 450°F oven for 13-15 minutes, until the biscuits are slightly golden brown on the tops and bottoms.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for about 5 minutes, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use cold butter and cold milk for this 3 ingredient biscuit recipe! Cold butter and milk are what give biscuits their signature flaky texture.
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Bev says
Delicious!! So flaky and tender, with a great flavor. Thank you for posting this. I wanted to get away from using Bisquick for my drop biscuits. This worked great!!
Katie Youngs says
I'm so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review 🙂
Eliza says
I made this an was very surprised of how good they turned out. I'm definitely no baker but this was very easy to put together. family enjoyed these biscuits very much
Katie says
I love how easy they are to make, too! I'm so happy you enjoyed them.
Katie says