How to Make Perfect, Buttery Drop Biscuits

What if I told you that making homemade biscuits could be as easy as mixing a handful of ingredients together and scooping them individually onto a baking sheet? Well, I'd be telling you the truth, because that is essentially how to make drop biscuits. Unlike their cut biscuit counterparts, drop biscuits have a much stickier dough and they involve no rolling, booking, or folding of the dough. Simply mix everything together and drop 'em like they're hot (they should actually be cold, but you know what I mean) and give 'em a quick bake. Here's how it's done.

Mix Your Dry Ingredients

Like any homemade biscuit, you'll start by mixing together your dry ingredients, which typically includes all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Similar to cut biscuits, you can opt for a plain drop biscuit, or you can infuse some different flavor profiles and take them savory or sweet. If there are any herbs or spices that you want to add, this would be the point to mix those in, as well. For a savory biscuit, you could add fresh thyme and roasted garlic, or for a sweet biscuit, you could add ground cinnamon or cardamom.

Cut In the Butter

Just the same as rolled biscuits, you want your dairy to be as cold as possible. Cut your chilled butter into small cubes and then use a pastry cutter, a fork, or clean fingertips to work it into the dry ingredients. If you prefer, you could blitz the butter into the dry ingredients in the food processor, making sure not to over-process. Once the butter has reached pea-sized crumbles, you can stop working it in. If you're making savory biscuits and want to add some shredded cheese, go ahead and add it at this step.

Add the Milk

Cut biscuits are synonymous with buttermilk whereas drop biscuits are synonymous with plain whole milk. If you want to use buttermilk in your drop biscuits, you certainly can, but whole milk is the more classic option. Add the cold milk all at once and use a wooden spoon to work it into the dough, making sure not to over-mix.

Add (Optional) Mix-Ins

As far as mix-ins, you can always zhuzh up your biscuits with chopped fruit, nuts, chocolate, sun dried tomatoes, olives, bacon, etc. If you choose to add some sort of mix-in, it's best to add them right at the end of mixing your dough, when just a few streaks of flour remain.

This way, the dough will not be overworked by the time the mix-ins have been added. The dough is going to be sticky and lumpy — trust the process.

Scoop and Bake

Now, it's time to drop 'em. Grab a large cookie scoop or measuring cup and grease it with some cooking spray. Unlike cut biscuits which typically have a dry, shaggy dough, drop biscuit dough is super hydrated and wet. Scoop up about ¼ cup of dough (or however big or small you want your biscuits to be) and drop onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Brush them with a little bit of milk to help encourage some browning, then bake them in a hot oven (450 degrees Fahrenheit) until they've risen and are golden-brown. Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack for a few minutes before you tear into 'em and enjoy their buttery goodness. Serve your sweet biscuits with honey butter, jam, or a nice smear of apple butter, or dunk your savory biscuits into a hearty chili or soup.

Related:

• How to Make Perfect Homemade Biscuits
• 5 Simple Tips for Baking Taller, Flakier Biscuits