It’s probably not reasonable for me to equate my general ability to excel at life with the ability to make a fluffy, fresh batch of biscuits faster than you can say “pass the butter!” but now that I have this recipe for easy Drop Biscuits in my arsenal, I’m beginning to wonder if there really is anything I can’t do. Drop biscuits give you that kind of swagger.
A good biscuit is like a good pie crust in exactly one important way: it feels pretty fabulous to be able to make a good one.
You take a bite, the flaky layers melt in your mouth, and you think I DID THAT.
Sing my praises, pass me another. Please, thank you, bye.
Sure, there are other similarities between the two. You must keep the butter cold; some ingredients overlap.
What I want to talk about now is where the similarities end.
You see, unlike pie dough, making an amazing batch of homemade drop biscuits doesn’t require grandma-level expertise, additional hours of refrigeration, counter-flouring, rolling, trimming, shaping, or (if your pie dough goes anything like mine does at times) four-letter words.
Unless the word you are referring to is MMMM, in which case that terminology certainly applies to these easy drop biscuits!
Biscuits are a no-frills, homey item that despite (or perhaps because of) their modesty will forever and always delight me when they appear on my plate.
Thanks to this easy drop biscuits recipe, you can bring that same sense of surprise and delight to any meal.
They’re ready in about 30 minutes and require zero refrigerating or shaping.
You can add yummy additions like cheese and herbs if you are feeling fancy or enjoy them in their perfect simplicity.
What Is a Drop Biscuit (and How Is It Different Than Other Biscuits)?
- Drop Biscuits. The biscuit dough is scooped from the mixing bowl and “dropped” right onto the baking sheet, then baked. The biscuits are mound-shaped, lightly crispy on the outside, and buttery and soft on the inside.
- Rolled Biscuits. The biscuit dough is turned out onto a floured surface, then patted or rolled into a large, rough rectangle. From here, the biscuits are either stamped out with a biscuit cutter or cut into squares with a knife, transferred to a baking sheet, and then baked. The biscuits are more uniform and the layers more pronounced.
Tip!
- While both drop biscuits and rolled biscuits are melt-in-your-mouth delicious, drop biscuits are WAY EASIER and faster too.
- At home, drop biscuits are my go-to, and I know you’ll love being able to whip up a batch too.
I’m also pleased to report that this is a recipe for healthy drop biscuits (as far as the spectrum of biscuits goes, anyway). They’re still plenty tender and indulgent, and I bet that if you keep this tidbit of wholesome information to yourself, no one will be the wiser.
Plus, once you realize how quickly these easy no yeast drop biscuits come together, you’re likely to find yourself making them much more frequently. Whenever something appears on my table more often, I appreciate the healthy touches (and the virtuous justification of extra servings).
5 Star Review
“These were the quickest and easiest biscuits to make. Highly recommend! They were incredibly delicious.”
— Rachel —
How to Make Easy Drop Biscuits from Scratch
No more making drop biscuits with Bisquick! These easy, fluffy, and addictive homemade drop biscuits are the best from scratch recipe.
The Ingredients
- Butter. Keep it COLD for the most tender, flaky biscuit (see “Tips to Make the Best Drop Biscuits” below for more information).
- Whole Grain Flour. One of my favorite ways to make my favorite baked treats a little bit better for us is to replace part of the all-purpose flour with a whole-grain flour. For this whole wheat biscuit recipe, I used whole wheat pastry flour, which is especially light and tender. Make sure you measure your flour correctly to avoid crumbly drop biscuits.
- Baking Powder. Helps the biscuits rise to fluffy perfection.
- Greek Yogurt. I replaced half of the butter you’d find in traditional drop biscuit recipes with Greek yogurt to lighten them up. Not only did this trick work, it triumphed! You could have served these to me and told me they were your grandma’s drop biscuits (or ones made by The Pioneer Woman herself), and I would have believed you.
- Milk. Thanks to the yogurt, you can use either regular milk or buttermilk. I recommend whole milk for the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth biscuit possible, though any milk you prefer or have on hand will do.
- Honey. A delicious and natural way to sweeten the biscuits and give them old-fashioned flavor.
The Directions
- Dice the butter, and place it in the freezer to keep it as cold as possible.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Cut in the butter until the mixture becomes crumbly (see tips below for more on this step).
- Whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until dough forms.
- Scoop, then drop the batter onto the baking sheet (you’ll have about 9 large or 12 smaller biscuits). Bake for 10 to 13 minutes at 450 degrees F, until golden. ENJOY!
Recipe Variations
- Herb Drop Biscuits. Add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, or chives.
- Cheese Drop Biscuits. Fold in ½ cup of shredded cheese gently at the end. Cheddar or Parmesan are my favorites, especially combined with herbs.
Tips to Make the Best Drop Biscuits
- Work with Cold Ingredients. This especially applies to the butter. Cold butter will steam when it hits the hot oven, and that steam is what creates a biscuit’s signature fabulously flaky texture.
- Don’t Stress about the Size of Your Butter Pieces. Cutting in butter used to stress me out. Then I attended a baking workshop and learned this life-changing tip: keep the butter pieces large-ish. Some pieces can be the size of small peas or your pinky fingernail. Bigger pieces = more steam to escape. Others may resemble tiny pebbles.
A Note on Self-Rising Flour
Self-rising flour is all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt already added to it.
While many drop biscuit recipes use self-rising flour, I don’t routinely stock it, so I chose to make this biscuit recipe from scratch with all-purpose flour instead, with the hope that it would be more accessible.
If you’d like to play around with making these drop biscuits with self-rising flour, you could try swapping it for 100% of the flour called for in this recipe (both the whole wheat and the all-purpose), omitting the salt, then reducing the baking powder to 1 ½ teaspoons (do not make easy drop biscuits with no baking powder, or they won’t fully rise).
Since the only ingredient you are really saving by using self-rising flour is the extra bit of salt (and since I haven’t actually tested this method), personally I’d recommend following the recipe as it is written.
Storage Tips
- To Store. Store biscuits in an airtight storage container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- To Freeze. Individually wrap biscuits and store them in an airtight freezer-safe storage container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Remove and thaw as desired.
Serve Your Drop Biscuits With
Breakfast & Brunch
Oven Baked Bacon
Breakfast & Brunch
Vegetarian Breakfast Casserole
Breakfast & Brunch
3 Ingredient Strawberry Chia Jam
Recommended Tools to Make Drop Biscuits
- Rimmed Baking Sheets. A well-loved tool in my kitchen.
- Mixing Bowls. These are stackable, which makes for easy storage.
- Small Whisk. This will help you from splashing ingredients all over the counter.
Stackable Mixing Bowls
Microwave-safe, dishwasher-safe, and easy to store. These are a must-have in every kitchen!
Related Recipes
More cozy, crowd-pleasing baked goods for breakfast or anytime of day.
Drop Biscuits
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter cold
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or swap white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour*
- 1 tablespoon baking powder I recommend aluminum free
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt I used nonfat
- 1 teaspoon honey
OPTIONAL TOPPINGS/MIX-INS:
- Grated parmesan and finely chopped fresh chives try adding a pinch of garlic powder to the dry ingredients with this one!
- Shredded sharp cheddar and ground black pepper
- Shredded gruyere and finely chopped fresh rosemary or thyme
Instructions
- Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Dice the butter into small pieces and place it in the freezer while you prepare the other ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt. (If adding any herbs, garlic powder, or black pepper, do it here.)
- Scatter the cold butter pieces over the top. With a pastry blender (or my favorite, your fingers), cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Some pieces may be the size of small pebbles and others as large as peas.
- In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, Greek yogurt, and honey until smoothly combined. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients a little at a time, stirring lightly between additions. (If adding cheese, add it slowly as you add the milk.) Stop stirring as soon as the dough holds together. It will be very moist and seem wet.
- Drop the batter by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. I like to use a muffin scoop for this—you’ll have 9 large or 12(ish) more moderately sized biscuits total. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, until the tops are golden and spring back lightly when touched. Enjoy warm.
Notes
- For mix-ins, use about 1 tablespoon fresh herbs and ½ cup shredded cheese.
- *Whole wheat pastry flour will yield the most tender biscuit. My second choice would be white whole wheat flour, which is a tiny bit less tender but has a mild flavor. Regular whole wheat flour works too, but the wheat taste will be more noticeable.
Nutrition
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Excellent.
I used coconut milk, and King Arthur gluten free flour
Perfection
Will use this recipe only from now on 👍👍💕
I’m so happy that the recipe was a hit, Panda! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
Dropped these on leftover chicken pot pie mixture and baked up great! I seasoned the biscuits with sage, rosemary and thyme—amazing!
So glad to hear it Tricia! Thank you so much for taking time to let me know!
Healthier and still tasty. I did make a few adjustments. I only had regular whole wheat flour so I used that but added about 1 teaspoon extra baking powder. I also didn’t have whole milk so I used whole milk greek yogurt thinned out with 2% milk as a substitute. I decided to fold/flatten the dough by hand and cut into squares. Came out golden on the top and pretty fluffy in the middle. Yummy and pretty simple!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed the recipe, Kathy! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
What is the purpose of the yogurt? Seems you put yogurt in a lot of recipes that normally wouldn’t include it.
Hi Barb! I replaced half of the butter you’d find in traditional drop biscuit recipes with Greek yogurt to lighten them up. The yogurt also mimics the tang you’d get from buttermilk. I hope you enjoy the recipe if you try it!
I notice that in your book and in the site, you often use volume measurements for flour rather than weight. In the every baking class that I’ve taken (which are many), I’ve always been taught not to rely on volume measuring flour because it can vary widely depending on who is doing the measuring and how they do it. (You probably know the standard line, “A cup of lead and a cup of feathers are the same volume but their weight is dramatically different.”)
I don’t tend to worry so much when cooking. (If I’m making a stew and dice more carrots than a recipe calls for, it does no harm just tossing the extra into the pot.) I tend to see cooking as an art. Baking, on the other hand, is part art / part science. Too much or too little flour can ruin a recipe and make consistent results all but impossible.
I’m wondering if you would consider offering weight measurements in addition to volume. I can, of course, make the conversions (King Arthur Flour says 1 cup = 120 grams, other sites say 125-130) but I don’t really know if that’s the way you’re measuring. Alternatively, if you could just give me a sense of how much your measured cup of flour weighs, I can take it from there and make the conversions for the rest of your recipes.
I’ll be making these biscuits tonight to accompany a fish stew. I’m sure that for this particular recipe a few grams more or less of flour won’t make an appreciable difference. Thanks for your many healthy contributions to our household’s culinary adventures!
Hi Mark, I hear you! I don’t do weights in my recipes at the moment because the majority of my readers do use cups and providing both isn’t something I’ve had the bandwidth to take on, but I completely understand where you are coming from. A cup of AP flour for me weighs 120 g – I use what is listed on the back of my flour bag. I’ll note your feedback for future consideration too. Thanks for weighing in (pun not originally intended but I can’t help myself but leave it now ;) ). Have a great day!
I LOVVVVVVE BISCUITS!!! I can’t wait to try these!! And thank you for explaining the ingredient swaps more in detail – I have not had any luck finding white whole wheat flour in stores yet, or on Amazon – I think I will try a 50/50 mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Thanks for the tips, Erin!
I hope you love the recipe, Deborah!
Not going to lie: I was dubious about these as they went into the oven. The temp seemed too high, the batter was weirdly chunky. And then they came out AND I ATE THREE. Absolutely delicious. I just added some thyme and oregano to the dry ingredients to complement the chicken pot pie base I had made, and they were perfect. Will definitely be adding these into the regular rotation when I need a starchy side!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them, Kelly! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
Just made these biscuits tonight for the first time on a whim. Didn’t have whole wheat flour so used Robin Hood Nutri blend (Omega & Fibre). It worked perfectly so crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Definitely a keeper.
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them, Erica! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
I made vegetable pot pie soup tonight to have over the next few days and I was just going to eat it with crackers. On a whim decided I wanted something better but still relatively easy. I googled “healthier drop biscuits” and found your recipe pretty quickly and it sounded better than the other one I looked at. I only have skim milk so I used that and the nonfat plain greek yogurt and all AP flour but the mixture turned out very thin and not dough like at all, which isn’t necessarily the recipe’s fault. I added some Trader Joe’s protein pancake mix to help with that issue and just dropped them on a baking sheet with my fork. At first I was worried about the texture and although not super buttery, they baked up wonderfully! I used fresh thyme and dried chives and the biscuits were delicious! Thanks for posting this recipe!
So happy to hear it, thank you!
If using buttermilk, shouldn’t you use baking soda along with baking powder?
Hi! I found that using baking powder was perfect for this recipe. I hope you enjoy it if you try it!
Very simple and absolutely delicious! I used buttermilk and added garlic and sharp cheddar cheese. It’s a hit with the whole family.
YAY, so glad to hear it Sheila! Thanks for taking time to share this kind review.
Is there a suggested substitution for the honey? Or can it be eliminated altogether? Thanks!
Hi Lori! You can omit it if you prefer. I hope you enjoy the recipe!