No Knead Drop Biscuits
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5 ingredients and 20 minutes are all you need to make the EASIEST No Knead Biscuits. Homemade Drop Biscuits are a quick and easy recipe that uses baking powder, milk, flour, salt, and melted butter to make a scoopable, fast biscuit that comes out of the oven fluffy, warm, and delicious.
I am not a morning person. My family will attest to this, and it often means that even though a yummy, freshly cooked brunch sounds amazing, I just can’t get my butt moving fast enough to do it before my kids get their hangry faces.
So I turn to quick and easy options more often than not. Sheet pan pancakes, whole wheat freezer waffles, and these no-knead drop biscuits are essentials in my breakfast tool kit. They’re quick and easy, but still made from scratch and 100% delicious. This style of biscuit is my go-to, they’re warm, fluffy, and tasty, but don’t need chopped butter or a biscuit cutter. Just a bowl, a scoop, and a hot oven.
Recipe Highlights
- They take just 5 ingredients are are done in 20 minutes.
- No knead biscuits require less tools, but are still soft, fluffy, and perfect with butter, jam, or gravy.
- There are endless variations! Add-ins and flavorings make them the perfect, versatile quick breakfast.
Drop Biscuit VS. Traditional
Traditional, buttermilk, drop biscuit, what’s the diff? Truly, just the mixing and shaping of them. All biscuits use very similar ingredients: flour, liquid (often milk), and fat (butter).
Drop biscuits use leavening agents like baking powder to create lift, rather than cold butter like a traditional biscuit. Which allows them to be simply scooped and ‘dropped’ onto a baking sheet, and are less fussy about shaping and folding of the dough.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This is a very classic, straightforward biscuit that uses basic pantry staples to make. I’ve shared variations and optional ingredients along with the 5 basic necessities below.
- All Purpose Flour
- Whole Milk – Buttermilk or non-dairy milk like oatmilk, soy milk, or almond milk work as well.
- Melted Butter – Unsalted butter. If using salted butter, skip the addition of salt.
- Baking Powder – These biscuits are sometimes called baking powder biscuits, because the addition of baking powder gives it the rise we’re skipping by not cutting in cold butter.
- Salt – Do not skip this unless you’re using salted butter.
Variations & Additions
We love changing these up with different ingredients. My ham and cheese drop biscuits are a quick and easy breakfast that can use up leftover holiday ham. Asiago biscuits are cheesy, and delicious when paired with hearty dinners like Dr. Pepper braised ribs. A touch of sugar and fruit makes sweet versions like this blueberry biscuit recipe.
- Meats: Use cooked meats like bacon, ham, or sausage to make these savory and hearty.
- Cheese: Experiment with melty cheeses like cheddar, swiss, or pepper jack, or try aged hard cheeses like Asiago, Parmesan, and Grana Padano for a more sophisticated flavor.
- Seasonings: 1-2 Tablespoons of sugar to sweeten, 1 teaspoon of black pepper for a bit of spice, or 1/2 a teaspoon each of garlic powder and herbs for a dinner biscuit.
- Fruit: Fresh or frozen fruits like blueberries, chopped strawberries, raspberries, or cherries are great. Try dried options like raisins, apricots, or dates too.
- Others: Go for sun-dried tomatoes, chopped green or black olives, sunflower seeds, nuts, or even chocolate chips to create endless fun flavors.
Step by Step Instructions
The ease of making these little beauties is that you literally just measure, mix, scoop and bake. I promise it is that simple. In 20 minutes you’ll have 8 gorgeous, tender biscuits ready to eat. Feel free to double or triple the recipe as needed.
Step 1: Preheat and Make the Dough
Preheat your oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper for easy clean up. Greasing is not necessary.
Melt your butter, and set it aside to cool with your measured milk. Measure flour into a bowl using a kitchen scale, or by carefully spooning flour into the measuring cup and leveling it. Stir in the baking powder and salt.
Pour in the milk and butter into the dry ingredients and GENTLY mix the dough. Make sure all the dry spots are mixed in, but don’t overwork the dough, or the biscuits can become dry and dense. The dough should be sticky and thick enough to scoop.
Step 2 – Drop Biscuits onto the Baking Sheet and Bake
Use a cookie scoop to drop consistently sized biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1/2″ between each. Brush with milk for added browning if desired.
Bake for 12 minutes, until bottoms have gently browned, then remove and let them cool. Serve them with dinner, lunch or breakfast. They’re great with strawberry watermelon jam, apricot jelly, pomegranate jelly, nut butter, apple butter, any type of gravy, or a pat of butter! Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
FAQ’s
You can substitute up to 1/2 of the flour for wheat flour, for a gluten free drop biscuit I recommend a 1 for 1 gluten free flour blend. I haven’t tested nut flours or other gluten free flours yet, please let me know if you do!
Yes, you can double or triple the recipe as needed. Or, for a small batch, cut the recipe in half for 4 biscuits.
Likely answer is you forgot baking powder, or used baking soda instead. Baking soda will not yield the same results, and no leavening agent will lead to a flatter biscuit.
There are two possible causes, most commonly that the dough was overmixed. Once you add the butter and milk to the flour, just mix until the flour is incorporated. Continue to mix past this point will develop unneeded gluten in the dough and create a tough biscuit.
OR
You’re oven temperature could be low. I have an OLD oven and my oven thermometer often registers higher than I have it set and I adjust accordingly. An oven thermometer is an easy investment that helps accurate baking. You need a high temp and quick bake for the proper biscuit texture.
Improperly measured flour or too little milk/butter. I recommend a kitchen scale for baking because volume measuring cups are often inconsistent. Fluff the flour with a fork and spoon it into your measuring cup for the most accurate scoop.
I sincerely hope you enjoy these VERY easy no-knead biscuits. They’re a busy foodie mom’s answer to hot, warm breakfast that you can get in the oven while your coffee is still hot. Check out my other yeast-free breads and baking recipes, and enjoy!
- Honey Butter Cornbread
- Cornbread Muffins with Corn
- Types of Quick Breads
- Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Blackberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake
Love this recipe? Please consider leaving a 5 star rating in the recipe card below, or a comment to share your experience with fellow home cooks. I hope you enjoy and as always, Happy Eating!
No-Knead Drop Biscuits
Ingredients
- 9 ounces All purpose flour 2 cups
- 6 ounces whole milk 3/4 cup
- 3 ounces unsalted butter 1/3 cip
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.*
- Melt butter and set aside to cool slightly. Measure out milk.
- Measure flour into a mixing bowl. Add in salt and baking powder and stir to combine.
- Pour in milk and melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix gently, until dough comes together with no dry spots.
- Drop large scoops of dough onto baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly golden on bottom and beginning to be golden on top.
- Remove from pan to cooling sheet and serve immediately or store in an airtight container (once cooled) for up to 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
If you made this, please tag me on Instagram or Facebook and share the foodie love with fellow home cooks. Thanks for visiting!
Nutrition information and cooking times are provided as a best estimate. Values may vary based upon ingredients and equipment.
I used to make these years ago and lost my mom’s recipe. I was excited when I found yours. I made them and put our Creamed chicken over them, and man, it was the biggest hit! Your biscuit recipe is a keeper!
That makes me so happy Heidy, I love when a recipe it a huge success. I love the idea of using creamed chicken over them as a main dish, genius!
Thanks for the recipe friend! I made them for Jeff for biscuts and gravy tonight. Yummy! Just butter and jam on mine.. ? delish!
Glad you both liked them! They’re super quick and easy right?!
This was an excellent recipe for biscuits that our entire family enjoyed. I will definitely be making this again soon. Happy Holidays!
Heidy
Thanks Heidy, I’m glad you liked it!!
These biscuits turned out perfect. Soft and super delicious. Easy to make and practically effortless. My family loved them, we ate a whole plate in a blink. I will definitely bake these biscuits again. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
You’re so welcome, I love to hear that! Thanks for sharing how they went 🙂
These easy and delicious biscuits were perfect with our lobster bisque tonight. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
Oooh, that sounds like a winning combo for sure. Thanks for trying them out!
Oh I love these drop biscuits! Perfect for letting little hands help since I don’t have to be cut or molded in anyway. Thank you so much for all your help!
They are good for little helpers aren’t they! Glad you enjoyed them 🙂
This is a great recipe for a quick drop biscuit , and I love that it is from scratch . This were super easy to throw together and bake up nice and fluffy. This was the perfect addition to our Saturday morning breakfast.
Quick, easy, and fluffy are all exactly what I was going for! Glad they worked out for you 🙂
I needed a quick recipe and these were just what I needed! We loved them with honey. Thanks a bunch!
You’re so welcome! Glad they worked out well for you!
These biscuits were delicious! Everyone loved them and I’m excited to make them again. Love how easy they were!
Glad everyone enjoyed them, thanks for letting me know it went well!!
How do I make drop biscuits with hop water? I can’t find the recipe.
Hi Carolyn, I can’t really speak to a hot water drop biscuit recipe, as I typically make mine with milk that’s room temperature at best. I’ve heard of a type of biscuit that can be made with boiling water, but that’s significantly different than the one here. If you’re just trying to avoid milk, water can be used in this recipe, though the overall tenderness and richness of the biscuit would suffer a little. Using hot water would activate the baking powder and start the rise, so that may make up for some of the tenderness issue, but you’d have to get those biscuits scooped and in the oven fast!
I’m not sure if that really helps, but good luck, and I hope you find a biscuit recipe you like in the end.
It is always fun reading the comments! It’s women-building-community 🙂 and I always learn something.
I have been perusing Drop Scone recipes today as, although I have one after much trial-and-error that is decent, I’m bored with it. So, also, with most blog writers as they really say nothing but are just trying for word count.
It was so refreshing to come across your article! I didn’t even skim it but actually enjoyed slowing down and reading every word. Bravo!! Writing is deceptively hard work, isn’t it! You made it look easy. 🙂 You kinda made my day!
I’m going to try this recipe next–especially as one comment tells of how buttery the scones are. I like that almost pastry-like quality that a really lovely scone has. Plus, I am also baking for The World’s Pickiest Eater.
Although I can’t weigh my flour today, you did remind me of something: it is terrifically important to sift your flour BEFORE measuring it! Recipes no longer seem to mention this and I had myself forgotten it. But obviously flour sitting in a container compacts it. If desperate for time or lacking a flour sifter, fluff it up with a fork!
Another thing you reminded me of, regarding measurements, is that the US cup measure is quite different from the “British cup”. THIS really throws off your recipes!
I often melt the butter, too, but yours is the first recipe to mention doing so. I think this is considered rather sacrilegious in the scone universe, *grin*, but I don’t find it effects the flake when cooled enough.
I can hardly wait to see how these turn out! Thanks so much for writing this.
Hi Kylie-Anne, thank you so much for taking the time to write out such a nice review! I’m so happy to hear my post was a bright spot in your day – your review was in mine! I’m a writer first, blogger and recipe developer as a happy consequence, so a compliment to my writing is about as good as it gets in my day. Thank you so much! I do try to be helpful first and foremost, but not stuffy about it! I really hope these satisfy, I’ll tell you a secret, I think a large reason I love them is that they do have a denser, scone-like texture, which is one of my favorite kinds of baked goods. Thanks for sharing the tips on fluffing your flour and the British cup, I’m sure my other readers will find that helpful, comments can be so great for that. I hope I get to hear how they turned out, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!
Loved that you gave weighted measurements – why isn’t that done more since it’s SO much more precise and WAY easier?? These came out perfectly as expected (and as you described). I put butter on the table to slather on the hot biscuits, but the 1:3 butter to flour ratio proved to produce very buttery biscuits without need for additional butter. I thought they might be a bit dry as I put them in the oven, but they came out fine. I should have probably tidied up my spoonfuls ever so slightly because they look just like what I put in the oven (they don’t blow up much, in other words).
Will bookmark these, for sure.
Thanks! 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed these! They are a nice buttery biscuit, I usually add a bit of jam or honey myself! I prefer to bake by weight as well…but I think you and I are still a part of the minority opinion on that. All the same I’ll keep trying to convert home bakers! Thanks so much for coming back and reviewing, I love hearing how the recipe went :).