Jaw Dropping Drop Biscuits

Biscuits have always been a staple in our home. They are wonderful with sausage gravy, they work as a shortcake with fresh berries and whipped cream, they make a delicious breakfast sandwich, and they complement any soup! For sure, learning to make them will add to your weekly menu in so many ways! In particular, this recipe for drop biscuits is handy because it’s so easy to do! No rolling out, just spoon the batter onto the stone (or skillet or sheetpan), bake, and you have a happy family!

These biscuits fall apart and melt in the mouth. They are so simple it will shock you how good they are for the minimal amount of work they require. The keys to these Jaw Dropping Drop Biscuits is to not over mix the batter, and to keep the ingredients cold. I will include step by step pictures of the recipe so that you can feel confident in what yours should look like at home.

Step by Step Drop Biscuits

First, measure out your dry ingredients and sift them together in a bowl. I usually just mix them with my pastry cutter to minimize dirty dishes. Next, add your cold butter and shortening to the flour and cut it in with the pastry blender until the pieces of fat are the size of peas and almonds. If your pieces of butter and shortening are a little bit bigger or a little bit smaller, that’s okay.

At this point, make a well in the center of your mixture and add all the milk at once. Using a fork, stir until the flour is just moistened. Don’t overmix. When you think you haven’t stirred quite enough, just stop right there. They will be lovely biscuits.

First, create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Then pour in your milk, being careful not to over mix. You can see the dough will appear very shaggy, not smooth at all. This is what you want!

I use a large spoon to scoop out the biscuit dough onto the baking sheet, cast iron skillet, or baking stone. You will get about eight biscuits out of a recipe. Then, when you want larger biscuits, (when you want to use them for strawberry shortcakes) just use a bigger spoon. I remember the days when I had seven around my table every night, and eight biscuits would never have been enough. I always tripled the recipe to make sure there was plenty. Now, with just my husband, my youngest daughter, and me at the table, one recipe is all we need. It’s bittersweet. Dinner is much quieter, but easier to clean up!

About the Ingredients

About the ingredients, I learned to make biscuits using exclusively shortening but recently I switched to
using half shortening and half butter. This is a personal choice. In fact, each type of fat contributes its own good
thing. Shortening contributes more tenderness to biscuits and butter contributes more flavor. Half of
each seems a good compromise to me! Either way will yield delicious biscuits!

Troubleshooting your Drop Biscuits

• My biscuits are tough, not tender
  • You may have overmixed them. Next time, stop stirring before you think you should.
• My biscuits are flat.
  • Your ingredients may have been too warm when entering the oven. Keep everything as cold as possible and this will contribute to a better rise. Keep your shortening in the refrigerator, as well as the butter until ready to use so that your mixture stays nice and cold. If you get delayed or distracted and your mixture gets warm, just pop the whole bowl in the refrigerator and wait until it’s cold to continue.
• My biscuits are dark on the outside, but still doughy in the center.
  • Your oven may have been too hot, and the biscuits are browning before they can thoroughly bake through. Next time, bake at 425 degrees. (Checking your oven temperature with an oven thermometer is so helpful. Your oven may be heating to 475 degrees when it says it’s only 450.)