Southern Biscuit Recipe (3 Ingredients Only)
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Crafted with a mere trio of essential ingredients, this timeless Southern biscuit recipe stands as an enduring cornerstone of Southern culinary tradition. These biscuits, embodying a perfect fusion of simplicity and flavor, hold a cherished place in Southern households. Soft, fluffy, and undeniably delectable, they transcend the boundaries of mealtime, seamlessly transitioning from a morning indulgence to a savory accompaniment for dinner.
Each bite carries with it a taste of Southern heritage, a testament to the art of Southern comfort food. The simplicity of the ingredients belies the rich and comforting flavors that emerge from the oven. Tender and buttery, they exude a warmth that envelopes the senses. Slathered with butter or adorned with gravy, these biscuits become a canvas for a multitude of culinary delights, adapting effortlessly to various accompaniments. These flaky butter biscuits go perfect so many types of soups like Creamy Vegetable Soup, Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup Recipe, Vegan Butternut Squash Soup, and Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Ingredients To Make Homemade Biscuits
- (self-rising)
- Shortening
- Milk or buttermilk
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make This Classic Southern Biscuit Recipe
Place the flour into a medium bowl and add the shortening. Cut in with a fork or pastry cutter.
It will look like this when you are done.
Not incredibly different but you won’t be able to really see the shortening anymore once it is incorporated into the flour.
Most recipes will tell you to cut the shortening into the flour until it resembles peas. I’ve never, in my life, seen peas that look like this, or a flour/shortening mixture that looked like peas. It must have been a high imagination day when that analogy was thought up.
Add in your milk.
Stir that milk in until your dough starts to stick together good.
Sprinkle flour onto a surface. I like to lay out a piece of parchment paper and sprinkle it on top of that for easy clean-up later.
Dump your biscuit dough out onto the floured surface.
Now you need to knead it.
However, you don’t want to over-knead it or you’ll end up with my Daddy’s hockey pucks.
I tell my kids “In biscuits, as in relationships, it’s never good to be too kneady.” LOL
Then, I cut your Southern biscuits.
Cut your biscuits with a biscuit cutter or small glass that has been dipped into flour to keep the cut biscuits from sticking to it.
Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and place your cut biscuits in it, making sure the sides touch. This helps them to rise because they support each other as they bake and rise up.
I tell my kids “You want them touching because biscuits are like good friends, they help each other rise up.”
Bake these at 500 for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
Remove from oven and brush tops of these classic southern biscuits with melted butter, if you’d like. Enjoy all the delicious .
How To Store Homemade Biscuits
- Store leftover biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Reheat in a low oven or in the air fryer.
- You can also freeze the baked biscuits or unbaked for up to 3 months. Thaw both the and overnight in the fridge before reheating as above or following the instructions.
Recipe FAQs
Why does the recipe have such a large range for how much milk to use?
Sometimes, your flour will need a little more, sometimes a little less. I could have used a little more in this tutorial but it’ll turn out just fine. Biscuits are really hard to mess up, so if yours end up a little dry, no worries, they’ll still be delicious! They’ll actually absorb honey and butter a little better. My daddy used to make hockey puck biscuits on Sunday morning but they still tasted good and we gobbled ’em all down! What’s even better, if there were any left we could use them as weapons on each other out in the backyard. Always a plus side!
How do I avoid over-kneading my Southern biscuit dough?
To avoid over-kneading, I press my dough into a ball and then press it out flat. I do this no more than two or three times. The dough should still stretch. If it rips or tears then it’s probably over kneaded. So once the dough is soft and springs back a little, it’s done.
Can I Create Any Variations With This Recipe?
Here are some fun variations to make with this Southern biscuit recipe:
-
- For a savory alternative, add shredded cheddar cheese, chopped chives, or chopped bacon to your dough.
- For sweet, sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar into your dough.
- To make a scone-like biscuit, add dried fruits.
What Can I Serve With These Biscuits?
These pair best with your favorite Southern . This might be fried chicken, , pimento cheese dip, or bacon, egg, and cheese for the ultimate breakfast sandwich.
You may also enjoy these other Southern biscuit recipes:
- Easy Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Pimento Cheese Biscuits
- Easy Chicken and Dumplings (With Canned Biscuit)
- Biscuit Pretzels
- Drop Biscuits Recipe
- Homemade Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups White Lily self-rising flour see notes if using all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 2/3-3/4 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees and lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- Place flour into a medium bowl and cut in the shortening until well incorporated. Stir in just enough milk until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl.2 cups White Lily self-rising flour, 1/4 cup shortening, 2/3-3/4 cup milk
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead two or three times. Roll dough out to 1/2-inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or small glass that has been dipped in flour. Place the biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Who taught you how to make biscuits? Who made the biscuits in your family? Maybe you’ve never had a biscuit or to you, a “biscuit” is what we think of like a cookie – that’s just fine, too.
My mother’s family made biscuits different from anybody else I ever saw but they were so good I had to master it. Grandmama put the flour in the bowl and made a well in it, poured peanut oil and clabbered milk in the middle and folded flour in till it was the right consistency to pinch off the dough, roll in her hands and put on the baker. She dipped the spoon in the oil and brushed it across the tops before baking them. My other grandmother made the pretty ones like yours Christy.
Nobody ever taught me to make biscuits. That is why I want to win this contest so badly. Growing up I thought biscuits only came in cans! 🙁
When I got married back in 1974, I married a fellow from a small West Virginia town that had a big family and my requirement was to learn to make Biscuits and JimBob-(Homemade Gravy) to go with them…., just like Mom”s…….Now, she made the ones, that I see from others, that you just throw the self rising flour, salt and a little more baking powder in a bowl and then add some oil and buttermilk, maybe a little water for consistancy, scoop them up by hand and throw them in the Pan–(You weren’t supposed to handle them babies any longer than possible)…..It’s now 2014, and I still haven’t conquered that challenge completely, but I’m still trying……The thing is in 2006 we moved to Texas because of those precious grandbabies that come along and there is no White Lilly flour here….Makes me sad!!!!——-I can make them, but they seem to never taste JUST like” Mom”s” were……Some people just have the knack, I guess….I just love your posts that show the ingredients and pictures of your recipes…..You’ll never know how helpful that is….THANKS FOR CARING ABOUT US ALL…..
Although I grew up in Cincinnati my family roots are steeped in the south between Kentucky and Arkansas so biscuits were half the bread of life-cornbread being the other half. I don’t recall my grandma or my mother ever saying “Karen this is how you make biscuits.” so I guess I learned just by watching and asking questions. After marriage I just started practicing and now, not to brag, I can make a pretty mean biscuit. Now when I make a pan of biscuits I sit down with one and a cup of coffee and think of how blessed I am to have grown up in a family where home-cooking was part of a way of gracious living and expressing your love for your family and homemade biscuits just start your day off right.
My Mom taught me to make biscuits. She was the best cook. My husband’s Mom made biscuits too. My Mom’s were light and fluffy and his Mom’s were flat and crunchy. They were both so different but both so good. White Lily is a great product and is all I buy.
My mother made wonderful biscuits. We had biscuits for breakfast quite often. She would make biscuits one day and the next day she would pat out the left over dough and bake it. We would then break off pieces of it. Nothing was better than her biscuits with her homemade blackberry jelly. When I married, she gave me a White Lily cookbook which had been hers forever. I still have it and refer to it quite often. Living in Indiana in the 60’s, I would have to “import” White Lily flour. It is truly the best for baking.
White Lily is THE ONLY flour I use, whether it be self-rising or plain! These are the same ingredients and proportion I use, my method is like Mamaw taught me – just squish the dough up with your hands and pinch biscuits off! Sadly, Uncle Arthur loves me too, so often I resort to your method here. But, any way you mix ’em up, homemade biscuits are the best – or so my family tells me!