Southern Biscuit Recipe (3 Ingredients Only)
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:
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- 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 grandmother made large, fat biscuits for breakfast. In the afternoon we would stick a finger in the side of a left over biscuit and push around to make a cavity. Then we would fill the cavity with molasses syrup and take it outside for a wonderful treat! I so miss my grandmother and her biscuits!!
. My mom was the oldest of 7 children and I was the 1st grandchild. Every Sunday my grandma would make biscuits and my grandpa would fry chicken and make gravy for the whole family on an old fashioned wood cook stove. That was one of my favorite childhood memories. Grandma never had a recipe, she just dumped everything in a bowl. Her biscuits were the best!
My grandmother always made biscuits with every meal. She taught my mom and mom taught me. It wouldn’t be a meal without the biscuits. Thanks for the biscuit recipe and I will enjoy trying a new recipe.
My Grandma was a fabulous cook and baker!! Her biscuit would melt in your mouth. I always looked forward to her letting me do the taste test!!Lots of fresh butter and homemade strawberry preserves. sooooooooooo delish!!
My grandmother got up early each morning to prepare biscuits for her family in a long oval tray type bowl called a bread board. It had been carved by a local man out of a tree. She kept a folded flour sack, which was similar to what we call a “dish towel”, in this bread board. She would take out her ingredients and not bother to measure anything knowing exactly how much of each one to use. She would sift her dry ingredients into the board, adding fresh cow milk last and make her dough placing the ball of dough on the flour sack that had been sprinkled with flour. She would knead out the dough and cut into biscuits with a drinking glass and place on an old heavy aluminum griddle type pan and bake them in her wood stove. When I would get to stay with her–it was my job to have the wood stove loaded with wood and she would light the fire and I was to watch the little thermostat in the oven door until it got to 375 degrees. Then we would open the door where you put more wood in to add wood to raise the temperature or to let heat out to lower the temperature. Sometimes a little ash would be on the tops of the biscuits. To this day I can still remember how good they tasted as I stood in that little kitchen eating them with homemade butter and cane syrup from a neighbor’s cane mill. Life was good!
Sadly, I am not from the South, however, I do love me some Southern cooking, Southern blues, classic country music and the history and people of the deep South. I may not be from the Southern states, but I do make some killer biscuits. However, I have never used White Lily flour before. I don’t think we even have that out here in California. My mama has just passed away from breast cancer at 63 last Monday and she did love some good food, any kind of food. But, she especially liked the way I made my golden, flaky biscuits (that seemed to turn out different every time.) I haven’t cooked a good meal for me and my dad since she has passed, which I really need to. I like to turn up my old record player to play some good, old music and cook for hours. That would always bring me my greatest peace. Good music and the aroma of good cooking and baking. Thank you Christy for all of the recipes that you have shared with us.
Could someone tell me why my biscuits always fall apart when they are bitten into? The first time I ever made a biscuit I forgot to add salt or baking powder to them, and they resembled a silver dollar.. flat and hard. I still can’t seem to make them even following a recipe.