Drop Biscuits
At home. It's Saturday. And I'm REALLY craving biscuits, but I don't want to go and eat at another crowded, bustling brunch spot BY MYSELF #imsingleandallofmyfriendsarebusy. So, what to do? Teach myself how to make DROP BISCUITS!
As a proud Southerner without a Southern accent, I can honestly say that there aren't many things that can top the DELICIOUSNESS of fresh baked biscuits! Waking up on the weekends to the smell of flaky, buttery biscuits is a real treat, but let's be honest - how many of us are willing to pull out the lard and the rolling pin when life is crazy enough as it is?!? Those homemade biscuits from scratch might be delicious, but ain't nobody go time for that. Drop biscuits are perfect because you get the delicious taste of biscuits, without devoting hours of labor to get them.
And, the recipe ideas that you can come up with using drop biscuits are endless! They are a delicious, baked, (sometimes) sweet blank canvas, and you can get really creative with how you use them.
You can top them with jelly or preserves (my favorite Trader Joe's mango preserves shown in the top picture) or you can try my all-time-favorite - strawberry and blackberry shortcake with sweet drop biscuits and fresh whipped cream. INSANELY good. Or, if you want to take a savory approach, decrease the sugar in the recipe and use your drop biscuits to top off scrumptious mini chicken pot-pies. Dinner is served!
Check out my drop biscuits recipe, below. Try it out, and tell me how much you love them!
Drop Biscuits
2 cups of sifted, all purpose flour (I use King Arthur Flour)
4 teaspoons of baking powder
Sugar - 2 teaspoons for more savory biscuits - 3 tablespoons for sweet biscuits. If making sweet biscuits, have a tablesppon of exxtra sugar on the side, to sprinkle on top
1/4 teaspoon of salt aka what I call a HEALTHY dash
1 stick of melted butter + 1 extra tablespoon of melted butter - keep these seperate
1 cup of whole milk (you can use reduced fat milk if you prefer)
1) Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Prepare a greased baking sheet, or line a sheet with parchment paper (don't do both.)
2) Melt the stick of butter, either in the microwave or over the stove. Allow the melted butter to cool a bit before using it in this recipe (I pop my melted butter in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to take off some of the heat.) Also, allow the milk to sit out for 15 minutes or so before using it in this recipe. This will take some of the chill off. Melt the additional tablespoon of butter as well, and keep it on the side.
3) Mix together all of the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, salt and sugar.
4) Mix the milk and cooled, melted stick of butter into the dry ingredients.
5) Mix together with a spoon, and once thoroughly combined, , "drop" your biscuits, using a spoon, onto your greased/parchment paper lined baking sheet. Leave 1-2 inches in between each biscuit (I usually make two batches of 8 biscuits.)
6) Brush the tops of each biscuit with the extra tablespoon of melted butter, and if you are making sweet biscuits, sprinkle the top of each biscuit with a little bit of sugar. This will help the tops to turn a gorgeous golden brown, and when the sugar melts into that butter, YUM!
7) Put your biscuits in the oven and bake for approximately 12 minutes - when the edges of your biscuits are browned and the tops start to turn golden, they are ready! Add your favorite toppings, eat them with breakfast, add them on the side with soups, or eat them plain - they are delicious right out of the oven! But let them cool 5-10 minutes, so you don't burn off all of your tastebuds.