These are really quick to put together and get on the table in time for dinner. If you have something bubbling on the stove, these will be finished by the time dinner is ready. They take 5 minutes or less to assemble and around 10 minutes to cook.
I started with this recipe, then messed with it just a little. I didn’t see the reason for the cream of tartar, so I left it out. I also thought buttermilk would be better – but I didn’t have any in the house. You can sour your own buttermilk easily by adding a bit of vinegar to milk, like I wrote below – or you can use regular buttermilk. Both work, so I didn’t bother to go out and buy buttermilk. It’s not a good reason to drive 20 minutes back to town.
We had them twice last week, one batch I made plain, to eat with my father-in-law’s turkey stoup (no, that’s not a typo – he makes a great not-quite-a-soup, not-quite-a-stew turkey stoup), and the second batch, in the picture above, I made with cheese and italian seasoning to go with spaghetti and my father-in-law’s famous meatballs (he is a handy guy to have living next door).
The recipe also doubles easily, which I’ve done just to make enough to put in the freezer for an even quicker addition to another meal. A quick defrost and a moment in the oven or microwave to heat them up and they are good to go.
Quick and Easy (Almost) Buttermilk Biscuits
Makes 12 biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 2 tsp white sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup melted butter (plus a little extra to brush on top of finished biscuits)
- 1 cup milk + 1 tbsp vinegar
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Add the vinegar to the milk and set aside to sour while you assemble the rest of the ingredients – it happens faster if the milk is room temperature, so warm milk in the microwave for ~ 30 seconds to speed things up. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Stir in butter and soured milk just until moistened. Drop batter on a lightly greased cookie sheet by the tablespoon. Smooth the top down a little if you want them to look a little more like cut biscuits. I like the rustic look, myself (mostly because it’s one less step).
Bake in preheated oven until golden on the edges, about 8 to 12 minutes (depending on how big you made the biscuits). Brush tops with melted butter. Serve warm.
Some easy modifications/add-ins:
- 1 cup of cheese – whatever kind you like
- 1 tbsp italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp or so of chopped fresh herbs
- 1/4 cup bacon or chopped ham (or more, experiment a little), plus the cheese
- add some garlic powder to the melted butter to brush on top of the biscuits
Linked to Frugally Sustainable, Foy Update, Mind Body and Sole, GNOWFGLINS
lightlycrunchy 
Freshly baked goodies just adds so much homeliness to a meal don’t you think? Looks lovely… Will be adding these to my to-make-list this week.
It does – and almost makes me look like I know what I’m doing in the kitchen. Really, its all smoke and mirrors. 🙂
😉
Sound so good – I love this kind of thing. Happy trick or treating tonight–I have already eaten my candy, so have to go out and buy some more–and go to the dentist!
That why I bought only enough to make 8 bags of goodies, closed them up and then stopped only this morning to buy some extras. Though I will probably eat those myself tonight. It seemed like a strategy.
I even bought stuff I did not think I would eat–but my resources were down yesterday–so I got into it
I have been making these for years, The buttermilk made with vinegar is also a good replacement for the real thing. There really is a lot of things you can add hot peppers being one with the cheese, you can also roll them out and use a cutter or glass to make them look better. Thanks for sharing this.
You’re right – jalapenos would be good in them, I hadn’t thought of that. I chopped some of mine this year and have them in the freezer, so I’ll have to try cheese and jalapeno next time we have chili. Thanks, good idea.
I wonder, have you tried making these with whole wheat flour to up the “health” factor?
Not yet, but I might give it a go next time. The texture and flavour would be slightly different, probably, but with some spices or herbs or other add-ins, it wouldn’t be as noticeable.
Hey Heidi, These biscuits look SO good (hmm maybe tomorrow night: ) but if you try it half ‘n half with the flour, it’s not too big a difference. Oh, and plain yogourt also works really well to give a thick and creamy “sour” milk. Yum, I can hardly wait!
I’ll have to give those a try in the biscuits too, some time. Thanks for the ideas.
Those look good. I may have to try these with the bacon and cheese – yummy! I am curious about the recipe for your father-in-law’s turkey stoup as I have some leftover Practice Thanksgiving turkey tucked in the freezer to use at a later date. Any chance you could share that?
There is no recipe – he just makes stock with the bones, then adds in all of the leftovers – gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes and turnip, and adds some more vegetables like beans, carrots, onion, celery, etc. It always turns out great. Sometimes he adds in some rice or barley, too.
Wow, really? Alas, we have eaten all the stuffing and mashed potatoes but I will have to remember this for next year (or I guess, the actual Thanksgiving.) Thanks!
And turkey – did I forget to say that he adds back in some leftover turkey? He makes huge pots of this and we all get empty icecream containers full to put in the freezer for later.
Oh, I assumed there was extra turkey – but then you know what happens when you assume? 😉
🙂 Yep, though usually it’s just me..
Heidi, this is a great recipe. I had no idea you could add vinegar to milk to make your own buttermilk. Hubby is a big biscuit fan, so I love having this recipe for him. They’re gonna be so good with a lot of things. LOVE the idea of adding the bacon 🙂 Thanks for this!
I already like your father-in-law 🙂
Happy Halloween!
I like him too. 🙂 I think they would be good breakfast or lunch box treats with bacon and cheese.
ok, i just tried making these and i am the worst baker… more in 10-12 mins… lol.
surprisingly good! i actually subbed 1 cup of wht flr and 1 cup soy flr. and they’re still pretty amazing! thanks for the recipe. xo, sm
You’re welcome. Glad they worked – I was going to try them with w.w. flour too.
they’re really not bad…
I just looked up substituting whole wheat for all-purpose, and they recommend using 3/4 cup for every 1 cup the recipe calls for, or increasing the liquid by 1/4 cup.
I had to buy buttermilk for something else the other day… I think the rest of the carton could be put to good use making these!
Hope you like them. My husband says they are the best he’s had – nicer and moister than Bisquick biscuits.
These look delicious! I posted about biscuits today, too…great minds….
[…] wrote about Pumpkin Granola, Pumpkin Pie Muffins, Apple Pie Spice, (Almost) Buttermilk Drop Biscuits, and some Halloween Chocolate Spiders to make for a sweet Halloween […]
Biscuits for me are usually covered or filled with chocolate and dunked in tea, but that’s cause I’m English. I’ve been meaning to try American biscuits for a while. This recipe looks straightforward and yummy!
I’m in Canada, and we call these biscuits, but also the cookies that come in tins – we call them biscuits. And, of course, digestive biscuits. The best of both worlds.
MMMM,…Your drop biscuits look so appetizing but being a Belgian, with what do you eat them? With butter & jam? With cheese? thanks!
Oh girl, I’m so going to veganize these! I have a bread that is ready start to finish in an hour, but thats not nearly as quick as this one!
I’ll be interested to see what you do with them. I have a bread like that too, and it is actually accidentally vegan, but it’s still not this quick. What would you do instead of the milk and butter?
For butter milk I do 1 C. soymilk + 2 T. lemon (it curdles almost immediately) for butter I can use a product called earth balance, it’s just a vegan margarine spread made with healthier oils and no trans fats. I might also try it with whole wheat pastry flour 😉
YUM!
Those look fantastic!!
Bonnie
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Wow, I’ve never seen a biscuit recipe that sounds so easy and straightforward. These look so good, too! : )
These look so easy that even I could make them..and thanks for the tip about vinegar in the milk to equal buttermilk….Diane
just made these. Had some buttermilk so substituted for the milk+vinegar. They turned out perfectly. I made them a tad bit smaller and came out with 24. Light fluffy and really really good.