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Aunt Bee’s 3 ingredient biscuit recipe yields flaky, buttery, and easy homemade buttermilk biscuits! They’re golden brown and slightly crisp on the outside, with light, airy layers on the inside. Ready in about 10 minutes, this versatile recipe is one that you’ll turn to time and time again.
Table of Contents
- How to Make this 3-Ingredient Biscuit Recipe | 1-Minute Video
- Why You’ll Love this Quick and Easy Biscuit Recipe
- Ingredients for Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits with Self Rising Flour
- The Amount of Buttermilk Necessary Will Vary
- How to Make 3 Ingredient Biscuits
- Serving Suggestions
- Preparation and Storage Tips
- How to Make this 3 Ingredient Biscuit Recipe without Buttermilk
- How to Make this 3 Ingredient Biscuit Recipe with All-Purpose Flour
- Recipe Variations
- Tips for the Best 3 Ingredient Biscuit Recipe
- Aunt Bee’s 3-Ingredient Biscuit Recipe Recipe
If you love biscuits as much as we do, be sure to try these farmhouse-favorite flaky biscuits, a batch of these 3-ingredient buttermilk biscuits, and these classic Southern buttermilk biscuits, too!
How to Make this 3-Ingredient Biscuit Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Why You’ll Love this Quick and Easy Biscuit Recipe
My great Aunt Bee never steers me wrong — especially in the kitchen — and these easy homemade buttermilk biscuits are no exception! Aunt Bee has hosted many Southern ladies for lunches and brunches over the years, so when she says that an easy 3 ingredient biscuit recipe is flaky and delicious, I don’t question it.
These particular buttermilk biscuits are especially quick and easy, thanks to 3 simple ingredients: self-rising flour, buttermilk and butter. With a few simple tricks, you’ll achieve the perfect biscuit combination: crispy and golden brown on the outside, but tender and light on the inside. Aunt Bee’s biscuits are puffy and tall, not dense or flat, and exhibit that hard-to-achieve cross between a tender crumb andflaky layers.
How to Make Biscuits Rise High
If your ideal biscuits include tall, buttery, flaky layers, then you’ve come to the right place. After years and years of practice, I’ve learned a handful of simple ways to achieve those elusive mile-high treats:
- Very cold ingredients are essential.Biscuits get their light, fluffy texture when cold butter expands in a very hot oven, creating pockets of steam. That’s why this recipe calls for chilling the cut biscuits for about 10 minutes before baking.
- The oven must be very hot— in this case, 425°F. When the cold biscuit dough interacts with the high heat of the oven,the water in the butter and buttermilk heats rapidly and releases steam, pushing the dough upward.If an oven is set at a lower temperature (such as 350°F or 400°F), the fat inside the dough heats too slowly and melts before the biscuits can fully rise.
- Folding the dough on itself multiple timesbuilds visible layers.
- Do not twista round biscuit cutter — just punch straight down and pull it straight back out. Twisting the biscuit cutter seals off the edges of the biscuits and they therefore will not rise as high.
- Arrange the Biscuits with Sides Touching.Place the biscuits on a baking sheet, in a cake pan, or in a cast iron skillet so that they’re all touching their neighbors. This will help them “climb” in the oven so that you get that great, tall lift!
Ingredients for Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits with Self Rising Flour
This is a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for Aunt Bee’s 3 ingredient biscuit recipe. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Self-rising flour: a common pantry staple in most Southern households, self-rising flour is simply flour with the baking powder and a bit of salt already added. It’s traditionally made from a softer, lower protein version of all-purpose flour, which yields tender, flaky biscuits.
- Butter: I prefer salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter if you have it on hand. You can also substitute with shortening or lard for half of the butter.
- Buttermilk: for its acidity, as well as its fat and liquid content.In conjunction with the leavening agents, the acidity helps the biscuits rise. The buttermilk also gives the biscuits a nice, subtle tanginess and a tender crumb. Keep the buttermilk nice and cold before adding it to the dough!
Why Use Buttermilk in Biscuits
Buttermilk is a classic Southern pantry staple that we always keep on hand! Fromfluffy pancakestosalad dressing,hoe cakestofried chicken, it’s an important ingredient in so many of our favorite recipes — including these 3 ingredient biscuits.The buttermilk serves a couple of purposes that you can’t achieve with regular milk:
- Flavor:the buttermilk gives the biscuits a nice, subtle tanginess
- Acidity:the acid in buttermilk helps the biscuits rise, because the acid from the buttermilk reacts with the alkaline baking soda, causing it to give off carbon dioxide. Baking powder will also react with buttermilk’s acidity to a small degree.
- Texture:the fat and acid in the buttermilk also yields a fluffy, light, and tender crumb.
The Amount of Buttermilk Necessary Will Vary
The amount of buttermilk that you need will vary, depending on the day.Start with ⅔ cup, and then add more if the dough feels too dry and crumbly. If it’s humid or rainy, there’s already moisture in the air and in the flour, so you will likely need less liquid in your dough. On a cold, dry winter day, you may need a bit more buttermilk to bring the dough together.
How to Make 3 Ingredient Biscuits
Homemade biscuits with a rich buttery taste that are ready in about 30 minutes? Sign me up! You’ll find detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the quick version:
- Cut the butter or grate the butter with a box grater into the flour in a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in the buttermilk until a soft dough forms.
- Turn the dough mixture onto a lightly-floured surface, and knead the dough for 1 minute (folding it over on itself). This process will help add those flaky layers to the biscuits.Feel free to flour your hands and the countertop, as necessary, to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Pat the dough to ¾-inch thickness (no need to use a rolling pin) and use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds. Here I used a 2 ½-inch cutter for larger biscuits, but you can choose a 1-½-inch or 2-inch round biscuit cutter to yield small biscuits. Whatever you prefer!
- Arrange the biscuits in a greased skillet or dish.
- Chill the biscuits for 5-10 minutes.
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter.
- Bake until golden brown. Brush with melted butter again and serve!
Serving Suggestions
These 3 ingredients biscuits are suitable for just about any meal, at any time of day. Serve them on their own for breakfast withhoney butter,jam, orapple butter. Add eggs on the side, use them to make anegg sandwichwith sausage, bacon, or cheese, or stir up a skillet ofsausage gravy. In Virginia,country ham biscuitsare a classic snack!
On the dinner table, here are a few entrées that go well with buttermilk biscuits:
- Crispy Fried Chicken,Cornflake ChickenorPecan-Crusted Chicken
- Grilled Pork Tenderloin,Oven-Baked Pork Tenderloin,Cider Braised Pulled Pork, orBBQ Pork
- Oven BBQ Chicken BreastorGrilled BBQ Chicken Breast
- Egg SaladorChicken Salad
- Shrimp and Grits
- Crock Pot RibsorBaked Baby Back Ribs
- Crab CakesorCrab Imperial
- Shrimp Creole
- Dutch Oven Beef BBQ,Cast Iron Skillet Filet Mignon,Grilled New York Strip Steak,Steak SaladorBourbon-Glazed Beef Tenderloin
- Classic Beef Chili,“Good Luck” Southern Chili,Easy White Bean Chicken ChiliorTexas Chili
- Beef Stew,Chicken SteworBrunswick Stew
- Southern Fried Catfish
- Frogmore Stew
- Grandmother’s Hamburger Soup,Corn Chowder,Tomato SouporSplit Pea Soup
- Ranch Style Beans,Southern Lima Beans,Slow Cooker Cowboy Pork and BeansorBlack Eyed Peas with Bacon
- Rosemary Oven Roasted Chicken
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Make Ahead: While they’re best served warm, straight-from-the-oven, you canbake the biscuits up to 3 days in advance and store them in an airtight container at room temperature. Reheat day-old biscuits by placing them on a baking sheet in a 300° F oven for about 10 minutes.
- How to Freeze: Allow the biscuits to cool to room temperature, then wrap tightly in an airtight container or Ziploc freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter overnight or in the microwave for a few seconds. Reheat in the oven as instructed above.
- How to Freeze the Biscuit Dough: You can even freeze the dough before baking the biscuits. After cutting out your biscuits, arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pop the tray in the freezer for an hour or so. Once the biscuits are frozen, transfer them to a gallon-sized freezer bag or airtight container. Store thefrozen biscuit doughfor up to 3 months.
How to Make this 3 Ingredient Biscuit Recipe without Buttermilk
You can make 1 cup of homemade buttermilk by using regular milk + either lemon juice or white vinegar. To do so, pour 1 cup of regular milk into a small bowl. Add either 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice or 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Give it a stir, let it sit for about 5 minutes, and then use it in the recipe as directed!
How to Make this 3 Ingredient Biscuit Recipe with All-Purpose Flour
If you don’t have a bag of self-rising flour in your pantry, that’s no problem. You can make 1 cup of self-rising flour by placing 1 cup of all-purpose flour in a bowl. Whisk in 1 teaspoon of baking powder and ¼ teaspoon of salt.
This recipe calls for 2 cups of self-rising flour, so you would need to combine 2 cups of all-purpose flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt.
Recipe Variations
- Lard or Shortening. You can replace 2 tablespoons of the butter with 2 tablespoons of either shortening or lard. While butter has more flavor, the shortening or lard will give the biscuits an even lighter, puffier texture.
- Add Cheese. Grated cheddar cheese is a delicious addition to the biscuit dough.
- Herbs. Mix in chopped fresh parsley, basil, or chives for a bright, savory addition.
- Brush with garlic butter.
- You can also make 4-ingredient heavy cream biscuits.
Tips for the Best 3 Ingredient Biscuit Recipe
- Keep the ingredients COLD. It’s really important for the butter and buttermilk to stay as cold as possible. You want those little pieces of butter to melt in the oven, releasing steam and reacting with the leavening to form bubbles of carbon dioxide, which help the biscuits rise a mile high!
- Grate Frozen Butter. My dad always freezes his butter and grates it into the dry ingredients, rather than cutting it in with a pastry cutter or forks. Feel free to use that trick to keep your butter really cold, too!
- Knead the Dough.By folding the dough over itself (or “laminating”) for about a minute, you’ll add those nice flaky layers to the biscuits. No need for any fancy process or technique — just push out, fold back over on itself, and repeat. Don’t do this for too long, though, or you’ll get the dough too warm.
- Don’t Twist the Biscuit Cutter.Firmly press the cutter down into the dough, but don’t actually twist. Twisting the biscuit cutter seals off the edges of the biscuits and they therefore will not rise as high.
- Arrange the Biscuits with Sides Touching. Place the biscuits in the round pan so that they’re all touching their neighbors. This will help them “climb” in the oven so that you get that great, tall lift!
- Keep the Dough Cold. I’ll say it again — the key to tall, fluffy and puffy biscuits is cold ingredients. That’s why I like to place the cut biscuit dough back in the refrigerator or freezer for about 5-10 minutes just before baking.
More Popular Biscuit Recipes to Try
Drop Biscuits
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Cheddar Biscuits with Chives and Bacon
50 minutes mins
Grandma’s Sweet Potato Biscuits
33 minutes mins
Aunt Bee’s 3-Ingredient Biscuit Recipe
5 from 40 votes
Prep: 10 minutes minutes
Cook: 15 minutes minutes
Chilling Time 10 minutes minutes
Total: 35 minutes minutes
Servings 7 – 8 biscuits (with a 2 ½-inch cutter)
Calories 176 kcal
Aunt Bee’s easy 3-ingredient biscuit recipe yields homemade buttermilk biscuits thatare flaky, buttery, and ready for the oven in 10 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- ¼ cup very cold butter, cut into pats, plus additional for brushing(I prefer salted butter)
- ⅔ – ¾ cup very cold buttermilk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray an 8-inch or 9-inch round pan with a light coat of cooking spray and set aside.
Place flour in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter or forks to work the butter into the flour until the lumps are about the size of large peas. Alternatively, you can freeze the butter and use a grater to grate the butter into the flour.
Add ⅔ cup of buttermilk, and use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir until a soft dough forms. Add small amounts of additional buttermilk slowly, as needed, until the dough reaches this consistency.
Flour a work surface. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 1 minute (folding the dough back over on itself), adding flour to the counter and your hands, as necessary, to prevent sticking. Pat to ¾-inch thickness.
Use a biscuit cutter to cut out the individual biscuits. I used a 2 ½ -inch cutter here, which yielded 7-8 large biscuits. You can also use a 2-inch cutter to yield about 12 biscuits. Firmly press the cutter down into the dough, but do not twist. Twisting the biscuit cutter seals off the edges of the biscuits and they therefore will not rise as high.
Roll out the dough once or twice more to use up the remaining dough scraps.
Arrange the biscuits in the prepared pan so that their sides are touching.
At this point, the dough will be a bit warmer from working with it, so I like to place the pan of biscuits in the refrigerator or freezer for 5-10 minutes to chill again (but do not leave it in the fridge or freezer any longer than that).
Just before you put the biscuits in the oven, brush the tops with melted butter.
Bake for 14 -15 minutes, or until they're a light golden brown. Brush the tops of the biscuits with additional melted butter when they come out of the oven and serve warm.
Video
Notes
- Keep the ingredients COLD. It’s really important for the butter and buttermilk to stay as cold as possible. You want those little pieces of butter to melt in the oven, releasing steam and reacting with the leavening to form bubbles of carbon dioxide, which help the biscuits rise a mile high!
- Grate Frozen Butter. My dad always freezes his butter and grates it into the dry ingredients, rather than cutting it in with a pastry cutter or forks. Feel free to use that trick to keep your butter really cold, too!
- Knead the Dough.By folding the dough over itself (or “laminating”) for about a minute, you’ll add those nice flaky layers to the biscuits. No need for any fancy process or technique — just push out, fold back over on itself, and repeat. Don’t do this for too long, though, or you’ll get the dough too warm.
- Don’t Twist the Biscuit Cutter.Firmly press the cutter down into the dough, but don’t actually twist. Twisting the biscuit cutter seals off the edges of the biscuits and they therefore will not rise as high.
- Arrange the Biscuits with Sides Touching. Place the biscuits in the round pan so that they’re all touching their neighbors. This will help them “climb” in the oven so that you get that great, tall lift!
- Keep the Dough Cold. I’ll say it again — the key to tall, fluffy and puffy biscuits is cold ingredients. That’s why I like to place the cut biscuit dough back in the refrigerator or freezer for about 5-10 minutes just before baking.
Nutrition
Serving: 1biscuitCalories: 176kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 4gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 72mgPotassium: 60mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 211IUCalcium: 29mgIron: 1mg
Keyword: 3 ingredient biscuit recipe, 3 ingredient biscuits, buttermilk biscuits, homemade biscuits, homemade buttermilk biscuits
Course: Side
Cuisine: American
Author: Blair Lonergan
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