3-Ingredient Biscuits

5 from 1 vote

These 3-ingredient biscuits are buttery, fluffy, and perfectly golden. So easy to make with self-rising flour, cold butter, and buttermilk for a soft, flaky biscuit every time.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Breakfast, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: biscuits

Calories: 351kcal

Author: Jessica Burgess

Ingredients

7 tablespoons salted butter divided
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup buttermilk

Instructions

Freeze the butter. Stick ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) of salted butter in the freezer for about 5 minutes.
Prep your dry ingredients. Sift 2 cups of self-rising flour into a medium mixing bowl.
Grate the butter. Using the large holes of a grater, grate your cold butter right into the flour. ** I like to dip the butter in to the flour first before grating but that's optional.
Mix gently. Use your hands to lightly combine the butter and flour — don’t overmix!
Add buttermilk. Create a small well in the center and pour in 1 cup of cold buttermilk. Mix gently with your hands just until it comes together.
Form the dough. Sprinkle a little extra flour on your counter or table. Turn the dough out onto it, and sprinkle a bit more flour on top of the dough so it’s not sticky.
Fold the dough. With floured hands, fold the dough over 3–4 times. Sprinkle a touch more flour if it feels sticky, then pat it out to about ¾-inch thick.
Prep the pan. Grease your cast-iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of softened butter. **If you don't have cast-iron skillet, see notes below.
Cut the biscuits. Flour your biscuit cutter (I used a 3½-inch cutter) and cut out about 5 biscuits. Press straight down — don’t twist the cutter! Twisting seals the edges and keeps the biscuits from rising tall and fluffy.
Place. Place each biscuit in the cast iron skillet, making sure the sides of the biscuits touch one another.
Bake. Brush the tops of the biscuits with 1 tablespoon of melted butter and bake at 475°F for 15–16 minutes, or until the tops are beautifully golden brown.
Finish. Brush on another tablespoon of melted butter right after baking. If you’d like, sprinkle a touch of Maldon salt on top (totally optional, but lovely).

Video

Notes

Cold ingredients = flaky biscuits. Don’t skip chilling your butter — it makes all the difference.
Add flour as needed. Lightly dust your hands, counter, and dough while working to prevent sticking — but avoid adding too much, or the biscuits will lose their tenderness.
** If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, that's ok! I've baked these on parchment-lined baking sheets, and they work just fine. But do watch the bake times. I find that I only baked biscuits on the baking sheet for about 13 minutes. Different pans can vary.

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