These Homemade Drop Biscuits without milk are fluffy, buttery, and super soft. They are super easy to make and made up of only 7 pantry staples. Perfectly served with sausage gravy or drizzled in honey butter, you can't beat these.
This easy biscuit recipe without milk is perfect when you are in a pinch and your milk is expired or you run out. And you won't miss the milk at all in these fluffy biscuits.
For a more traditional biscuit recipe, try my Buttery Rolled Biscuits.
If you love easy bread recipes from scratch, try my Easy Rustic Bread Loaf.
Looking for something a little sweeter? Try my Blackberry Lemon Bread.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Super easy - no rolling or cutting
- 7 ingredients
- No milk required
- Buttery, fluffy, and golden on top
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Honey: Swap honey for 1 Tablespoon of white or brown sugar.
- White Vinegar: Swap for lemon juice or omit. However, it does add more depth to the flavor, mimicking the tang of buttermilk.
- Grated Butter: After the butter has chilled, use a box or hand grater to grate the butter. I do half of the butter with the finer blade and half with the larger blade creating a variety of sizes.
- Honey Butter: Simply mix the melted butter and honey together in a small bowl. Brush over the top of the warm biscuits.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts is located on the recipe card below.
How To Make Drop Biscuit without Milk
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
TIP - Parchment paper ensures the biscuits do not stick.
Step 3: In a separate bowl, whisk together the water, honey, and vinegar.
Step 4: Add the butter to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
TIP - Make sure the honey is completely incorporated in the water and vinegar.
Step 5: Pour about half of the water mixture over the butter and dry ingredients. Stir gently.
Step 6: Add the rest of the water mixture. Continue stirring just until the dough comes together.
TIP - The mixture will be sticky. If the mixture seems extremely wet, add another tablespoon of flour.
Step 7: Drop about 2 heaping Tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheet to form about 15 biscuits (3 x 5).
Step 8: Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the tops begin to turn golden brown. Brush with additional melted butter or honey butter before serving.
TIP - Don't over bake! Once the tops just start to brown, remove them from the oven.
Expert Tips
- Work quickly. You want the butter and water to stay as cold as possible so the biscuits come out super fluffy. These are drop biscuits so do not spend too much time forming them. You can see in the photo above that mine are not super uniform.
- Don't over mix! Once the biscuit dough comes together, stop mixing.
- While you prepare the other ingredients, leave the grated butter in the freezer, so it stays cold.
- The mixture will be sticky. If the mixture seems extremely wet, add another tablespoon of flour.
- Don't over bake! Once the tops just start to brown, remove them from the oven.
FAQs
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Rolled biscuits start with a much drier dough. The dough is then rolled out using a rolling pin. It is then folded and this process is repeated to produce layers in the dough. Then using a round cookie cutter, the biscuits are cut out. Drop biscuits start with a wet dough and like the name implies are dropped directly onto the baking sheet. No rolling at all.
These biscuit will flatten and spread a bit but should still rise. If your leavening agent (baking powder) is expired, it will not work and the biscuits will not rise.
The dough was likely over mixed. This creates dense biscuits.
More Breakfast Recipes
Homemade Drop Biscuits Recipe (No Milk)
Ingredients:
- 2 ¼ cups (293 g) all purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 Tablespoon honey*
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar*
- 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled in freezer for 30 minutes - 1 hour and grated*
Optional Add-ins & Topping
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ cup cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup chives
Honey Butter*
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the water, honey, and vinegar.
- Add the butter to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
- Pour about half of the water mixture over the butter and dry ingredients. Stir gently.
- Add the rest of the water mixture. Continue stirring just until the dough comes together.
- Drop about 2 heaping Tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheet to form about 15 biscuits.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the tops begin to turn golden brown. Brush with additional melted butter or honey butter before serving.
I’m a biscuit fiend and these were literally heaven. By far the best and fluffiest drop biscuits I’ve ever had. I only had apple cider vinegar and my butter was straight out of the fridge versus freezer, but they were fantastic. They may be too delicious, I couldn’t stop eating them lol. Thank you for the recipe!!
So happy to hear this Ashley!
I'm generally not a great cook so I'm used to "easy" recipes not working out. These really were so easy! I just made the base recipe. My sister said if you just added some cheese and garlic butter, they'd be just like the Red Lobster biscuits. I didn't have parchment paper so I used foil, and the bottoms burnt so definitely use parchment. I'm going to try these again with some mix-ins!
Awesome! That sounds delish.
?? Is it a full stick or a half stick?
1 stick (1/2 cup or 8 Tablespoons)
My review is for the biscuits made with the optional add-ins of garlic powder, cheddar cheese and chives. These are definitely the best drop biscuits I've ever had! So easy to make, and so tasty! I was honestly pretty surprised at the lovely texture of these - not dry or crumbly at all. This will be my go to in the future. Thank you!
Awesome Sarah! So glad you enjoyed.
The texture of these biscuits is just perfect! The whole family loved them!! Thanks!
Easy to make and superb with honey drizzled over the top as you suggested, the family devoured these and I will defo be making more very soon 🙂
Great Biscuits, easy recipe and thank you for the pictures! I didn't use any honey or sugar, and instead opted for a more savory biscuits by adding in a basic 21 seasoning mix. Came out great!
Awesome!
These biscuits are crazy delicious and surprisingly simple to make! Great recipe!
I love that all the helpful tips! These were super amazing!
Homemade biscuits ready in under an hour? Yes, please! These biscuits look amazing and I can't wait to try them!
Thank you so much!
These were so easy to make. I love drop biscuits.
Awesome!