Three Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe

9:20 PM

Did you know that September is National Biscuit Month?  A whole month to celebrate this fluffy tender quick bread that is rolled out and cut or dropped from a spoon.  

Three Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits are not so much an easy recipe, as much as they are just pure magic!  


This recipe is one that you do not need to practice and practice to get it right.  Biscuits are in the category of quick breads, which means Do Not Over Mix and Do Not Over Bake! 

A simple and easy method!

I have been making buttermilk biscuits for years, starting in Home Economic in the 60's, and have experimented with various recipes using self-rising flour.

The one thing I found is the ratio of the self-rising flour, and the shortening has to be just right.  If you use too much shortening, the biscuits will crumble easily, and if you use too little, they will be tough.

I came about with this recipe, when one day I had a fourth of a cup of shortening left from making pie crust, so I decided to use it with two cups of self-rising flour.  Turns out, it was the perfect balance.

When adding the buttermilk, stir the dough, as little as possible, as well when rolling it out.   Remember this is a quick bread and the less you handle the dough the more tender the biscuits will be.

These biscuits have only these three ingredients, self-rising flour, vegetable shortening, and the star BUTTERMILK! 


This recipe is my go to recipe when I am making biscuits in the mornings for breakfast for my husband and me.  This recipe is just right for the two of us.  If our children and grandchildren are visiting, I can double the recipe easily.

They are so good for breakfast and then have leftovers for lunch with a bowl of stew or even use as toppers on chicken pot pie.  

We spoil ourselves with this perfectly easy and quick recipe.  Hope you get to spoil yourself soon.  Enjoy! 



Three Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits

    2 cups self-rising flour (I use White Lily)
    1/4 cup shortening
    2/3-3/4 cup buttermilk
    softened butter to be brushed on top of the unbaked biscuits (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  In a pie tin, melt a tablespoon of shortening; set aside.

In a bowl, add the flour.  Cut in the shortening with a pastry cutter or two forks until shortening is completed blended.

Gradually add the buttermilk, stirring gently and being sure to stop as soon as the dough begins to com together.  Be sure not to over mix.  It will be lumpy.

Turn dough out onto a floured pastry cloth or a board.  With floured hands, pull dough together and pat on top to form a round disk 1 1/2 or 2" high.  We like our biscuits tall.

Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits straight down and lifting up being sure not to twist.

Using a pastry brush, spread the melted shortening to completely cover the pie tin.

Place biscuits side by side in the prepared pie tin.  Brush with softened butter.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.



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Kay Little
Kay Little

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