Fluffy, No Roll Biscuits

My mom always made the absolute best, fluffiest biscuits ever. I'm still not sure how she does it. Every time I tried to copy hers, they just didn't turn out the same. And they always made a huge mess because you had to get the dough just right, roll them out, cut them, and repeat. Although my mom's biscuits are always worth it, I needed to find a way to make biscuits fast, easy, but just as fluffy and yummy. These biscuits were the answer for me. I've been making them for years and never had a complaint!

Although they take second place in beauty to my mom's famous biscuits, these biscuits are quick and easy enough to make last minute any morning, and they're also very versatile. You can add some sweetness by rolling the dough in cinnamon sugar before baking or brushing them with honey butter just before you take them out of the oven. You can also make them into savory dinner biscuits by just adding in some grated cheese, herbs, and substituting the salt for garlic salt (think Red Lobster cheddar biscuits). Another great reason why I like these biscuits is because the dough is pretty forgiving. Once you get the hang of what the consistency is supposed to be, you can make them for 2 or for 12 without having to do the math to double or triple the recipe. You can just kind of eyeball it and 9 out of 10 times they'll turn out fine!

These biscuits are also known as spoon biscuits or drop biscuits because you don't roll and cut them. You simply spoon them up and drop them into the pan, bake, and you're done.

- 2 1/4 cups self rising flour
- 1 cup milk + a couple of tbsp more if needed (any kind of milk should work, I usually use almond milk because that's what I have)
- Approximately 3 tbsp cold butter + a little more for the pan
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder (optional but I think it gives it that extra fluff) 
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (also optional, omit if using buttermilk)

1. Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees (this is important, don't skip the preheat).

2. Next, you have options. I like using a cast iron skillet to bake my biscuits, but if you are using a baking sheet instead, grease the sheet and move on to step 3. If you are using a cast iron pan, put a pat of butter in the pan and stick it in the oven to preheat as well. Just make sure that it's not in there so long that the butter burns. When you take the pan out to add the biscuits, swirl the pan around so that the melted butter covers the bottom and sides.

3. Put all of your dry ingredients in a bowl then use a cheese grater to grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients and mix well so that the butter is well distributed in the flour without clumping. You can also cut the butter into the flower with a knife or pastry cutter like you would if you were making a pie crust, but I find that gating it is way faster and easier.

4. Then it's time for the milk. If you're using vinegar, add it to the milk. This will sour the milk and give your biscuits more of a buttermilk taste without having to use buttermilk. Add the milk a little at a time to make sure that your dough doesn't get too wet. Once you've added all the milk, if it seems too dry, add about a tablespoon at a time until the dough forms a sticky ball but is not wet to the touch. Mix until combined, but don't overdo it! Too much mixing means flat biscuits.

5. Finally, use a spoon to drop balls of dough onto your pan and put them in the hot oven. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until a small amount of color starts appearing on top.

6. For pretty biscuits, brush them with butter or honey butter or even herb butter 5 minutes before you take them out of the oven.

This recipe should make enough to serve 3-4 people, but like I said above, it's so easy to adapt this recipe for however many servings you need! Just start with flour and build from there. At the end, add milk until you reach the right consistency. If you know the consistency your looking for in each step, it doesn't matter if you start with 1 cup of flour or 8. As long as you add salt and butter, you should end up with decent biscuits!