Easy homemade biscuits without milk, butter or shortening! These 2 Ingredient Biscuits are the quickest biscuit recipe and made with just two ingredients: self-rising flour and heavy whipping cream. That's it! Even kids can make them!
Since I'm all about Southern shortcut recipes, you've come to the right place if you are looking for easy biscuit recipes with few ingredients and from scratch!
I've tested this shortcut recipe dozens of times and I'm sharing this tried and true simple recipe with you including step by step photos.
You won't believe how easy it is to make a 2 ingredient biscuit in less than 30 minutes from start to finish! No rolling pin needed!
Two of my favorite shortcut recipes to make and serve with these heavy cream biscuits are Homemade Butter and Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam.
Ingredients to make homemade biscuits
Not all sacks of flour are the same! Soft wheat, self-rising flour makes the best 2 ingredients biscuits.
It's a short list but be sure you get the correct ingredients.
- Self-rising flour-(I use White Lily) Self rising flour is made with a softer wheat than all-purpose flour or bread flour. It also comes with the baking powder and salt already mixed in the flour. So, it's a shortcut!
- Heavy whipping cream- Don't miss the "heavy" part of this ingredient. The extra little bit of fat in heavy whipping cream vs. whipping cream makes a difference in the texture of these light and fluffy biscuits.
Watch the video
Watch my WBRC's Good Day Alabama tv segment on making whipping cream biscuits by clicking the image below.
How to make these fast easy biscuits
Be sure to scroll down to the printable recipe for exact details and oven temps.
- Combine the self-rising flour and whipping cream in a large bowl. Stir just until the cream moistens the flour to make a "shaggy" dough.
- Gather the dough together on a lightly floured surface and loosely press into a circle about 1 inch thick.
Pro Tips
Don't overwork the dough or the biscuits will be tough.
Kneading dough is for yeast breads, not biscuits.
- Gently fold the dough in half, then press down to 1 inch thickness again. Repeat the folding one more time, then press into ¾-inch thickness.
- Press the biscuit or cookie cutter down into the dough.
Tip: Don't twist the cutter! This will keep the biscuits from rising as tall as possible.
- Place the biscuits 1 to 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.
- Brush them with a couple of tablespoons of whipping cream. See below for making "3 ingredient biscuits" by brushing with butter.
- Bake them at a high temperature so they rise quickly. See printable recipe below for time and temps.
I like to bake them closer together in a cast iron skillet for extra fluffy biscuits. You can also bake them in a round cake pan. Use what you have!
Everyone knows you aren't really baking unless you have a little flour on your face, right?
Easy 3 ingredient biscuits
If you have butter on hand, brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter instead of extra whipping cream for a golden brown top.
Another recipe for 3 ingredient biscuits is to increase the amount of whipping cream to 1 ⅔ cups and drop them by spoonfuls onto the baking sheet and brush with melted butter. This makes an easy 3 ingredient drop biscuit.
Biscuit baking questions?
Dry ingredients like flour should be lightly spooned into the dry measuring cups and leveled off with a knife. Wet ingredients like whipping cream can be poured into a liquid measuring cup that is clear so you can see at eye level the correct measurement.
No, it is not recommended. A cast iron skillet is a natural nonstick skillet. A good, seasoned cast iron skillet needs very little butter or oil on the bottom to bake biscuits. If you are using an 8-inch round cake pan or square baking pan you can coat it with cooking spray but avoid using cooking spray on cast iron.
Yes, but keep in mind self-rising flour is made with soft wheat flour. So, add 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt to an all-purpose flour like White Lily. Bleached flour will also absorb the whipping cream best.
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Why do you place biscuits close together in a skillet?
The biscuits are placed in the skillet, close together, so they push against each other for support as they rise in the oven.
If you don't place them close together, they won't have anything to help push them up so they won't rise up quite as high. You can also place them further apart on a baking sheet, if you like.
I hope you can see that these are easy biscuits to bake, even kids can make them!
Are these homemade 2 Ingredient Biscuits easy?
I guarantee you my family thinks these homemade 2 Ingredient Biscuits will rival any biscuit they've had at a restaurant. It's so easy, kids can make them!
So, yes, they are easy homemade biscuits.
We like to slather our biscuits with Homemade Butter, Cranberry Pepper Jelly or Strawberry Freezer Jam.
Storage
These whipping cream biscuits can be stored at room temperature in a sealable bag or airtight container.
How to freeze homemade biscuits: You can freeze unbaked biscuits by placing on a flat surface in the freezer 1 hour or until frozen. Then, place in a freezer sealable bag or an airtight container. Bake frozen, unbaked biscuits (without thawing) at 375o F for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Freeze baked biscuits in a freezer sealable bag or airtight container for up to 3 months. Let thaw at room temperature.
Other shortcut baking recipes you will love
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2 Ingredient Biscuits
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Equipment
- 10 inch cast iron skillet (or 9-inch cake pan)
Ingredients
- 2 cups self-rising flour (I use White Lily)
- 1 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream
- Plus more whipping cream to brush tops (2 tablespoons) (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°
- Important: Measure your flour into dry measuring cups by loosely spooning the flour into the measuring cups, overfilling the cups. Then, take a knife and level it off. This gives the most accurate measure.
- Pro tip: NEVER scoop the measuring cup into the flour to measure it. This packs in too much flour.
- Stir together flour and whipping cream in a medium size bowl just until flour is moistened with whipping cream. Your dough should look "shaggy"-not too dry. Add an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream, if needed, to absorb flour if you feel you might have over measured the flour. Dump it out onto a lightly floured counter.
- Gently press the dough together to form a loose ball. Gently, press the dough into a 1 inch thickness. It will not be a pretty circle at this point. Take one side and bring it up and over to the edge of the other side and gently press down.
- Turn the dough a quarter of a turn and fold the dough in half again. You are incorporating air into the layers that you are pressing down which gives you the flakiness and fluffy biscuits you want.
- Your shape should be a short rectangle at this point. Press the doufh down until it is ¾- inch tall. Using a 2 ½-inch circle cookie cutter (or the size of your choice, cut out 4 biscuits and place in a lightly greased 10-inch cast iron skillet, 9 inch round cake pan or on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Press together the scrap dough and gently pat down again and cut 2 more; place in the pan. There should be some scrap dough left. I usually just push the scraps together and make one ugly biscuit.Be sure they are slightly touching each other if you want the softest biscuits. They help each other in the oven to rise to their tallest potential if they are touching!
- For golden tops, brush 1 to 2 tablespoons extra whipping cream over the tops. This is not necessary, but added yum factor. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition analysis on GritsAndGouda.com recipes are mostly calculated on an online nutrition calculator. I am not a dietitian and nutritional information is an estimate and can vary based on products used.
Cooking Lessons for Kids
These quick biscuits are the perfect recipe to demonstrate the difference in wet and dry measuring cups if you're looking for home school ideas.
These girls from my Sunday school class learned how to make homemade butter and biscuits in the same day!
Just getting kids in the kitchen and becoming familiar with measuring cups, spoons, spatulas, and rulers allows them to get more comfortable in the kitchen.
Get down eye level to see if the biscuit dough is tall enough to hit the mark between ½ inch and 1 inch. She knows that between those measurements is ¾ inch.
I understood fractions so much better in school because I used them in at home by measuring with measuring cups and a ruler.
My sweet friends learned about math and science while cooking in the kitchen and that food tastes better when you make it yourself!
The girls are getting down to see the whipping cream at eye level to make sure the measurement is accurate.
Don't forget the butter! Make your own homemade butter with heavy whipping cream.
Connie D
I made these biscuits this morning. They were delicious. I had to order a bag of While Lily Self-rising flour online since it is not available locally. I’ve made these biscuits using a different brand of flour and wasn’t impressed. I’m surprised how much of a difference in taste there was using White Lily! Thank you for the recipe and this will be my go to recipe from now on. Loved it!
Kathleen
You are so right! That soft wheat flour sure makes a difference! So glad you were able to order White Lily online and loved the results!
Teresa
Made cinnamon raisin biscuits with this recipe. Awesome
Kathleen
Oh! I LOVE this idea! Did you drizzle icing on them? Thank you for sharing! I'll have to try that, too!
Beckie
Mon Mom never taught me to make biscuits. I'm 76 years old and just started making biscuits. I've tried so many recipes and have learned the basics but this recipe is the easiest and best. LOVE THIS RECIPE!
Kathleen
This just makes my day! Thank you so much for sharing this with me and I'm tickled you love my 2 Ingredient Biscuits recipe!
Joyce
Made these today and they were easy and great! Thanks! And I made my own self rising flour 🙂
Kathleen
Oh yay! So glad you loved them and that you were able to make your own self rising flour. Use what you have, I always say!
WK
I think Vanessa meant that she used the evaporated milk can to cut out her biscuits (not as an ingredient).
gritsandgouda
Oh! I think you are right. I didn't realize she was replying to someone else's comment. Thank you so much for pointing that out. Yes, that'a a great substitute for a biscuit cutter.
Mollye
Best recipe for perfect biscuits every time! The recipe is so much simpler than the one I grew up with back in the old days! Instructions and helpful tips are spot on and the biscuits were delicious.
gritsandgouda
Thank you so much! So glad you loved them! You can't beat delicious homemade biscuits with just 2 ingredients!
Brenda Bruley
Can I add fresh blueberries to the dough?
gritsandgouda
I think that sounds like a delicious idea! I would add them before adding the whipping cream so as not to crush the berries. Let me know how they turn out!
Mary
Excellent. This was so easy to make and my husband and 2 year old daughter bonded making them together. Thanks for the recipe.
gritsandgouda
This makes my day! So glad they enjoyed making it together and I'm sure enjoyed eating it together! Thanks for sharing this memory with me!
Dawn T.
Do you sift your flour first?
gritsandgouda
I almost never sift my flour now but always did growing up. If moist air gets to flour, there may be lumps. Mine is measured unsifted. I lightly spoon it in to thecups and level off with a knife.
Jimmie Allgood
them er real tasty biskets.
me and mama useta just ues a cup of the cream that came up on the top of the milk buket.
and just dumped it oon top of the flower in the sack and worked up in little balls, patted em down . o yea mama would put a dash or two of salt in the mix too.
then you just had to watch em close in a wood stove and turn em two or three times. and them just eat em with what ever you got.
stuff just wasnt very good with out em.
gritsandgouda
Thank you so much for sharing your story about making biscuits with cream! I grew up making butter with the cream from the top of cow's milk we bought from a neighbor. So many good memories in the kitchen. Glad you liked my biscuit recipe! If you loved it, don't forget to rate it 5 stars! Have a blessed day!
BJ
Hello, and thank you for the recipe. The biscuits look DELISH!
Wondering if baking time is correct of 15-17 min at high temp of 450?
Usual baking time is about 8-12 min.
Thank you again for the recipe, and I love your site!
gritsandgouda
I'm so glad you like these super easy biscuits! Yes, I do bake mine 15 minutes but a good rule of thumb is to always check on baked goods a few minutes before any recipe indicates. Take a peak at 12 minutes and see if they are the brownness (is that a word?) you prefer. I'd love to hear back how they turned out for you!
June Ann
This is not necessarily a comment but a question maybe two: what do I do if I do not have a biscuit cutter can they be spooned?
gritsandgouda
An alternative biscuit cutter is a circle cookie cutter or cut out both ends of a can of vegetables. A can of Rotel tomatoes may be a closer size to 2 1/2 inches. The dough is too stiff to spoon out as is, but you could absolutely add an additional maybe 1/3 cup whipping cream and make the dough spoonable. I'd love to hear how much whipping cream it took if you try it and I can add that note to the recipe! So glad you want to try them!
Vanessa
I used a small evaporated milk can. It was perfect. I got the idea as a tip from a White Lily Cooking Group.
gritsandgouda
That's so interesting! I would not have thought there would be enough fat in evaporated milk to make them as tender as whipping cream. I'm going to try it! Thank you for sharing this idea with us.
WK
I think Vanessa meant that she used the evaporated milk can to cut out her biscuits (not as an ingredient).
Darlene Alford
I just grab a glass out of my cabinet the size I want my biscuits. Sometimes I prefer small for appetizers and sometimes a larger biscuit for a dinner meal.
gritsandgouda
Yass! I love biscuits big or small, plain or all dolled up!
Marilyn R
The best recipe I've ever tried made them with White Lily self-raising flour.The very best and I've been backing over 50 years.
gritsandgouda
Oh wow! You made my day! I'm a big fan of White Lily, myself! Happy National Biscuit month to you!
Mary
Tried them but no WLSF in my state. Tasted metallic.
Kathleen
That is odd about the taste of your biscuits! A metallic taste can mean too much baking powder. Not sure how much baking powder is in another brand of self rising flour.
Angela Sutherland
Those are some darling helpers you have! Great post!
gritsandgouda
They were the sweetest girls!
gritsandgouda
Thank you! It's more fun in the kitchen when little ones are helping!
Patti
These are great. Too easy.
gritsandgouda
So glad you tried them! It's hard to beat 2 ingredients!
Debbie Sawyer
I ended up with very wet dough and ended up adding another cup of flour, seems like 2 cups of flour to 1 1/2 cups of cream does not seem right.
Kathleen
Let's see if I can trouble shoot your wet dough result. One reason for a wet dough is if heavy whipping cream wasn't used. Even regular whipping cream will result in a different dough. If light cream (also called half and half) was used, then the dough would be even wetter. I hope this helps and do hope you will try the recipe again. It is one of my top-rated recipes and I want you to enjoy them, too!
Cindy
Can these be made ahead and refrigerated ?
gritsandgouda
These can be made ahead but don't actually have to be refrigerated for short term storage. As with most breads, they are best when served warm, so I'd just reheat them up in the microwave a few seconds before eating. You could also under bake them a few minutes, then when ready to eat the next day, bake them at 375F for about 10 minutes and they should be like fresh-baked. You can also freeze the unbaked biscuits and bake at 350F, unthawed, for about 25 to 30 minutes at 375F.
George Lewis
Mmmm good with sausage milk gravy. Good southern food.
gritsandgouda
I agree!And you can't beat good Southern food! So glad you liked them.