The Lunch Lady
Big drop biscuits
Six big, tender drop biscuits with sour cream, melted butter and aluminum-free baking powder. Split them for bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, or spread one with homemade almond butter.
Published
- Servings
- 6 large biscuits
- Total time
- About 45 minutes, including a short rest before splitting
Times are estimates for the biscuits. The optional sandwich filling can cook while they bake.
A bigger biscuit for breakfast
These biscuits were the whole reason to make a breakfast sandwich. Big, golden tops, soft centers, bacon, egg and cheese tucked inside. We made them larger than the drop biscuits from our chicken pot pie bake, and the kids loved them.
One change I'm keeping is aluminum-free baking powder. I could pick up a slight metallic taste when I ate the leftover biscuits from a previous bake. This batch tasted much better to me. Check the label when you buy your baking powder.
The dough is simple. Cold milk and sour cream, melted butter, then fold it into the dry ingredients. No rolling or biscuit cutter. Just scoop it onto the pan and bake.
They're also great with our homemade almond butter. Make the sandwiches for breakfast and save a biscuit for that.
Home recipe
Big drop biscuits
The Lunch Lady · Jared Veldheer
- Servings
- 6 large biscuits
- Prep time
- About 15 minutes
- Cook time
- About 20 minutes
- Total time
- About 45 minutes, including a short rest before splitting
Times are estimates for the biscuits. The optional sandwich filling can cook while they bake.
Equipment: One 13-by-18-inch half-sheet pan, parchment, two mixing bowls, whisk, flexible spatula, kitchen scale and serrated knife
Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go.
Six large biscuits
Optional bacon, egg and cheese filling
Instructions
Make the biscuits
- Heat the oven to 425°F conventional or 400°F convection, with a rack in the middle. Line a 13-by-18-inch half-sheet pan with parchment. Melt the butter and let it cool until warm, not hot.
- Whisk the flour, aluminum-free baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar thoroughly in a large bowl. Break up any little clumps of baking powder.
- In a second bowl, whisk the cold milk and cold sour cream until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the warm melted butter while stirring. Small butter flecks and clumps are what you want.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold from the bottom with a spatula just until no dry flour remains. The dough should be thick, lumpy and scoopable. Do not beat it smooth. If dry flour will not incorporate and the dough is too stiff to scoop, fold in extra milk 1 teaspoon at a time, up to 2 teaspoons.
- Divide into six equal mounds, about 108 g each or a scant 1/2 cup. Arrange three across the long side of the pan and two across the short side, leaving at least 2 inches between mounds. Keep them about 3 inches wide and 1 inch tall rather than piling them into narrow towers. They will spread as they bake.
- Bake for approximately 18 to 24 minutes, starting to check at 16 minutes, especially with convection. Look for golden tops and bottoms and a center that is set rather than wet or gummy. An instant-read thermometer in the center should read about 200 to 205°F. Give them another few minutes if needed; use these cues rather than the timer alone.
- Let the biscuits stand for about 10 minutes so the crumb can set, then split gently with a serrated knife. Serve with butter, jam or homemade almond butter, or make the sandwiches below.
Make breakfast sandwiches, if you like
- While the biscuits bake, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, working in batches, until browned and cooked through but still a little flexible. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Heat a lightly buttered or oiled nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the eggs in batches, break the yolks and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook until the edges set, flip gently and finish until the whites and yolks are firm, about 3 to 5 minutes total depending on the skillet.
- Put a slice of cheese on each biscuit bottom, followed by a hot egg and two bacon slices, broken to fit. Add the top and serve. Keep the biscuit halves supported while assembling so they do not crumble.
Recipe notes
- Weigh the flour for the most consistent dough. Cup and teaspoon weights are approximate, especially for baking powder; use the gram amount if your scale reads small quantities accurately.
- Use aluminum-free double-acting baking powder, not extra baking soda. They are different ingredients, and this recipe uses both in the amounts listed.
- Keep the milk and sour cream cold. Warm butter hitting cold dairy makes little butter flecks. Hot butter or warm dairy will not give you the same mixture.
- This batch fills one half-sheet pan with six large biscuits. If doubling, use two pans and bake one at a time for the most even result. Do not double the baking time.