These Homemade Sour Cream Biscuits are perfectly soft and flaky with a delicious buttery flavor everyone will love. They will quickly become your new favorite biscuit recipe.
You should always have a good biscuit recipe that you can depend on. Whether you’re making a fancy dinner or just need a quick and easy side dish, these easy biscuits go with just about anything! A little butter and some strawberry jam make them a quick breakfast as well. (We also love to serve these biscuits with sausage gravy or bacon gravy!)
These Southern sour cream biscuits are an absolute favorite of ours, because they are so soft, flaky, buttery – and SO easy to make. When you make biscuits using sour cream, it gives the biscuits the best texture and flavor. Besides drop biscuits, these are probably one of the easiest biscuits to make from scratch. But, don’t take my word for it; try this easy recipe for yourself!
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Pin ItIngredients Needed
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for the best Sour Cream Biscuits. As always, specific measurements and complete cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Egg
- Sour Cream – Do not use light sour cream. The fat in full-fat sour cream is needed for the perfect texture.
- Granulated Sugar
- Cold Butter – You want your butter to be really, really cold – even frozen if you remember – so that you can grate it into the dough. This adds to the flakiness of the biscuits.
- Flour – I use all-purpose flour for this recipe. I like White Lily All-Purpose Flour as it is milled from extra-fine, soft, red-winter wheat and has less gluten and protein than regular All-Purpose Flour, so it makes the biscuits light, pillowy, and fluffy. (Just be sure that you don’t use their self-rising flour for this recipe. )
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder
- Salt
Why Use Baking Soda AND Baking Powder?
Similar to the reaction that happens when making cornbread, we use both for a reason. Sour cream contains acid. The acid makes the biscuits lighter when it reacts with the baking soda, releasing gases that cause it to rise. The baking soda alone however, does not make the biscuits rise enough, but if we add too much baking soda, it will completely balance out the acidity of the sour cream, which we want to keep. (Way too much and it will taste like metal.) So we add baking powder, to give the biscuits another lift as they bake, while keeping some of the acidity.
It’s kind of like a two staged rocket booster – the baking soda gives you the first little oomph and the baking powder comes in to blast you out of the atmosphere… only… biscuits in the oven? Alton Brown explains the reactions really well if you are into the nerdy science stuff. (Too much baking soda also has a funny taste.)
Special Equipment Needed
- I recommend using a Cheese Grater to grate the butter into the dough.
- You’ll also need a Biscuit Cutter, Wide-Mouth Mason Jar, or a Mason Jar Ring to cut out the biscuits.
How to Make Sour Cream Biscuits
Making the best homemade sour cream biscuits is incredibly easy! You don’t need an electric mixer or any expensive equipment – just use what you have.
- First, preheat your oven to 400°F. Then, lightly grease or line a cookie sheet and put it off to the side.
- Next, beat an egg in a large mixing bowl. Add the sour cream and sugar and whisk until fully incorporated.
- After you’ve mixed the wet ingredients, grate the butter into the bowl and stir just enough to mix it in.
- Next, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a sticky dough forms.
- Once the dough is mixed, lightly flour a clean counter surface or cutting board.
- Place the biscuit dough on the floured surface and lightly flour your rolling pin. Then, roll out the dough until it is 1 inch thick. If you don’t have a rolling pin, you can use your hands (or a clean wine bottle) to spread out the dough. Do not knead the dough or overhandle it – you don’t want to melt the butter.
Tip
If you end up touching the dough too much, stick it in the freezer for a few minutes, or freeze the biscuits for about 5 minutes before baking them.
- Next, cut out biscuits using a wide-mouth 16 oz mason jar or a biscuit cutter. You can use something bigger or smaller, but it may change the number of biscuits you end up with. You can make some rough shaped biscuits from the leftover scraps. If you absolutely can’t find anything to cut the biscuits with, you can use a knife to cut square biscuits.
- Finally, place your biscuits on the greased or lined baking sheet and bake them for 15 minutes.
- Remove them from the oven when the tops are golden brown. You can brush the tops with melted butter right as they come out of the oven to make them even more delectable.
- Serve with your favorite jam or honey butter and enjoy! (We like blueberry jam!)
Recipe Yield
If you use a 16 oz wide-mouth mason jar opening to cut your biscuits, you will get 12 fluffy southern sour cream biscuits.
🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, and that’s exactly what this recipe does! Sour cream is a great replacement for buttermilk in biscuits. It adds a creamier texture and wonderful flavor to baked goods because of its acidity and slightly sour taste.
If your biscuits come out chewy, this is because you over handled the dough. You don’t want to over mix the dough. Just mix until the flour is incorporated. When you over mix the dough, it overdevelops the gluten in the flour and melts the butter, which results in chewy, tough biscuits.
Storage & Reheating
How to Store Homemade Biscuits
Store any leftover biscuits in an airtight container like a Ziploc bag or Tupperware to prevent them from drying out. They can be left at room temperature for a few days as long as it isn’t humid. If you want to keep them longer, toss the bag of biscuits in the refrigerator or freezer.
How to Reheat Them
To reheat your biscuits, you can bake them in the oven at 350°F for 5-7 minutes (I like to wrap them in foil if I bake them) or split them open and toast them. Be careful not to burn the biscuits.
Looking for another easy biscuit recipe? We love to make drop biscuits!
Recipe Tips
- Don’t overmix the dough. Don’t use a mixer and don’t touch it too much. You should only need to stir the dough a few times to get the ingredients incorporated and you don’t want to melt the butter.
- Grate the butter. Use a cheese grater to grate your butter. Very cold – even frozen – grated butter adds a wonderful texture and flavor to your biscuits.
- The dough should be sticky. Sticky dough yields soft biscuits, so be careful not to add too much flour when rolling the dough. Use just enough to be able to roll the biscuits and cut them.
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Share with friendsWhat to Serve with Homemade Biscuits
You can serve these fluffy sour cream biscuits in a variety of different ways. Serve them with spreads like butter, honey, cane syrup, or strawberry jam. You can also cut them in half and use them as a breakfast sandwich with ham, tomato, baked eggs, bacon, or sausage. (Or top them with creamy sausage gravy or white bacon gravy!)
Breakfast
Best Sausage Gravy Recipe
Condiments
Instant Pot Blueberry Jam
Side Dishes
Easy Honey Butter Recipe (Whipped)
Breakfast
How to Bake Eggs in a Muffin Tin
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!
Southern Sour Cream Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 cup sour cream do not use light
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ cup butter very cold
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F and grease or line a cookie sheet.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg.1 egg
- Add sour cream and sugar and whisk until fully incorporated.1 cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Use a cheese grater to grate cold butter into the bowl. Stir just into to combine.¼ cup butter
- Add the remaining dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix just until a sticky dough forms.2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Lightly flour a clean counter surface or cutting board. Place the dough onto the floured surface.
- Lightly flour your rolling pin and roll out the dough until it’s about 1 inch thick. Do not over-flour the dough.
- Use the opening of a wide-mouth 16 oz mason jar, a glass, or a biscuit cutter. (If you use something that is smaller or bigger, that’s fine! It might change the number of biscuits.)
- Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet.
- Cook for about 15 minutes at 400°F until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and enjoy! (Brush the tops with butter when they come out of the oven if desired.)
Notes
How to Store Homemade Biscuits
Store any leftover biscuits in an airtight container like a Ziploc bag or Tupperware to prevent them from drying out. They can be left at room temperature for a few days as long as it isn’t humid. If you want to keep them longer, toss the bag of biscuits in the refrigerator or freezer.How to Reheat Biscuits
To reheat your biscuits, you can bake them in the oven at 350°F for 5-7 minutes (I like to wrap them in foil if I bake them) or split them open and toast them. Be careful not to burn the biscuits.Special Equipment Needeed
- a cheese grater
Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
