OMG, these cheddar drop biscuits are to die for. They’re tender, rich, fluffy, and a total cheddar-cheesy delight. Plus, since there’s no kneading or shaping, they’re insanely easy. So if you’re looking for a simple biscuit or roll to serve with dinner, give these cheddar biscuits a try. You won’t be disappointed.
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What is a “Drop Biscuit”?
Drop biscuits are the easiest biscuit to make in the biscuit world. Why? There’s no kneading, shaping, or cutting the biscuit. You literally just scoop up some batter with a spoon and then “drop” it onto a baking sheet. The dough for a drop biscuit does tend to be a bit more wet and sticky than a traditional biscuit dough to allow you to scoop it up with a spoon.
Can I Substitute the Heavy Cream?
No. Unfortunately, heavy cream is the magic ingredient in these biscuits. Because this recipe does not contain any butter, you need the high fat content of heavy cream to make up for its absence. The fat in the heavy cream is what allows these biscuits to turn out so deliciously light, fluffy, and tender.
Drop Biscuits are Freezer Friendly!
Like most breads and baked goods, these cheddar drop biscuits are freezer friendly! Which is great, especially if you’re a smaller household. To freeze these biscuits, just bake as usual and then allow them to fully cool to room temperature. Once cooled, transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to three months. To thaw, simply allow them to come to room temperature, and then warm briefly in a hot oven.
How to Serve Cheddar Drop Biscuits
These tasty little biscuits make a delicious side for soups, stews, and chili. The cheddar scallion flavor makes a particularly nice side to vegetable soup or chili. They’d also be great with some Red Beans and Rice, Slow Cooker Hamburger Stew, Salisbury Steak, or even with your eggs and bacon at breakfast.
Love Drop Biscuits? Try our Ranch Drop Biscuits or Rosemary Pepper Drop Biscuits, too!
Cheddar Drop Biscuits
Servings 12 biscuitsIngredients
- 2.25 cups all-purpose flour ($0.35)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder ($0.06)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1 tsp sugar ($0.02)
- 4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded ($0.85)
- 3 green onions, sliced ($0.25)
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream ($1.55)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, garlic powder, and sugar until well combined.
- Add the shredded cheddar and sliced green onions to the flour mixture and stir to combine again.
- Add the heavy cream and stir until a soft sticky batter forms.
- Spoon the batter onto the parchment lined baking sheet, about ⅓ cup for each biscuit. You should get about 12 biscuits. Make sure to leave an inch or two between each biscuit because they will expand as they bake.
- Bake the biscuits for 18-20 minutes in the fully preheated 400ºF oven, or until they are lightly golden brown on top. Serve warm.
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Equipment
- Enamelware Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Video
How to Make Cheddar Drop Biscuits – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, stir together 2.25 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp baking powder, ¼ tsp garlic powder, and 1 tsp sugar.
Add 4oz. shredded cheddar and three sliced green onions to the bowl with the flour mixture, then stir to combine.
Pour 1 pint (2 cups) heavy whipping cream into the bowl with the flour mixture.
Stir until a soft, sticky batter forms.
Scoop up the batter with a spoon, about ⅓ cup at a time, and drop it onto the lined baking sheet. Make sure to leave an inch or two between each biscuit because they will expand while baking. You should get about 12 biscuits.
Bake the biscuits in the fully preheated 400ºF oven for 18-20 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top.
Serve warm and enjoy that rich, fluffy, cheesy goodness!!
Made these for a family brunch & they were a hit. I used minced fresh chives instead of the green onions. (I didn’t have any green onions, but I had chives in the garden).
Haha, this one is one of best, everyone that tried this after I cook it, was licking their fingers and asking for more. Thank you for this recipe. <3
I made these for the first time the other night. They were just as described, light, fluffy and tender, and absolutely delicious. My adult son even asked for the recipe, and he never does that! I saw the info on freezing these. We had a few left, which we ate with leftovers tonight. If eating within a day or two, can leftovers be wrapped and left on the counter or should they be refrigerated because of the cheese. Thank you for another fantastic recipe!
We enjoyed these so much, I had to make them again tonight (less than a week after I made the first batch) to have with the soup I made for tonight.
Love these, they turn out so fluffy. The simplicity of the recipe makes this a great way to use up leftover heavy cream.
YUM! I have made your ranch drop scones multiple times – today I tried these instead and added some nutritional yeast and everything bagel seasoning to the mix. Another winning recipe!
Made exactly as written and they were wonderful!! So much easier than cutting in butter, rolling out, and slicing. Will definitely make these again, adding another pinch of salt and maybe some cayenne to punch up the flavor a tad.
I halved the recipe and ended up with the over spreading issue mentioned by others. I’m pretty sure it was due to the wrong oven temperature – my oven seemed to have dropped temps. and so it took forever to cook. Next time I’ll be more careful – but regardless the actual flavor was delicious and the recipe was so quick and simple. I will try again!
I added 1/3 cup green olives with pimentos chopped to the batter an it tasted great. An I made an apricot-Dijon mustard glaze to go on top when they came out of the oven.
I meant in the batter. Duh 🙄
Mine also spread quite a lot – looking at the photos, my dough seemed smoother than than what is pictured. I think maybe there was too much liquid? Though I also am in a European kitchen and I think the pan was too crowded with 12 biscuits, which might have also had an effect.
It’s my third time making these, they are impossible to mess up. This recipe never lets me down and by now I can whip up the biscuits in a jiff :)
So good! I made these along with a big pot of chili. Such a treat on a cold and snowy day. They’re so moist from the cream that I didn’t even bother to butter the biscuits. This one’s a keeper! Thank you.
Totally my mistake but I misread and only used 1 cup cream. Seemed a little too dry so I added maybe 1/4-1/3 cup more cream. Still Turned out amazing and so tender! Might not even add the extra cream next time!
Omit the whipping cream substitute almond milk and flakiness use 1/3 cup of cold butter. More healthier. I made a better version of this.
I tried these changes and they really weren’t nice at all. Wouldn’t recommend.
These were really great! I put strawberry jam on top of mine and it was super savory and sweet, just how I like it!
I love budget bytes because she takes recipes that would otherwise be daunting to me and makes them easy to follow and DELICIOUS. This was the first time I ever made biscuits and they came out so good!
Would it work to use half whole wheat flour? Or what would I need to change to make that substitute?
Usually substituting up to 50% whole wheat flour works in most bread recipes without needing much alteration (sometimes you need a tad more liquid), but I haven’t tried it with this particular recipe.
I followed the recipe exactly but mine spread out like crazy! What happened?
It’s hard to say without being there to have watched your process or seen the texture of your dough, but something definitely was not right. It sounds like something may have been measured incorrectly by accident, which can happen to anyone! Your dough should be quite stiff, but still sticky, when scooping it out onto the baking sheet. Was it like that?
No it was more a tacky roll dough.
I’m stumped, honestly. It’s hard to guess without seeing and feeling the dough.
Did you use Pam Spray? Cause that will have an effect on that too.
kiri I would also check the date on your ingredients. Cause if they are past their expiration date then the ingredients are not as potent an can cause issues. I would try making them again only bake them at 375 for 20 minutes an see if that works.
I used parchment paper and everything is less than 6 months old. I am wondering if I over worked the dough. I basically kneaded it when adding the cream.
You definitely don’t want to knead a dough like this. Kneading develops the gluten matrix, which makes the dough more elastic, instead of being tender like a biscuit.
I will try again and not knead! lol
Even with them spreading out they were still delicious!
Oops! I meant to give this a five star with my review below! The rating is hard to see, so sometimes I post and forget to rate.
God, where has this recipe been all my life? Move over, Red Lobster! These are so fun and easy to make, it’s my second time making them. I followed the recipe precisely. Made these to go with this amazingly flavorful and filling chili (https://www.budgetbytes.com/basic-chili/). Soooo good. Such a good combo.
Can I make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate until baked? Like maybe the day before or earlier day of?
I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure how well that would turn out. One thing that might affect it is the baking powder, which does still react at colder temperatures, just more slowly, so this might affect the outcome.
These biscuits were complete EASY and totally DELICIOUS. They went very well with a pot of veggie soup, rounding out a good meal. Will be making them again, for sure.
I made this but we only had 50 lb of pandemic bread flour so had to sub. I added extra water until it was soft (had been really stiff) but they failed to rise much. They ended up being delicious cheddar cookies.
A delicious and accessible recipe!
Can i use whole milk instead of heavy whipping cream?
Nope, see the section above the recipe titled, “Can I Substitute the Heavy Cream?” for more info about why this won’t work.
Finally got the chance to make these today. I think they’ll be gone by tomorrow. I overcooked them a tad but the crispy outside was delicious and inside was so fluffy! So quick and easy. Yum!
I have some whipping cream that needs to be used up, and I planned to make some version of these biscuits tonight with my son’s birthday dinner, so this is perfect! Thanks very much!!
Weird that you don’t credit Serious Eats for their recipe here.
I haven’t seen their recipe. Cheddar drop biscuits are incredibly common. I fashioned my version after my Freezer Biscuit recipe.
I can never make these again because I ate so many in one sitting! So delicious and easy. I added ham into a few of them to test and they turned out great as well. Thank you!
I am non-dairy and made these biscuits tonight. I subbed the shredded cheddar for a vegan “shredded cheddar” made from oat milk. The second substitution I made was the cream. I tried mixing oat milk with an almond-based vegan “ricotta”. The result were biscuits that were broad and smooth and flattened. They tasted fantastic and were fluffy on the inside and perfect on the outside, the dough just didn’t heap and rise like a regular cheddar bay biscuit. I still enjoyed them and will continue to experiment!
Would it be worth trying to drop these into a deep fryer, air fryer or even into a stew as dumplings?
I’m not very experienced with deep frying, so I can’t comment on that, but I have made stew dumplings with very similar types of dough, so I think that would work! Just make sure that stew is simmering good before dropping them in. :)
I am NOT a baker – or biscuit maker – by any stretch of the imagination so I wasn’t surprised when my “batter” was very dry & super chalk like.
I was sure I measured some of the ingredients wrong but after baking for 20mins, they came out WONDERFUL! Fluffy & light and even excellent reheated in the microwave with just a little butter. I will definitely make these again 😉
This was sooo good! I had all the ingredients in my fridge and i divided the recipe in half. Was absolutely delicious!
Can you make them with whole wheat flour? If so, how
It’s possible, but the texture will definitely be different (heavier, denser). I’d need to test it first to find the correct flour to cream ratio.
Could I make with buttermilk if I don’t have heavy cream?
No, unfortunately buttermilk has a much lower fat content than heavy cream so it won’t work properly.
Has anyone tried subbing fresh garlic for the garlic powder? Curious about ratios and whether it would be too much moisture.
Made these today and we had them as a snack before dinner. Had fun making these. It was a bit salty, so next time I’ll reduce the amount of salt. Otherwise, these were delicious! Will definitely make again. Keep up the excellent work!
How are these to reheat? We won’t be able to eat them all in one go.
If I were to make a half batch, how much flour do you think I need, one cup?
I enjoy them reheated, but that will always just be a matter of personal preference. If you half the recipe you’ll want to half all of the ingredients exactly. :)
I’m wondering the same thing as Sandra. These sound very similar to your freezer biscuits and I would love to just freeze them.
I love your freezer biscuits and have wondered if that recipe would work as a drop biscuit. Totally looking forward to trying this!!!