You Haven't Lived Until You've Tried My Mom's Three-Ingredient Sour Cream Biscuits

Growing up in the South, there are unspoken protocols that take place in many kitchens far and wide, such as never, ever, ever putting your cast-iron skillet in the dishwasher and that most meals aren't truly complete unless there is some form of a biscuit, piece of cornbread, or yeast roll on the plate. That's like having pancakes without syrup or leaving the salt out of the collard greens.

In our house, things were hectic, with enough kids and dogs to keep my mother more than busy. So when choosing between making notoriously finicky homemade buttermilk biscuits or her go-to recipe for sour cream biscuits that only called for three ingredients and a muffin tin, she was smart. Sour cream biscuits to go with dinner.

They require no teaspoon of this or dash of that; just three things that she already had in the kitchen. No rolling or chilling; just mix and bake. Though simple in conception and nothing particularly gorgeous in appearance, make no mistake: These pillowy, incredibly moist bites of heaven will make you drool. Each bite literally melts into your mouth with buttery, sour creamy flavor.

Some might be familiar with sour cream biscuits served in miniature form at classic Southern restaurants as just a nibble to snack on while at the table; others might remember their grandmothers mixing up the simple delights on lazy Sunday afternoons. And for those who don't know these at all, consider this the perfect opportunity to get acquainted. Follow my mother's recipe for sour cream biscuits and you'll have a batch coming hot out of the oven in less than thirty minutes.

How To Make Sour Cream Biscuits

In a mixing bowl, combine 1 stick of salted butter, softened to room temperature, with 1 cup of sour cream and 1 cup of self-rising flour. Stir until combined. (My mother recommends adding a spoonful more of flour if dough seems too wet, which can sometimes happen on the extra humid days we're accustomed to down in South Georgia. It should be thick and sticky.) Lightly spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray—though the butter and sour cream makes it largely unnecessary—before dropping a big spoonful of batter into each muffin cup. Bake in oven at 375 degrees for around 20 to 23 minutes on average, or until the slightest amount of golden color tinges the tops. They will be very light in color and should be taken out before the tops are fully golden.

Some notes from my mother include that she almost always doubles the batch, using the same 1:1:1 ratio of ingredients. The batch above makes about a dozen smaller biscuits or, she jokes, eight "really fat ones." (Our family liked the fat ones.) So a double batch should yield anywhere from 16 to 24, depending on how big you want them. Once everyone gets a taste, you'll be needing the extras.

On the most special of mornings, we kids would shuffle into the kitchen before school to find her making a batch of sour cream biscuits, breakfast-style. Which in our house, meant that she added breakfast sausage (cook and crumble the equivalent of three Jimmy Dean patties, she recommends) and about a half-cup of grated Cheddar cheese to the biscuit batter before baking. All I can say about this: DO IT. It's insanely delicious.

There you have it—classic Southern sour cream biscuits in a jiff. No store-bought mix required.

As far as flavor goes, sour cream biscuits go with almost any meal, from soup to pot roast to fried chicken. So whip up a batch tonight, because why not?