Great-Grandma’s Easy Sour Cream Biscuits

Name: Great-Grandma's Sour Cream Biscuit Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 22 min
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour (gluten-free flour blend, or spelt flour); 2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt; 2 tbsp butter or coconut oil; 1 cup sour cream; 1 - 6 tsp sugar (maple syrup, or honey (optional)); additional sour cream or milk (if needed); 1/2 tbsp butter

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Drop the Bisquick and grab this recipe for homemade sour cream biscuits. They are simple to make and use real ingredients like sour cream, butter, flour and honey. With the versatility of flavor variations like cheddar and onion, bacon and chives, sausage, cinnamon and sugar and more, these biscuits make the perfect side for any meal.

Biscuit cut in half with butter and jam on a plate.

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Quick Look at This Recipe

✅ Recipe Name: Great-Grandma’s Easy Sour Cream Biscuits
🕒 Ready In: ~22 minutes
👪 Yield: 8 biscuits
🍽 Calories: 204 per biscuit
🥄 Tools: Mixing bowl, measuring utensils, pastry cutter (or two knives), mixing spoon, rolling pin, biscuit cutter, baking sheet
❄️ Freezer Friendly: Yes – allow biscuits to cool completely before storing in an airtight freezer container.
⭐ Why You'll Love It: When I want biscuits in a hurry, this is my go-to recipe! Soft and fluffy and straight from great-grandma's recipe book.
👩‍🍳 Tip: Make sure you use a biscuit cutter to cut your biscuits. Using something like a wide-mouth jar or a metal Mason jar lid can cause the sides to seal and result in flat biscuits (and no one wants flat biscuits!).

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]

Quick Look at This Recipe
Why This Recipe Works
Key Ingredients
Substitutions and Variations
How to Make Sour Cream Biscuits
Tips for the Best Sour Cream Biscuits
FAQs+−
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Great-Grandma's Sour Cream Biscuit Recipe

Why This Recipe Works

A freshly baked biscuit is hard to resist. That’s why I keep my biscuit mix recipe stocked in the pantry, ready to make old-fashioned buttermilk biscuits with cultured buttermilk anytime (they're ready in 20 minutes).

But have you ever wanted to learn how to make biscuits like great-grandma? Here's why you should!

Vintage - This sour cream biscuit recipe is straight from the 1940s, when folks knew how to live frugally by stretching ingredients and what they had to make a delicious meal. The humble biscuit was the star of many meals for good reason.
Versatile - You can serve sour cream biscuits for breakfast, slathered with this chocolate gravy recipe or old-fashioned strawberry jam, or drenched in delicious sausage gravy; for dinner, served alongside soup or stew; cut in half and toasted with cheese; or, of course, topped with fresh berries and whipped cream or paired with these maple vanilla baked pears for a delicious dessert!
Simple Ingredients - Made with basic pantry staples, the real star of the show is sour cream! If you find yourself with a bit of leftover sour cream and nothing to make with it, these biscuits are just the ticket.
Easy to Make - Homemade biscuits really are simple to make. They come together quickly, and you could be enjoying piping hot biscuits in under 30 minutes (start to finish). Be sure to check out my baking tips below for the best sour cream biscuits you've ever tasted.

Key Ingredients

Ingredients to make homemade sour cream biscuits on a wooden counter.

The recipe card at the bottom of this post contains a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Baking Powder - Baking powder is responsible for the rise in your biscuits. Always check the expiration date to make sure your baking powder is fresh.
Baking Soda - Baking soda reacts with the acid in the sour cream to give additional lift to your biscuits.
Butter - Cold, cold, cold is the key with your butter! Use unsalted butter if you want to control how salty your biscuits are. I love a good salty biscuit, so I generally use salted butter. Cold coconut oil can also be used.

Substitutions and Variations

A stack of baked biscuits on a plate with fruit and jam in the background.

I discovered this recipe in my great-grandmother’s recipe collection, taken from a 1948 drugstore pamphlet. The small amount of butter used and lack of sugar are quite possibly a reflection of the rationing that would have been a regular part of life in the years prior.

In keeping with the spirit of resourcefulness from Great-Grandma’s day, this recipe can be adapted to your preference and what you have on hand.

Flour - The original recipe called for all-purpose flour, but it also adapts well to Spelt and gluten-free versions.
Sweetener - If you are used to a sweeter biscuit or plan on using the biscuits for dessert, a little sugar, maple syrup, or honey can easily be added to the sour cream. If using maple syrup or honey, add a little less sour cream to make up the difference in moisture.
Butter - This is a biscuit recipe with butter, though you can substitute coconut oil if you need a dairy-free option or don’t have any butter on hand.
Flavor Variations - Make customized biscuits with a variety of mix-ins. Try minced garlic and chopped fresh herbs, diced jalapenos or onion with cheddar cheese, cooked and crumbled sausage or bacon, or for a sweet variation, try cinnamon and sugar.

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How to Make Sour Cream Biscuits

Dry ingredients for homemade biscuits in a glass mixing bowl.

Step 1: In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Dry ingredients with cubed butter in a mixing bowl for homemade biscuits.

Step 2: Cut in butter or coconut oil until the mixture looks like crumbly loose bits.

Sour cream being added to a bowl of dry ingredients for homemade sour cream biscuits.

Step 3: Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the sour cream, mixed with sugar, honey, or maple syrup (if using).

Biscuit dough mixed together in a glass bowl.

Step 4: Stir lightly until the dough comes together. If the dough is dry, add more sour cream or milk, a tsp at a time, as needed.

A woman's hands kneading biscuit dough on a floured wooden counter.

Step 5: Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently about 20 times.

Woman's hands rolling out biscuit dough with a wooden rolling pin.

Step 6: Roll out dough until it's 1/2″ thick.

A woman's hands cutting biscuit dough with a biscuit cutter.

Step 7: Cut out biscuits with a floured biscuit cutter.

Pro Tip: Do not twist when cutting; this seals the edges and prevents rising.

Step 8: Place biscuit dough on a greased baking tray. Leave at least an inch between biscuits to keep them from sticking together as they rise.

Sour cream biscuits baked on a baking pan.

Step 9: Bake at 450°F for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Brush with melted butter and top with homemade strawberry jam, served warm.

Tips for the Best Sour Cream Biscuits

Biscuit dough rolled out and cut with a biscuit cutter.

Tip	Result
Use a Light Touch	Mix and handle your dough as little as possible to prevent the gluten from developing. Overdeveloped gluten will make your biscuits tough.
Use a Bench Scraper	A bench scraper has many uses, and when making biscuits, it is useful for scraping the dough onto a floured surface for easier cutting.
Use A Metal Cutter	It’s often suggested to use the rim of a glass or jar to cut biscuits, but these are too thick and will mash down your biscuits, sealing the edges and preventing them from rising. Instead, use a thin rim like a metal biscuit cutter or cookie cutter to slice through your biscuits without crushing the sides.
Use Cold Ingredients	Make sure your butter and sour cream are cold. Cold fat creates the air pockets necessary for that delicious, flaky biscuit texture.
Bake at the Right Temperature	Do not neglect to preheat your oven. The high temperature is critical for the moisture in the dough to create steam, making your biscuits fluffy.

FAQs

Is sour cream good in biscuits?

Yes — sour cream is excellent in biscuits, especially if you want tender, rich, flavorful results. Because sour cream is thicker and has more fat and acidity than milk or buttermilk, it contributes both moisture and structure without thinning the dough like a liquid would. That fat helps create a tender crumb and softer texture, while the tang adds flavor.

In traditional sour cream biscuit recipes, the acidity and fat work together to produce biscuits that are soft and slightly tangy, with a texture that is distinct from those made with just milk or water.

What does adding sour cream to baking do?

Adding sour cream to baking does a few important things:
Moisture without thinning – Because sour cream is thick, it hydrates dough and batters while keeping them dense and rich rather than runny. This gives you a tender crumb with fine texture.
Rich flavor and fat – The higher fat content compared with milk or buttermilk adds richness and body to the baked product, making it more satisfying and flavorful.
Acidity for leavening – The natural acidity in cultured sour cream can react with baking soda or baking powder to help create gas bubbles in the dough, which lightens the texture and improves rise.
So in biscuits, sour cream helps tenderize the gluten, contribute gentle lift, and enhance flavor — all of which make them more enjoyable to eat.

What happens if I use sour cream instead of buttermilk?

You can use sour cream in place of buttermilk, but expect some differences in texture and richness:
Texture: Biscuits made with sour cream instead of buttermilk will generally be richer and more tender because of the higher fat content in sour cream.
Moisture/Consistency: Sour cream on its own is thicker than buttermilk. If you want a closer stand-in for buttermilk, thin your sour cream with a bit of milk or water (e.g., about ¾ cup sour cream + ¼ cup milk to equal 1 cup buttermilk).
Rise and tang: Both sour cream and buttermilk have acidity that can react with baking soda, but pure buttermilk (being more liquid) typically produces slightly higher, fluffier biscuits than straight sour cream.
In short, sour cream will give you a deliciously tender, slightly denser biscuit with rich flavor, while buttermilk yields a lighter, more classic lift.

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Did you make these sour cream biscuits? If so, please leave a star ⭐ rating and your comments in the recipe card below (this really helps me out)… then, snap a photo and tag me on social media @melissaknorris so I can see! I love getting a glimpse of what you all make in your kitchens.

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About Melissa Norris

Melissa K. Norris inspires people's faith and pioneer roots with her books, podcast, and blog. Melissa lives with her husband and two children in their own little house in the big woods in the foothills of the North Cascade Mountains. When she's not wrangling chickens and cattle, you can find her stuffing Mason jars with homegrown food and playing with flour and sugar in the kitchen.