Mayonnaise Biscuits (Easy Recipe)

Who’s ready for some flaky, tender, fresh-out-of-the-oven biscuits? Having them doesn’t get much easier than these mayonnaise biscuits!

If you love the idea of making bread at home, but it intimidates you, it doesn’t get much easier than this recipe.

There’s no kneading, no resting, and no waiting for your bread dough to rise. Let’s get baking!

What Are Mayonnaise Biscuits? 

Mayonnaise biscuits are a simple Southern recipe that swaps traditional butter or shortening with mayonnaise.

Every bread recipe needs fat to create light and fluffy bread, and mayonnaise is an excellent substitute.

It’s easy to mix into your bread dough and yields light-as-air biscuits that taste like a dream. Don’t worry, they don’t taste like mayo!

What’s great about this recipe is that it comes together in a flash.

If you can whip up pancakes, you have all the skills required for these simple homemade mayonnaise biscuits.

You won’t even need a biscuit cutter. 

The biscuit dough only requires three simple ingredients (waiting for you in your pantry as we speak) and comes together in minutes.

After a 23-minute trip in the oven, your biscuits are ready. 

These super easy biscuits are great for breakfast and for dinner with soups or salads.

You can throw a little cheese in the batter to create tender, cheesy Red Lobster copycat biscuits. Yes, please!

These mayonnaise biscuits are so easy that you might want to throw some extra flour around in the kitchen.

Everyone needs to know how hard you worked making homemade biscuits!

Ingredients for Mayonnaise Biscuits 

The great thing about this recipe is that it only requires a few pantry staples.

It’s an excellent option if you are in a hurry but want tender, flaky biscuits to serve with dinner.

For the ultimate flaky biscuits, you need:

Mayonnaise

Every biscuit dough needs fat to retain moisture and stay light and fluffy.

While most recipes use butter or shortening, mayonnaise makes these biscuits deliciously tender.

It creates tiny little air pockets perfect for soaking up a dollop of butter, jam, or honey.

Keep in mind that Miracle Whip isn’t the same thing as mayonnaise.

Always use real mayo in this recipe.

Miracle Whip might be good for sandwiches.

But it alters the flavor of your biscuits and makes them flat and dense. No one wants that. 

Self-Rising Flour

Self-rising flour makes your life a little easier.

This flour means you don’t have to add any leveling agents to your bread dough.

If you don’t have self-rising flour in your pantry, all-purpose flour works just as well (you will need to add baking powder and salt).

Add three teaspoons of baking powder and up to a teaspoon of salt when using all-purpose flour. 

Whole Milk

You need a wet element to bind the dry ingredients into a biscuit-like dough.

Whole milk is an excellent option because it provides a mild flavor that isn’t too overpowering.

Whole milk works best, but two percent, skim milk, or even buttermilk, works in a pinch. 

Tips & Tricks For the Best Mayonnaise Biscuits

• Keep your biscuits small. I know, giant biscuits sound amazing. However, stick to 12 biscuits in your standard muffin tin. If you try to make 6 biscuits in a large muffin tin, the outsides will brown too much while the insides won’t bake through. 

• Get creative with spices. While the base recipes make terrific and simple biscuits, you don’t have to stop there. This biscuit dough is so versatile that you can add your favorite spices. Some bakers spice it up with savory herbs like thyme or oregano, while others keep it light with fresh dill. 

• Not everyone has self-rising flour in their pantry, and that’s perfectly fine. When using all-purpose flour, make sure that you add three teaspoons of baking powder and up to one teaspoon of salt. 

• Don’t overmix your biscuit dough. When preparing this dough, less is always more. Mix your batter until just combined and there are no lumpy bits. If you overmix, your biscuits won’t be as light and fluffy (but still taste great!). 

• Want to make Red Lobster cheesy biscuit copycats? Add a little cheese to your biscuit dough before it hits the oven for deliciously cheesy Red Lobster-like biscuits. Get creative with your cheese and incorporate cheeses like sharp cheddar, mozzarella, or Muenster. There are no wrong answers when it comes to cheese. 

• Always opt for real mayo over Miracle Whip. Miracle Whip contains less oil than good old-fashioned mayo, so your biscuits will be dense. Plus, Miracle Whip often has extra spices that alter your biscuits’ flavor. 

How to Reheat Biscuits So They Stay Fluffy

The best time to eat these biscuits is fresh out of the oven.

As they sit out, they still taste great but lose that fresh-out-of-the-oven magic.

If you want to recapture the magic, I have a few tips for how to reheat biscuits the right way:

• Pop them back into the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake biscuits on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes. The edges stay crisp, while the center remains moist and tender. It takes a little more time, but it’s worth it!

• Reheat them in the handy-dandy microwave. Sure, biscuits will reheat in the microwave, but a simple hack prevents them from drying out (no one wants dry biscuits!). Before you pop them in the microwave, wrap them in a damp paper towel and reheat them for 45 seconds or until they are perfectly warmed.