Skillet biscuit bread is an easy, delicious southern bread that can round out a meal with minimal effort.

Learn how to make Appalachian pone bread in a cast-iron skillet with this traditional recipe. It’s a versatile side you can serve with breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

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Because a good stretch of the Appalachian mountains extends into the south, there’s a lot of overlap between cuisines.

Both regions are known for their resourcefulness–especially the ability to create a delicious, soul-warming meal out of practically nothing.

But being able to stretch a meager meal to feed several people and using the ingredients you have on hand didn’t mean you weren’t enjoying tasty food–in fact, just the opposite was true!

Growing up in southern Appalachia, I came to know and love many traditional Appalachian foods, including pone bread.

It’s essentially a large biscuit baked in a cast iron skillet, so it develops a perfect crust while maintaining a fluffy interior.

This is one of those sides that’s inexpensive to make, but helps to round out a meal and keep everyone full.

Not only that, but it’s easier than making traditional biscuits, since you don’t have to roll or cut any of the dough!

More Easy Appalachian Dishes:

• Instant Pot Pinto Beans and Cornbread
• Appalachian Fudge Brownie Pie
• Easy Cathead Biscuits
• West Virginia Pepperoni Rolls

Homemade Skillet Pone Bread

Pone bread is sometimes known by other names, including skillet biscuit bread or gravy bread.

I’ve also heard people refer to pone bread as a hoe cake, but where I grew up, a hoe cake was more like cornbread pancakes.

You may have heard of a corn pone, which is a type of skillet cornbread.

In this case, pone bread is basically a large, round biscuit baked in a skillet. You can cut it into squares or wedges to serve.

I like to top slices with butter, jam, preserves, honey, or molasses!

You can serve it for breakfast, just as you would biscuits, or alongside soups, stews, or other main dishes.

It’s one of those sides that’s super simple, yet really tasty.

Condiments to Serve with Pone Bread:

• Instant Pot Apple Butter
• Instant Pot Strawberry Jam
• No-Peel Instant Pot Peach Jam
• Easy Pear Butter

How to Make Southern Pone Bread

It’s really easy to make this biscuit bread.

Ingredients You’ll Need:

• Self-Rising Flour
• Butter
• Buttermilk

How to Make It:

(Full printable recipe card is available below)

Melt butter in the skillet. To start, add a couple tablespoons of butter to a cast iron skillet.

While the oven is preheating, place the skillet in the oven to warm up and allow the butter to melt.

Cut in the fat. First, you’ll use a pastry blender or two forks to cut the butter into the flour.

You want the pieces to be the size of peas or smaller.

Add buttermilk. Next, you’ll add the buttermilk an stir to combine. Make sure all of the flour is moistened well.

Bake. Last, you’ll transfer the biscuit dough to the preheated skillet, gently pressing it evenly into the pan (be careful–the pan is hot!).

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown.

Remove from oven and slice and serve warm, topping as desired with butter, jam, apple butter, honey, molasses, or gravy.

Notes and Adaptations:

• I like to use butter in my pone bread, but you can use vegetable shortening or lard if you prefer. I grate the butter on a box grater to get it into small pieces, but you can also cut it with a knife.
• You can make your own buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 1/4 cup milk. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before using. You can also mix together 1/4 cup sour cream and 1 cup milk as a substitute.

Don’t forget to save this recipe to your bread board on Pinterest!