Biscuits

I make really good biscuits.  There.  I said it.  Don't hate me because I'm awesome, I'm about to show you how I do it!  The big secret in biscuit making isn't the ingredients, they're usually pretty much the same.  But technique can mean the difference between warm and fluffy comfort and warm and pasty bricks.  This recipe came off the Internet about 10 years ago.

Biscuits

2 C flour
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
3/4 stick (6 Tbs) butter (divided)
3/4 C milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Mix together flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl.  Incorporate 5 T butter.  Add milk, and mix till just combined.  Cut and place on baking sheet.  Melt and brush remaining butter over tops.  Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Here's how to do it:

Think of biscuits as you would pastry.  The colder and faster you work, the better.  The butter is what gives these little guys layers.  As they bake, the butter *pops* and causes the spaces.  To get good layers, you want to squish the butter in your fingers like this.  I use frozen butter so I can work it a little longer without making the dough too tough.  Smaller pea-size balls of butter will make the biscuits tender.

This is what the dough should look like before you add the milk.  Big lumps and little lumps all mixed in with the flour.

This is after the milk has been added, about the time I start kneading.  Again, not too much, this isn't bread, it's pastry.  I dump this on the counter and use the leftover flour/butter scraps in the bowl to keep the dough from sticking to the counter.  Knead it 3 or 4 times until it forms a ball.

I pat mine out with my hands, but you can use a rolling pin if you really want to.  I find the more I work with my hands, the better feel I have for the dough.  I can tell immediately when it's starting to get too tough.  With practice, you will, too.  And also, I don't want to have one more thing to wash...

 In keeping with not wanting to wash a bunch of dishes, I don't melt the butter, I just put little pats on them.  If the tops look a little raw near the end of baking, flip them over for a minute or two.  (See that weird one bottom left?  That's hubby's favorite!)

There you go!  Big, fat, fluffy, flaky biscuits!  These are a mixture of half whole wheat and half white flour.  You can do two cups of wheat or two of white.  White will make more classic biscuits, but all wheat is interesting, too.

Yield: about 12 depending on the size of your cutter
Serving suggestions: eggs and sausage, apple sauce, butter, honey, molasses, or jam.  Also great with soup, or as a topper for pot pies.  And if you're lucky, you can serve it with your neighbor's super yummy apple butter!

Review:
These are awesome.  Absolutely a keeper!