I have been having a lot of breakfast cravings recently – and don’t worry, this is not a pregnancy hint. No, I think what it is is finding myself awake in the mornings on weekends earlier than I would previously have chosen (thank you, Baby Girl), and in the mornings I want breakfast, and that usually means something carb-a-licious. So maybe that means I make pancakes. Or get creative with some kind of sweet bread. But this time around, it meant I wanted biscuits. Sweet cream, buttery, flaky, biscuits. So off I went to google.
And as I’ve said before, just googling a random recipe is a shot in the dark. It’s so important to read the comments on random blog recipes to see if it’s any good because how else will you know if it’s just something that was made to someone else’s taste? And fortunately the recipe that I chose was one that got good reviews. People saying things like, “So easy!” “Perfect!” “A keeper!”, so when I see that, it’s good news.
So yes. It’s a good recipe, and it’s not just me saying it. My only issue is that when I made mine, I left them in the oven for the recommended time, but then the middles were still a little raw. Flaky, but essentially still dough. If you’ve ever watched the Great British Bake-Off, imagine Paul Hollywood smushing his finger into the middle of my biscuit and me crying a little. So the pictures I have here are from the time the recipe recommends. But if you want to make sure you have tender but still crispy flaky layers, you’ll want to add at least another 5-10 minutes. And this will involve watching your biscuits to make sure they’re even more golden all the way through than the original recipe recommends.
But other than that? They’re so easy. They’re chock-full-of-butter. They’re perfect with more butter, with jam, jelly, maple syrup. If you made them before lunch time they’d be great with a little ham and cheese as a sort of slider. You could have them with sausage, or with gravy (I think? I don’t like gravy, so I’m not familiar with how people eat it). And the good news is that since she’s the one who woke me up early enough to want a carb-y breakfast, I let B try a little biscuit, and I’m happy to say they’re baby approved. As in, she voluntarily picked up a little bit and put it in her mouth and ate it. Can you tell we’re in the middle of teaching feeding? It’s all very exciting. Anyways – these biscuits: MAKE THEM.
Homemade Biscuits
Yield: ~12 biscuits (the original recipe says 6, so maybe I made smaller ones?)
Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter very cold
3/4 cup milk
Instructions:
For best results, chill your butter in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before beginning this recipe. Very cold butter is required for light, flaky, buttery biscuits. Preheat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with nonstick parchment paper. Set aside.
Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Remove your butter from the refrigerator and either cut it into your flour mixture using a pastry cutter or (preferred) use a box grater to shred the butter into small pieces and then add to the flour mixture and stir until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add milk, use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir until combined (don’t over-work the dough).
Transfer your biscuit dough to a well-floured surface and use your hands to gently work the dough together. If the dough is too sticky, add flour until it is manageable.
Once the dough is cohesive, fold in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 5-6 times but taking care to not overwork the dough. Then, use your hands (do not use a rolling pin) to flatten the dough to 1″ thick and lightly dust a 2 3/4″ round biscuit cutter with flour.
Making close cuts, press the biscuit cutter (or a drinking glass) straight down into the dough and drop the biscuit onto your prepared baking sheet. Repeat until you have gotten as many biscuits as possible and place less than 1/2″ apart on baking sheet. Once you have gotten as many biscuits as possible out of the dough, gently re-work the dough to get out another biscuit or two until you have at least 6 biscuits (or 12 if using a smaller cutting device).
Bake on 425F for 15-20 minutes or until tops are light golden brown. If desired, brush with melted salted butter immediately after removing from oven. Serve warm and enjoy.
Details: Easy Homemade Biscuits from Sugar Spun Run