Make Biscuits

Biscuits, a type of quick bread popular in the southern United States, taste best when they're light, flaky and buttery. They're the perfect accompaniment to any meal: you can eat them with sausage gravy for breakfast, make them into sandwiches for lunch, or serve them alongside fried chicken for dinner. Use the technique outlined below to achieve the best taste and texture.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Steps

Mixing the Biscuits

1. Sift the salt and flour. Place both ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to sift them together until the salt is incorporated evenly throughout the flour.
   • If you don't have self-rising flour, mix 2 1/4 cups flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt.
2. Cut the butter into small squares. Using two knives, cut the butter into chunks. Try to handle the butter as little as possible, since it needs to stay cold until the moment you pop the biscuit dough into the oven.
   • If you find it easier to handle the butter with one hand and a knife, rinse your hand in cold water first, so you won't warm up the butter too much.
   • If the butter seems to get soft, place it in the freezer after you cut it into chunks. Remove it after it cools for about 10 minutes.
3. Blend the butter and flour. Place the butter chunks into the flour mixture. Using either a pastry mixer or a fork, blend the butter and flour until the mixture begins to resemble small beans and no large chunks of butter remain.
   • It's important not to overblend the mixture, since working the flour too much results in tough biscuits. Leaving tiny bean-sized pieces of butter will create pockets of buttery, flaky goodness in the finished biscuits.
   • To determine whether the mixture has been blended enough, pinch a bit of dough between your thumb and forefinger. If the dough stays together, it's ready for the next stage. If it's still too powdery and crumbly to hold together, blend it a little more, then test it again.
4. Refrigerate the dough. Place the bowl of dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. This gives the butter a chance to cool again before you move to the next stage.
5. Add the buttermilk. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator. Slowly pour in the buttermilk and use a wooden spoon to gently incorporate it into the flour and butter mixture. Stir until the buttermilk is just combined, and you have a sticky dough with small bits of butter dispersed throughout.

Folding and Cutting the Biscuits

1. Preheat the oven to {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}. If you're going to be baking the biscuits right away, it's important to have the oven preheated so you can transfer them to the oven while the butter is still cold.
2. Turn the biscuit dough onto a floured surface. A floured cutting board will do the trick, or you could use a clean, floured counter or tabletop. If you'd prefer not to get your work surfaces messy, lay out a few sheets of parchment paper and flour them.
3. Flatten and fold the dough. Use a floured rolling pin or the back of a plate to flatten the dough into a large circular shape. If necessary, use your hands to stretch it out a bit. Then take the edges of the dough and fold it in half. Use the rolling pin or the back of a plate to flatten it again. Fold it in half once more, then flatten it again. Repeat until you have folded the dough 3 times. Flatten it one last time so that the dough is about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} thick.
   • If you want thinner biscuits, roll the dough a bit flatter so it's {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} thick.
   • Folding the dough in this way creates a lot of flaky layers. For more layers, continue gently folding and pressing the dough.
4. Cut the biscuits. Use a biscuit cutter (or the rim of a glass) to cut the dough into biscuits. Place them onto a lightly greased and floured cookie sheet. Don't crowd the biscuits; they will rise and spread a little while they bake.
   • Biscuits are usually round, but you can cut them into squares if you prefer. You could also leave the dough uncut and use it as a top crust for chicken pot pie.
   • At this point you can cover the tray of raw biscuits with plastic wrap and freeze them. When you're ready to bake them, simply place them in a preheated oven.

Baking the Biscuits

1. Place the tray of biscuits in the preheated oven. Make sure the oven is completely preheated before you put the biscuits in the oven. To cook correctly, biscuits require exposure to high heat for a short period of time.
2. Bake the biscuits for 15 minutes. They're ready when the tops have turned golden brown. Since different ovens run at slightly different temperatures, check the biscuits every few minutes to make sure they don't burn.
3. Serve the biscuits. Biscuits are best served fresh and hot from the oven. You can brush them with melted butter and serve them with jam or honey, or serve them plain as a side dish for stew or fried chicken. They will keep for a day or so in an airtight container.

Video

Template:Video:Make Biscuits

Tips

• Add fun toppings like butter, jelly, jam, or honey. You can also choose to make biscuit sandwiches. Be creative with your biscuit uses- it's a very flexible food.
• You may substitute grease for butter or margarine.^{[citation needed]}

Related Articles

• Make Delicious Biscuits
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Sources and Citations

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