Retro Saturday is a chance to see a blast from the Home Ec 101 past and gives Ivy and I a chance to relax.
Heather says:
I searched high and low. I tried at least a dozen recipes people swear were from Grandma and now I have it. This is the one I recommend to biscuit novices. This is my choice for those who are scared of rolling pins and feel unsure about kneading.
Basic biscuits:
- 2 cups all purpose flour + extra for dusting
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (COLD)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (COLD)+ 2 TBSP
- 1 cup milk
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Melt the 2 TBSP unsalted butter and pour into a 10″ square cake pan. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl thoroughly combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the shortening and grate in the butter. If you have a pastry cutter you can work it in that way, but for novices I find a grater simplifies the process. Do not worry about the little bit that sticks to the grater.
Using your fingers work the shortening and butter into the flour mixture. When it is thoroughly combined it will resemble coarse crumbs.
Add the milk and stir until just combined. The dough will be VERY sticky, that is exactly how it is supposed to be.
Heavily dust your work area and hands with flour. Turn the dough onto the floured surface. Fold each side toward the middle. Pick up the dough, redistribute the flour on your work surface, turn the dough over, and set back down. Once again fold each side to the middle. Pick up the dough and turn it over. Set it down and using your hands, gently press it out until it is about 3/4″ thick.
Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut the dough into 2″ circles. Push the cutter straight into the dough and pull it straight out. It sounds silly, but do not twist the cutter. You can push the scraps together to salvage the last biscuit. One at a time, set each biscuit into the buttered cake pan, then turn over, this gives them a nice buttery topping without having to use a pastry brush.
Bake 15 minutes or until golden.
Yields ~ 9 biscuits
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Despite repeated attempts over the years, I have never perfected the fine art of biscuit-making! I’m not giving up, though, and this recipe sounds like it just might be perfect, will give it a go and let you know!
I have such a hard time with biscuits, because of how sticky the dough is. With my last attempt, I probably had two biscuits worth of dough on my hands and left in the bowl. How do you keep from making a mess?
I am going to give this one a go!
Thanks for sharing.
@Silver – Use a rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl and generously dust your hands with flour before handling any dough.
By rubber, I mean any pliable spatula versus a wooden one. Silicon will work just fine.
Biscuits are the one thing that I buy frozen, that makes me crazy. Nothing is ever “acceptable” to the picky biscuit lovers in my home.
Can’t wait to try this!
I made these last night for dh and I.
I made bacon, egg and cheese biscuits!!
They were fabulous!!
thanks!
Thanks for your recipe ……Thanks for your details…
I will have to try this recipe! My mom was a horrible biscuit maker growing up. She rolled it out with to much flour and then cut them with a drinking glass. Ugh.. I hate rolling out and cutting with a drinking glass and then have to roll out the rest again over and over again. So I roll once into a rectangle and then just draw my knive through them as though I was cutting a cake so i have nice square biscuits. Every one talks about my square biscuits.. nice flaky and buttery.. and not so much work!
I’m actually a novice baker, and I’ve never actually attempted baking biscuits from scratch. The most I’ve done is the pre-made stuff you get from the store which has been good enough until now. I’ve been looking for a biscuit recipe I can use to make fresh bacon and egg biscuits. This recipe you’ve provided sounds like it’ll do the trick. Plus, sometimes I’m just in the mood for good, old fashioned home made biscuits. Thanks.