- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (3
teaspoons)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup shortening
- 2/3 cup milk or buttermilk or yogurt
First get out your big bowl. Put the flour,
baking powder and salt into the bowl. Drop
in the shortening and use your fingers to
casually mix it in with the dry ingredients.
Don't get too serious about it because it is
better to under mix at this point than over
mix. There should still be a few lumps of
shortening, the size of peas, or even a
little bigger. Two minutes or less of mixing
should do it. Next add the milk. Stir it up
into a soft dough. On dry days you may need
another spoonful or two of milk. Form the
dough into a soft ball. Get a piece of waxed
paper and lay it on your counter. Sprinkle
the waxed paper with a little bit of flour.
Place the dough ball on the flour and knead
it exactly 10 times. No more, no less. This
activates the gluten in the flour just
enough, but not too much. Next flatten out
the dough with a rolling pin or your hands
so it is about 3/4" thick. Cut into biscuit
shapes with a biscuit cutter, or the rim of
a clean cup or can. I use a tomato paste can
for small biscuits and a tuna can for large
biscuits. Works really well. Lay the
biscuits onto a cookie sheet or pizza pan
and bake them at 425° for 10 to 15 minutes,
depending on their size. Makes about a dozen
medium sized biscuits. You can brush them
with melted margarine when you take them
from the oven if you want them to look
pretty when they arrive at the table.
Cheese Biscuits: These are made
simply by adding a cup of cheese to the
flour after you mix in the shortening, right
before adding the milk. Cut into smallish
biscuits and cook as directed. They are
really good with spaghetti or lasagna.
Bacon Biscuits: Add 1/3 cup of soy
bacon bits to the flour right after adding
the shortening. Cut into small circles and
bake as directed. These are good for snacks
or as a quick breakfast on the go.
Drop Biscuits: Substitute melted
shortening or oil for the solid shortening.
Increase the milk to almost a full cup. Stir
it into the flour making a sticky dough.
Drop the biscuits by small spoonfuls onto an
oiled cookie sheet. Bake as directed. These
used to be called Emergency Biscuits,
in my grandmother's day, because they could
be made in such a hurry. They still make
their appearance most often when I have
forgotten to plan a hot bread to go with
lunch or supper.
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