This is the recipe for making classic,
old-fashioned homemade, sweet milk baking powder biscuits. For
a tender biscuit with a slight tangy flavor, check out the recipe
for a down-home southern favorite, Buttermilk
Biscuits.
Baking Powder Biscuits
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
About 3/4 cup milk
Melted butter for brushing tops of biscuits
- Preheat oven to 425°F ( 220°C).
- In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking
powder, sugar and salt. Cut in the shortening using a pastry
blender until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal.
- Using a fork, stir in just enough milk
so that dough leaves side of bowl and rounds up into a ball.
(Too much milk will result in sticky dough, too little and biscuits
will be dry.)
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured
surface and knead lightly a few times, about 30 seconds.
- Roll to 1/2 to 3/4-inch thickness and
cut with a floured 2-inch biscuit or cookie cutter. Place on
a lightly greased baking sheet about 1-inch apart for crusty
sides, or together for soft sides.
- Brush tops liberally with melted butter.
- Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly
browned. Remove immediately from baking sheet and serve hot.
Makes about 1 dozen biscuits.
Cook's Note: There's no law that says biscuits
have to be round. For quicker, easier biscuits, roll dough into
a 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick rectangle and cut evenly into square
biscuits. This eliminates having to re-roll the scraps when using
a biscuit cutter.
