Biscuits from Scratch

When I was a little girl, my mom would occasionally make biscuits from scratch.  I was probably about 8-years-old when she taught me to make them, and from then on, the biscuit making usually fell to me since I loved to bake.  Once you get the hang of it, it takes hardly any time to make them, and they are so much better than their store-bought counterparts.

 

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 stick butter
2/3 cup milk

 

1. Preheat oven to 450° F.

2. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium-sized bowl.

3. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles course crumbs.  This is easier if you cut the butter into smaller pieces before adding it to the flour mixture.  If you do not have a pastry cutter, you can use two forks or two knives to achieve the same thing.

5. Add milk and mix completely.  Be careful not to overwork the dough.  Once the dough is mostly mixed together, I will usually kneed it a couple times in order to avoid over working it by stirring too much.  Just a couple presses with your hands will finish pulling the dough together.  The picture below shows the point at which I stop stirring.

6. Place dough onto a well-floured surface and roll out to 1/4 inch thick.

 

7. Use a biscuit cutter or glass to cut circles from the dough.  It helps to dip your cutter in flour to keep the dough from sticking.  If you use a glass, be sure to lower it into the flour slowly.  Place the circles as close together as possible to minimize re-rolling the dough.

8. Press the scraps of dough back together, roll it out, and cut.  It is best to only do this once, since overworking the dough will cause your biscuits to be tough.  Whatever scraps are left over after this step can be pressed into biscuits by hand.  I usually have just enough for a single wonky biscuit.

9. Place biscuits on a stone or greased baking sheet.

 

10. Bake at 450° F for 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden on top.