What exactly is a biscuit? The word “bis” and “cuit” is derived from Latin and means twice baked. It was first used in the Middle Ages. Long before that, however, cracker-like “biscuits” appeared all over the world. They were usually thin crisps and were made from a variety of grains depending on the part of the world. Today, the term “biscuit” still means different things in different places. In most of the U.S. what we refer to as a biscuit is a “southern biscuit,” which is a mixture of flour, fat, a leavening agent, and liquid. Biscuits are a mainstay here in Texas. And I love them!
When I was a kid, not living in Texas, the only biscuits I knew were Bisquick biscuits. My mom made them to go with cans of Campbell’s tomato soup. In my early twenties, when I moved to the Dallas area, I learned about “real” biscuits. Restaurants in this area are judged solely by the quality of the biscuits. How well they may or may not do anything else is not relevant.
I have my favorite biscuit recipe. It comes from Heidi Swanson’s cookbook Super Natural Everyday. Swanson’s recipe is not difficult, but it requires several ingredients and a bit of work to create tall flaky biscuits. I will admit that I was a bit skeptical when I read King Arthur Flour’s recipe for Never-Fail Biscuits, which require only two ingredients! Because I love biscuits and because in my mind, with a little butter and jelly or maybe gravy, biscuits constitute an entire meal, I figured I’d give this recipe a try. Anything that uses only two ingredients certainly must be quick and easy. The real question though, do the biscuits taste good?!
One of the two ingredients required is self-rising flour. That is one flour that I don’t normally keep on hand, so I had to make my own from regular all-purpose flour and baking powder. By needing flour and baking powder, my biscuits are now up to three ingredients. This is the link to a King Arthur Flour article on the proportions needed for making your own self-rising flour.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/homemade-self-rising-flour-recipe
Making your own self-rising flour is certainly no big deal and most of us always have flour and baking powder on hand. The second ingredient (or third in my case) needed is heavy whipping cream. With this comes the requisite fat and liquid. And there you have it. Biscuit dough! I used equal parts by weight of the flour and cream. This worked perfectly. I am also including a link to a “measured” recipe as well.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/never-fail-biscuits-recipe
Funny thing that Tracey and I discovered when discussing this week’s recipe…I always make rolled and cut biscuits, never drop biscuits. Tracey has never made rolled and cut biscuits. So that we each had a new experience, we worked out of our comfort zones this week. Though either recipe can made as either drop or rolled and cut, I made drop biscuits and she rolled and cut hers. I enjoyed the drop biscuits with a little butter and jelly, but I think I am a rolled biscuit kind of girl. I guess I am a control freak because I like the consistent round shape of the cut biscuits a little better than the moon rock shape of the drop biscuits. The taste is no different…delicious either way! Rolled or drop is simply personal preference, or one that may be dictated by how you wish to “use” your biscuits.
Either way, biscuits are just an all-around good down-home comfort food. With butter and jelly, sausage gravy, as a side with your favorite soup or stew, or with a little butter and cinnamon sugar as a sweet treat, they warm the belly and the heart. The dozen biscuits that I made didn’t last long here at all! We have a house full of warmed bellies and hearts!
With this, our first Food Friday post of 2017, we wish you and those you love a happy and well-nourished new year!
from TraceyG
I will admit it – I have never ever made biscuits that you roll out and cut. I’d always been a drop-biscuit girl, because, (don’t laugh!) for some reason it seemed intimidating! Ha ha! I have no idea why! And then, I imagine because I’ve always made drop-biscuits, it had gotten to the point where I never even thought about making them the roll-out and cut method. So, when Kris and I discussed what to make, and decided on biscuits, I thought “That’s it! I’m making roll out and cut biscuits!” And that’s just what I did.
Enter King Arthur Flour’s recipe for Easy Self-Rising Biscuits. I conveniently had KAF Self Rising Flour on hand, from one of our other recipes we’d made. I’d had to purchase it through their website, as it was not to be found anywhere in any of my local stores. So, I was all set! Grab the butter & shortening, the buttermilk powder and get the show on the road!
The recipe says you can use butter or shortening – and since I doubled the recipe (as I know the eaters around here, and only a dozen would not be enough, lol), I used a combination of butter AND shortening. The recipe also gives you the option of using milk or buttermilk. Well, I was out of milk (Harry used the last bit on his cereal this morning!), I opted for my buttermilk powder – you add it to the dry ingredients then use water in the amount of buttermilk called for, it’s pretty handy to have around.
But moving right along, you cut in the butter or shortening (or both!) until the crumbs are about the size of peas. You add your liquid and stir until it comes together and leaves the sides of the bowl. Now, my batch was a wee bit sticky, lol. I had to really add a bunch of flour to my “kneading” step, but they still turned out, with no ill effects. After I folded it upon itself a few times, I patted it out a bit, then rolled it to about a 1/2-inch thick, and used my cutter. I got 18 out of a double batch because my cutter was a 3-inch round instead of a 2-inch round. And that’s ok with me!
I’m here to tell you that it was fun and easy-peasy!! I was so excited that my first-ever try at rolling out the biscuit dough turned out perfectly! Very encouraging and confidence building, lol. Not to mention extremely yummy to eat! I can honestly say these will now hold a special place in my recipe repertoire!