the biscuit recipe
Monday, January 31st, 2005I lost this for awhile, but found it again recently. I'm placing it here so I know where it is:
YUMMY FLUFFY BISCUITS
My roommate refers to these as "bomb biscuits."
2 cups flour
4 tsp. double-acting baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into cubes
1 egg
2/3 cup half and half (give or take)
Cardinal rule of biscuit making #1: HOT oven, COLD ingredients.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place an ungreased cookie sheet in the oven.
Combine flour, baking power and salt. Cut butter into flour mixture until the mixture is crumbly (the little butter bits should be pea-sized or smaller). You don't have to be super-quick about this, but you don't want the butter to melt.
Stir in the egg and mix thoroughly. Add about half a cup of the milk. You might have to add more milk to make a good dough - add it sparingly. You want the dough to be malleable and slightly sticky, not dry as bread dough but not pancake batter either. If it gets too sticky, add more flour; too dry, add more milk.
Cardinal rule of biscuit making #2: DON'T knead - "gather" instead.
Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface. Knead the dough by taking it in both hands, drawing your hands apart, then pressing the dough back together. Imagine the dough is an accordian.
Cardinal rule #3: DON'T overwork the dough. Just knead it three or four times until it's uniform.
Roll the dough out until it's about as thick as a box of matches.
Cardinal rule #4: When cutting biscuits, DON'T twist the cutter. Just press it down and enjoy the satisfying pfffft noise the dough makes.
Remove cookie sheet from oven. Cut biscuits with a cutter or a glass (I use a drinking glass). Place biscuits close together on the cookie sheet, but not touching. Bake for 10 or so minutes, or until they're very lightly browned and splitting on the sides.
Cardinal rule #5: Have at least one biscuit IMMEDIATELy, with lots of butter. You made the damned things, and you should have the hottest, lightest, butteriest one.
