In Search of the Perfect Biscuit

It’s cold and snowy here today.  Cold, snowy days just cry out for something baked warm from the oven.  Biscuits and cocoa are the perfect afternoon snack on a day like today and I know my kids will be happy to warm their tummies after school.  This was originally posted on my personal writing blog, which I don’t write much on anymore so I’m sharing it here with you.

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I love bread.  I really love biscuits and muffins.  Ok, if it’s baked in the oven and it’s made with some kind of flour, I probably love it.  You get the picture?

I’ve been on this biscuit kick lately.  I got tired of those bicuits in the can; they just weren’t doing it for me.  One of my hubby’s cousins owns this great restaurant in Grand Junction called “Pufferbelly Station”.  But he makes these killer baking powder biscuits with a secret recipe.  Hubby went with him once when we were visiting to make the dough  (clearly, he was smarter than to invite me to watch him make the biscuits).  I told Hubby to watch closely.  He wasn’t very helpful.  He said it was a big bag of flour and some salt and baking powder and other stuff.

So, I’m inspired to make my own killer baking powder biscuits.  I’ve tried at least a dozen recipes so far.  I even broke my biscuit cutter.  I haven’t found what I want to replace it yet.  It looked like this one, only it was copper–or at least copper colored, and probably as old as me.  My mom gave it to me years ago.  But it finally succumbed to the ravages of time and dough and the little brads that held the thing in the middle and held the handle on finally broke off.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that we used it to make pretzels (yeah, we make fun little round pretzels) but pretzels are another post–you can find it here.  In the meantime, I found a round cookie cutter that works well enough for biscuits (no pretzels, though).

So, I finally found a recipe last week that actually rises like I want them to.  Look at these big beautiful biscuits.  They were so easy and soooo yummy.  Hubby called me after he went back to Colorado to tell me that he wished he taken me up on the offer to make him a batch “to go.”  Guess he’ll just have to wait for his next trip home.

Fluffy, Fluffy Biscuits

12 ServingsPrep/Total Time: 30 min.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup milk

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk egg and milk; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Turn onto a well-floured surface; knead 20 times. Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Place on a

lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake at 450° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Yield: 1 dozen.

Now to note:  I made a double recipe and used a 4-inch round cutter.  I like the BIG biscuits.  It made about a dozen and I needed to cook them for about 15 minutes for them to be completely done in the middle.

I haven’t quite found those perfect biscuits yet, but these are as close as I’ve come so far.