Baking Powder Biscuits

Bread.

 

The staff of life.

 

Breaking bread.

 

“All sorrows are less with bread. ”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

 

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”
― James Beard

 

“The heat of the bread burned into my skin, but I clutched it tighter, clinging to life.”
― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

 

“How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like kleenex?”
― Julia Child

 

“You are the butter to my bread,and the breath to my life”
― Julia Child

 

I love making bread.  I also grew up (a lot of the time) in the South.  Bread then, oftentimes, comes in the form of biscuits.  Now, biscuits can be very personal.  Everyone's Granny has the best recipe.  Some people even say that it is not "from scratch" if you use a spoon or pastry cutter - only use your hands to mix the dough.

 

I like them all.

 

Here is one of my favorite biscuit recipes.  This recipe makes quite a few since we like extras for breakfast the next day.  Feel free to cut it in half.

 

 

Baking Powder Biscuits

 

1 cup shortening

5 1/4 cup flour

2 Tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

2 1/4 cup milk (or buttermilk or half and half or cream)

 

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

 

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients - just whisk them up.

Add the shortening to the flour mixture.  With a pastry cutter, or 2 knives, or your hands, cut or rub in the shortening until it is in pea size chunks.

 

Add the milk to the flour mixture.

With your hands, stir until the dough holds together.

Once it is holding together a bit, knead (just keep it in the bowl) 10 times.  You don't want to over work the dough, it makes it tough.

 

Press the dough into a rectangle, about 3/4 inch thick, onto a lightly floured board.  Cut into rounds, making sure not to twist the cutter.  If you twist the dough cutter it will seal the edges of the dough and it won't rise properly.

 

Place on an ungreased baking sheet (I cover mine with parchment paper but you don't need to) about 1/2 inch apart.

 

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes, or until golden brown.