6 Secrets to Baking Tall, Flaky, Delicious Biscuits

Growing up with a Father who comes from the South often means you have biscuits every Sunday for breakfast. It was no different in our household. While my Mom was known for cooking from scratch, she liked to use Bisquick Baking Mix to make her biscuits. It's a short cut I often used as well when I first started cooking for my family, until I got turned on to homemade biscuits. From that point on, there was no turning back. Sorry Bisquick fans, homemade biscuits are beyond comparison to anything that comes from a box.

 

For years I struggled to make the perfect from-scratch biscuit. I tried recipe after recipe...some using buttermilk, some using regular milk, some with lots of  baking powder others with less, some using all purpose flour others using self-rising....but I was never satisfied. How could I get the tall, flaky, delicious looking biscuits that I've always seen in photos? How could I become a biscuit baking master instead of a biscuit making disaster?

 

Well, I always thought the secret was in the recipe, when actually the secret is in the technique! That's when I unlocked the secrets to making the ultimate homemade biscuits.

 

And voila!! Tall, flaky, beautiful....

1. Always, always, always use cold ingredients. Your butter and milk must be cold. Keep them in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Use a Food Processor. Yep, you heard me. I know a lot of people swear that making them by hand is best, but I've had the best results using a Food Processor.

3. Use the fold technique. That means folding your dough over on each other a few times kind of like a letter. This creates the layers!! But be careful not to overwork or you will heat up the butter in the dough. If, at any point you feel like you've overworked your dough, put it in the fridge for a little while.

4. Use a sharp biscuit cutter! This is an absolute must. A dull biscuit cutter will seal the edges of the dough and prevent rising. For a long time I cut my biscuits using a glass that had a wide rim which I later realized was a no-no.

5. Don't twist when cutting your biscuits! Just press down and lift straight up. If you twist, you're basically sealing the edges which will prevent your biscuits from rising.

6. Don't place your biscuits touching each other. Again, placing the biscuits touching each other may look nice, but you are preventing the biscuits from rising as high as possible.

And there you have it, the secrets I've learned through lots of trial and error. Now go out there and bake some amazing biscuits!! If I can do it, you can too!

 

 

Here's the biscuit recipe I use. It makes 5-6 large biscuits.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup whole milk or buttermilk (buttermilk will add a tangy flavor to your biscuits) *you might not use all of the milk

6 tablespoons very cold, unsalted butter cut into tablespoon size pieces

Extra butter & jam or honey for serving with the warm biscuits

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 450

 

Cut the butter into tablespoon size pieces and place back in the fridge

 

Measure the milk or buttermilk and place back in the fridge

 

Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in the bowl of your food processor and pulse to combine.

 

Sprinkle the butter over the flour and pulse a few times until you have a course meal.

 

Place the flour mixture in a bowl. Pour about 3/4 cup of the milk over the flour and use a rubber spatula to gently combine. A soft dough should form. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more milk around the edges and fold again to combine.

 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently flatten into a small rectangle then starting at the small end, fold one end over onto the other end and gently flatten.  Repeat this process 3 more times. Be careful not to overwork the dough.

 

After folding, gently flatten the dough to about 1 1/2" thick and cut with a sharp biscuit or cookie cutter. Gently reshape the dough and cut again until you have about 5-6 biscuits.

** the biscuits that are made with the reshaped dough won't be as pretty, but they'll taste just as good

 

Place biscuits about 1" apart into a buttered skillet or onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

 

Bake until golden brown. Remove from the oven and top with butter. Serve immediately with extra butter, honey and/or jam if desired.

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Enjoy!!

 

 

 



Cheddar Biscuit Breakfast Sandwiches

One of my family's favorite weekend breakfast dishes is the breakfast sandwich: Fried eggs, slices of bacon, ham or sausage and cheese all sandwiched between buttered toast. This breakfast is great because it can be customized according to the person's tastes and it's portable so you can eat it on the run! This weekend I decided to change it up by using these amazing Cheddar Biscuits instead of toast. The texture of the biscuit was perfect and the saltiness of the sharp cheddar cheese added another dimension of flavor. Feel free to use a mild or medium cheddar if you prefer a milder flavor. You could also add fresh herbs to the dough! Chives would be a great addition.

Cheddar Biscuit Breakfast Sandwiches
Makes 10 large biscuits using 3" biscuit cutter 0r 12 standard size biscuits
Adapted from Food52

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups minus 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
9 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg for egg wash
Toppings - several strips of cooked bacon, slices of cooked ham or cooked sausage patties, sliced cheese, fried eggs

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Refrigerate the mixture for 25 minutes.

Cut the butter into chunks and leave out at room temp while the flour mixture is chilling.

When the dry ingredients are finished chilling, place the flour mixture, butter and cheese in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Mix on low until the chunks of butter are no larger than a large pea. This may take up to 1-2 minutes. If you don't have an electric stand mixer, you can use a pastry cutter for this process. Cut the butter into the flour, then add the cheese and toss to coat.

Add the buttermilk to the bowl and mix on low just until a dough forms. This literally only took about 10 seconds. Do not overmix.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Coat your hands with flour and knead for a few seconds to bring the dough together then quickly and gently pat into a disk about 1/2" - 3/4" thick.

Using a biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut the biscuits using a quick up and down motion. Do not twist when you cut your biscuits. Twisting seals the edges which can prevent them from rising.

Gently reshape dough scraps to cut additional biscuits but do not do this more than once otherwise those biscuits will be tough.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1-2" apart.

At this point you can refrigerate your biscuits for about 20 minutes if you feel you may have overworked your dough during the kneeding/shaping process.

Remove from the fridge and brush lightly with egg wash (1 egg with a splash of water whisked together).

Bake at 400 for approximately 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and allow biscuits to sit on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes then remove and serve warm!

I made mine into breakfast sandwiches using sliced cheese, cooked bacon and/or ham, topped with a fried egg. Add sauce of your choice (butter, mustard...)

Leftover biscuits can be stored at room temperature tightly covered for one day. Reheat in oven or in the microwave for a few seconds.

You can also freeze the biscuits and bake directly from the freezer as needed. After placing the biscuits on the baking sheet and applying the egg wash, place the entire baking sheet in the freezer. When the biscuits are completely frozen, remove from the baking sheet and place in freezer bags. When ready to use, remove from freezer, brush with egg wash and proceed as below but increase baking time as needed).

Tip: If you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can make sour milk youself. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar for each cup of milk. Allow to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. You can also use fresh lemon juice instead of the vinegar.

Also if you don't like fried eggs, you can just use scrambled egggs or you can whisk a bunch of eggs with milk, salt & pepper, pour into a greased baking dish and bake until the eggs are set then cut and place on your biscuits!

Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

It was my boss's birthday and I needed a savory breakfast dish to bring for a potluck since I knew most of the group would be bringing pastries. Faye and I have been making a savory muffin recipe using refrigeratged biscuit dough for a few years now, but I needed to make something quick and less time consuming. Well, sometimes experiments end up being the best thing ever! I took the same basic ingredients in the savory muffin recipe and made a Strata instead. Based on the comments I received from co-workers, this recipe is definitely a keeper. So the next time you need a quick breakfast casserole dish, give this one a try. It's fast, easy and full of flavor!

Savory Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:
4-5 refrigerated biscuits (I used flakey)
2 T vegetable oil
1 c diced ham
3/4 c diced red bell pepper
3 green onions, chopped
1 c fresh spinach, chopped
6 large eggs
1 c milk
1 tsp oregano
salt & pepper to taste
1 c shredded cheese (mexican-style blend)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Spray 9x9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray

Cut each biscuit into four pieces and line the baking dish with the biscuit pieces. There will be spaces in between but the biscuits will expand during the baking process. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Whisk to combine.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Saute the ham, onions and red bell pepper until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped spinach and season with salt and pepper to taste. Saute briefly, approx 1-2 minutes just to wilt the spinach. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Spoon the ham mixture evenly over the biscuit lined baking dish. Pour the egg mixture into the baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake approx 20 minutes uncovered. At this point, the biscuits should be golden brown. Cover with foil  (this will prevent the biscuits from becoming too brown) and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove and serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!