I grew up eating biscuits out of can. You had to whack the can on the edge of the cabinet-top to get it open. Those were okay but when Bisquick came along, I began to realize those canned biscuits were not all that great. It was only when I was first married and had to stretch every penny that I tried making biscuits from scratch. I tried a lot of recipes before I bought my first can of Clabber Girl baking powder. When I tried the recipe on the back of the can, I knew I could never go back to canned or Bisquick biscuits. Fresh, homemade biscuits are simply devine.
Baking Powder Biscuits
On the back of the Clabber Girl baking powder can, is this recipe for biscuits. Though there are many imitations, this is still the best.
Equipment
- bowl, two table knives, biscuit cutter, cookie sheet or pie tin
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup shortening or butter cold
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
- Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Cut in the cold shortening or butter and mix in so the mixture looks like small clumps.
- Then add the milk and stir together using a fork.
- Knead the biscuit dough a little by flattening the dough with your hands and folding it over several times. It does not need much kneading and it is important to not overhandle the dough.
- Once you have kneaded a bit, pat dough into a circle and them roll to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out biscuits with a biscuit cutter or use a cup or glass with a fairly thin rim dusted with a little flour.
- Place biscuits on a cookie sheet or a pie tin. Grease if you prefer a crusty bottom crust on your biscuits.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Yields about 12 biscuits.
Notes
To cut the shortening or butter in, take two table knives, one in each hand. Put the tips down in the mixture on opposite sides of the bottom of the bowl. Pull the knives toward one another. Continue to do this "scissoring" action until the flour-shortening mixture resembles small peas or clumps.
Or, use a pastry blender or, if you have one, a food processor to incorporate the shortening into the flour mixture.
Biscuit dough that is handled too much creates tough biscuits.