BISCUITS FOR TWO

Mary, over at One Perfect Bite recently posted a recipe for "Biscuits for two". What a great idea for single people, for small families and empty-nesters alike.  I can't tell you how many biscuits I've thrown away because they got stale before we could eat them all, but not anymore!!  This recipe is excellent; thank you Mary!!

This quick and easy recipe

makes four delicious biscuits.

 

1 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2  teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 cup shortening (I used COLD butter)

1/2 cup 2% milk

 

Preheat oven to 450° (I baked mine at 400°) and grease a baking sheet.

 

Mix the dry ingredients together, then cut in the shortening (or cold butter) until it looks like coarse crumbs.

 

Add milk and stir just until everything is moistened. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead 8-10 times. Dough might seem a little sticky at first, but it will come together nicely after you knead it a few times.

 

Pat or roll dough to 1/2" thickness and cut with floured 2 1/2" biscuit cutter (the floured rim of a drinking glass will work too).

 

Bake 10-12 minutes (I baked mine a few minutes longer because I reduced the heat to 400°. 

 

I brushed mine with butter when they were hot out of the oven. Makes 4 biscuits.

BISQUICK CLONE RECIPE

I found a recipe, recently, that I really wanted to try, however, it called for 1 cup of commercial Bisquick, an item I don't usually stock in my pantry.  I wasn't too keen on buying a whole box of Bisquick (when I only needed a cup of it) so I went Internet surfing for a Bisquick clone recipe.

I found several but they all called for shortening (not exactly what I was looking for). Then I found the following recipe, which uses Canola oil (on http://www.food.com/ )  I used it to make biscuits for dinner tonight and we were VERY pleased with the light, flaky results. They were very similar to commercial Bisquick biscuits (picky-picky husband said the were much better than Bisquick) and you can NOT beat the convenience!! I intend to keep a canister of this mix in my pantry from now on.

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled and I love that the ingredients are always on hand.

BISQUICK CLONE MIX

4½ cups all purpose flour
4 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons Canola oil

Whisk everything together (I used my stand mixer with the whisk attachment) but a hand whisk would work just as well, it will look like this.

Store this mixture in a container with a tight fitting lid (at room temperature) for up to 6 weeks. Use it exactly like you would for ANY recipe that calls for Bisquick (biscuits, muffins, pancakes, pot pie crusts, etc.). It not only saves a lot of money, but it tastes great too!!

BISCUITS (makes 6)

2¼ cups Bisquick Clone Mix
2/3 cup milk

Mix with a spoon until it comes together, then turn out onto your counter that has been dusted with a little more of the dry mix (don't use flour). Knead lightly 10 times, then pat to 1/2" thick. Cut with 2½" biscuit cutter. Place on greased cookie sheet (I use parchment) and brush with melted butter. The melted butter is optional, but we like them that way.

Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes (my electric oven took 12 minutes).

I found a neat Bisquick recipe site that has lots of interesting recipes: CLICK HERE

SUNDAY MORNING FLUFFY BISCUITS

I have been biscuit "challenged" for many years, so when I'm in a hurry, I usually resort to a tube of commercial rolls and try to jazz them up, but they are pretty unmistakable (and getting expensive!!). 

The last few years, I've tried out a lot of biscuit recipes, in hopes of finding the perfect one; one that is flavorful, light, fluffy and EASY............here is my latest success...YUM!!!

Made with baking powder, baking soda, buttermilk AND yeast, these biscuits are light and fluffy. Hot out of the oven with butter and honey, they are a winner!!!

In a small bowl, mix 1 packet of dry active yeast, a pinch of sugar and ¼ cup of warm water (set aside). After a few minutes, it should be foamy like this:

2½ cups of all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of white sugar
6 tablespoons Crisco flavored shortening
1 cup buttermilk (see note)

Stir dry ingredients together and then cut in the shortening until it is about the size of small peas. Stir in the dissolved yeast and buttermilk. Mix well, but do not over mix. Turn out onto floured board and roll to ¾” thick. Cut with a 3” biscuit cutter. Place on parchment paper and bake in preheated 400° oven for 12-14 minutes or until nice and golden. Brush with melted butter when they come out of the oven; they make fantastic breakfast sandwiches!!

NOTE: No kneading needed.

NOTE: This recipe does not work as well if you use butter instead of shortening. I use butter flavored Crisco in all my recipes that call for shortening.

NOTE: Don't be tempted to use your food processor when cutting in the shortening, it will process the shortening to much, it is better to have larger pieces of butter than super fine. I use my pastry cutter.

NOTE: Do NOT add all of the buttermilk at once. Add about 2/3 of it and see if that is enough. Personally, I think 1 cup of milk is too much, but everyone’s flour is different. Just flour your board enough so that the biscuits are not sticky.

NOTE: If you don’t have parchment paper, spray your pan with vegetable spray.

NOTE: Don’t use a twisting motion when you are cutting your biscuits. It seals off
the edges and they won’t raise very high.

WHIPPING CREAM BISCUITS

I am fairly successful when it comes to baking with yeast, however, biscuits have been one of my big failures for many years. Every so often, I try various biscuit recipes in hopes of finding a good one. After each attempt, Hubby tells me "I like whomp biscuits" better (it is humiliating!!)

Are you familiar with "whomp biscuits"? They go "whomp" when you hit them on the edge of the counter to pop the tube open. Personally, they aren't my favorite, but Hubby likes them (Pillsbury Grands).

Last week, I made Paula Deen's cream biscuits for breakfast. Because the recipe has only THREE ingredients (self rising flour, sugar and whipping cream), I didn't have very high expectations, but they turned out GREAT!! The biscuits were light, moist, tasty and oh so quick. I used them to make some ham and egg sandwiches and Hubby actually liked them!!

2 cups self rising flour (see note)
1 tablespoon sugar
1½ cups heavy whipping cream


Mix all 3 ingredients together until dough forms a ball. Turn out onto lightly floured counter and knead 5 to 7 times. Pat dough out to ½ inch thickness and cut biscuits with a 3 inch cutter. Place on greased baking sheet (with 1" between biscuits) and bake at 500F for 10 minutes

NOTE: I never have self rising flour, so for EACH CUP of self rising flour, I substitute 1 cup of all purpose flour + 1¼ teaspoon baking powder + 1/8 teaspoon salt.

NOTE: I brushed my biscuits with butter when them came out of the oven.