Homemade Biscuits

I first attempted homemade biscuits in junior high school.  We must have been given an assignment to make biscuits at home, because I remember pulling the hard, dense discs from the oven & my dad teasing me about how horrible they were.

That episode was so scarring that I didn't try to make biscuits again until last January. While those biscuits were crispy & buttery, they were still pretty dense. I wanted something flakier and fluffier.

Last week, I decided to finally try homemade biscuits again. I figured that since I've mastered pie crust and am more confident with doughs in general, biscuits would be no big deal. I was wrong. I rolled out the dough too thin (though, the recipe I was following said to roll it out to 1/4 inch thick), and the biscuits didn't really rise. They were flat and crispy, like biscuit cookies.


A complete failure. I was so embarrassed. Thankfully, my Twitter friends were more than helpful with their biscuit tips & recipe links. On Thursday, I mentioned my biscuit disaster while I was working at Kitchen Conservatory, and Anne showed me how it's done (her recipe is below).

Here's what I learned:

• Make sure your baking powder is fresh. Just to be safe, I bought new powder before I tried biscuit-making again.
• Use White Lily flour, which is made with soft winter wheat and has less protein than all-purpose flour.
• Don't knead the dough smooth or roll it out. Instead, mix the dough until just blended & pat it out before cutting. It should be scraggly looking.
• Cut the biscuits out with an actual biscuit-cutter, not the rim of a drinking glass. A glass is too thick and will seal the edges of the biscuits so that they won't rise properly.
• Chill the dough before cutting & baking. Cold dough + hot oven = flaky biscuits.

Flaky, Buttery Biscuits

makes 8-10 biscuits

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 eggs

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix together the flour, baking powder, & salt in a large bowl. 
• Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the butter is the size of dimes. 
• Whisk together the cream & eggs in a small bowl (reserve this bowl when emptied) and stir into the dough with a wooden spoon until just combined. 
• Pat the dough out to one-inch thick on a lightly-floured surface.
• Using a floured biscuit cutter, cut the dough into rounds and place on a lined sheet pan. 
• Brush the tops of the biscuits with the cream/egg mixture that's left in the bowl. 
• Bake until risen & browned, about 10 minutes. 

Next time, I'll try the Cook's Illustrated recipe for tall, fluffy biscuits...which I think would go better with sausage gravy.