There's an art to making good biscuits. It's not as simple as buying a box of bisquick and following the recipe on the back. I've been searching for YEARS for the recipe that creates those mile high, flaky biscuits you seen in pinterest pictures, or at the least, match canned pillsbury biscuits. It turns out that it's not just the recipe I had to find, but also the technique! This recipe was adapted straight up from my Betty Crocker cookbook (with the minor substitution on self rising flour instead of all purpose), but my technique was adapted from numerous blogs out there on how to make those fluffy, flaky biscuits. The recipe is at the end, but let me first give you the picture book, step by step technique I used that succeeded and made me and my whole family happy, happy, happy....
First, you need to mix the dry ingredients together. Whisk together for a fluffy, well blended flour mixture.
For this next step, you need REAL butter and you need it to be COLD. Like, maybe even freeze it for a little while cold. Get out your cheese grater and FINELY shred that buttery goodness into the flour mixture. Blend it in with a whisk a little at a time.
This is what is should look like after your flour and butter are whisked together. A little crumbly looking, but still powdery. Now, we want to keep that butter in there cold. I stuck that bowl in the freezer for a few minutes, rinsed dishes, and prepared for the next steps.
Make a well in the flour mix and pour in cold milk. Stir lightly until just mixed, but do not over mix! I succeed at doing this by telling myself to be lazy about it.
Spoon the dough out onto a floured surface...
Sprinkle some flour on top and roughly flatten the dough.
Here's the important part. The secret to flaky, layered biscuits. Fold the biscuit dough in half and lightly press down. You want it to bind together, but not mush.
Turn dough and fold again. You want to make sure all the sides get folded. Fold and press dough a total of 10 times. No more, no less.
Now get your rolling pin out and flatten that dough out to about an inch thickness.
Get your biscuit cutter out and note these instructions as they are the second most important to mile high, flaky biscuits. Punch your cutter into the dough, then out. DO NOT twist! Twisting the cutter in the dough seals the edges and prevents the biscuit edges from rising. You can shake the cutter a little when punching it in to help separate the biscuit from the rest of the dough, just no twisting. Pull the cutter out and gently take the biscuit and place it onto a cookie sheet.
Another important note: Get as many biscuits out of the dough as you possibly can without remolding the dough together. I only re-kneaded the dough together once to get the last few biscuits out I could. The more kneading you do at this point, the less flaky and good the biscuits would be. Just trust me.
Another important note: Get as many biscuits out of the dough as you possibly can without remolding the dough together. I only re-kneaded the dough together once to get the last few biscuits out I could. The more kneading you do at this point, the less flaky and good the biscuits would be. Just trust me.
The hard part is over! Now you need to decide if you want to freeze these biscuits for later use, or bake them immediately. If baking, keep in the fridge until the oven is preheated, then bake. If freezing, stick the pan into the freezer for an hour for the biscuits to harden a little (not too long or they will dry out!). Take the biscuits out of the freezer, bag, and refreeze until you are ready to bake.
I hope you enjoy! I like to make sausage biscuits in the mornings with these delights. Sometimes I'll eat one sausage biscuit, and one biscuit with jelly. But if I do that, I have to eat a smoothie for lunch to make myself feel better about my excess breakfast choices (worth it).
I hope you enjoy! I like to make sausage biscuits in the mornings with these delights. Sometimes I'll eat one sausage biscuit, and one biscuit with jelly. But if I do that, I have to eat a smoothie for lunch to make myself feel better about my excess breakfast choices (worth it).
Flaky, high rising Biscuits
Instructions:
The Three Main Secrets for PERFECT Biscuits:
1. Use frozen, grated butter to mix thoroughly into the dough.
2. Fold the dough into itself TEN times. No more. No less.
3. Do NOT twist the biscuit cutter when cutting out the biscuits.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour and sugar together.
- With a cheese grater, finely grate the butter into the flour mixture, whisking together after every half cup of butter is grated. Place bowl in the freezer when done grating and mixing. (The flour should be crumbly.)
- If baking immediately, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees and measure out 1 1/2 cups of milk.
- Take flour mix out of the freezer and whisk a well into the center. Pour the milk slowly into the well, and mix until JUST combined.
- Spoon dough out onto a floured surface, sprinkle flour on top of dough, and pat down.
- Fold dough in half and turn. Fold again, turn. Do this 10 times, then roll out into an inch thickness with a rolling pin.
- Cut biscuits out and place them onto a non-stick cookie sheet. (Remember not to twist the cutter into the dough!)
- You can bake biscuits immediately for 10 - 12 minutes, or move onto the next step if freezing.
- Freeze biscuits on cookie sheet for an hour. Take out of freezer, bag, and refreeze.
- When you want to eat the biscuits, take out of freezer and put them onto a cookie sheet to sit while the oven warms up to 450 degrees. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
The Three Main Secrets for PERFECT Biscuits:
1. Use frozen, grated butter to mix thoroughly into the dough.
2. Fold the dough into itself TEN times. No more. No less.
3. Do NOT twist the biscuit cutter when cutting out the biscuits.