Baking Powder Biscuits
These are great! Nice and easy, and light and yummy. I get about 16 biscuits with this recipe. I like the versatility as well. I add cheese or garlic; whatever hits me at the time. I almost always add extra sugar.
These are great! Nice and easy, and light and yummy. I get about 16 biscuits with this recipe. I like the versatility as well. I add cheese or garlic; whatever hits me at the time. I almost always add extra sugar.
- Carbohydrate 0.3961 g
- Cholesterol 0.203333333333333 mg
- Fat 0.0500708333333333 g
- Fiber 0.00230000003427267 g
- Protein 0.085025 g
- Saturated Fat 0.03194875 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Biscuit (4g)
- Sodium 164.482833333333 mg
- Sugar 0.393799999965727 g
- Trans Fat 0.00203333333333333 g
- Calories 2 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease two 8-inch cake pans.
- Put the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl.
- Cut in the shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Add the milk all at once and stir just until the dough forms a ball around the fork.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead 14 times.
- Pat until 1/2-inch thick.
- Cut into rounds with a 2-inch cookie cutter.
- Place, touching each other, in the cake pans and bake for 15-20 minutes.
- CRUSTY BISCUITS.
- Roll biscuits to 1/4-inch thick and place 1-inch apart in pan.
- Bake in a 450 degree oven for 12 minutes.
- Yields almost double the biscuits.
- BUTTERMILK BISCUITS.
- Use 2/3 cup buttermilk instead of sweet milk, 1/2 teaspoons baking soda and only 2 teaspoons baking powder.
- CHEESE BISCUITS.
- Add 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese to dry ingredients.
- DROP BISCUITS.
- Add additional 1/3 cup milk and use a baking sheet.
Unlike a laminated croissant or an enriched brioche that remains soft through sheer butter content, quick breads built on vegetable shortening lose their crumb moisture rapidly once cooled. Chemical leaveners like baking powder produce carbon dioxide gas upon contact with liquid and heat, creating an initial aeration that degrades entirely by the second day if the baked rounds sit uncovered on a kitchen counter. Furthermore, the interaction between the alkaline baking powder and the acidic components in standard milk relies on immediate thermal activation in a 425-degree oven to set the starch matrix before the gas dissipates.
- Store completely cooled rounds in an airtight container at room temperature for no longer than 48 hours to prevent total starch retrogradation.
- Revive day-old specimens by brushing the exterior lightly with water and wrapping them in aluminum foil before placing them into a 350-degree oven for exactly 8 minutes.
- Slice stale leftovers horizontally to use as a sturdy base for skillet stratas or savory bread puddings that require a dense crumb structure to absorb liquid without disintegrating entirely.
- If freezing unbaked cutouts, flash-freeze them on a baking sheet for 60 minutes before transferring them to a heavy-duty freezer bag for up to one month.
Proper moisture management turns disappointing day-old quick bread into a viable component for savory breakfast strata. Reintroducing heat via a covered thermal environment softens the compressed crumb effectively.
