# Best Biscuit Recipes



## m brown (May 29, 1999)

Greg brought up a great thought on the Arts and Crafts Post,







There aren't enough great biscuits in the world at least not in MN.
(Paraphrased)

So, does anyone have THE best recipe?

Here's one I like to use, very well rounded flavor and light texture

1# 12 oz AP Flour
2 oz Baking powder
3 oz Powder Sugar
4 oz Corn Starch
2 tsp Kosher Salt
12 oz Cold cubed Unsalted Butter

Place in 12 Qt Mixer with Paddle and work on 1st speed until it looks like sand. Then pour in

16 oz Cold Milk
4 each Whole Extra Large Eggs

Let the mixer run for about 3 or 4 min on low speed, scrape if needed. 
Work on a well floured surface by folding the dough over itsself 6 times until
the dough feels like a soft roll dough. Pat down to desired thickness and cut, bake at 400 F for 10 - 15 min. 
Serve hot.

------------------
bake first, ask questions later


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## cookm (Aug 8, 2000)

I like the biscuit recipe in The Breakfast book by Marion Cunningham. Before baking, I like to brush the tops with cream.


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

9# ap flour
1# gran. sugar
8 oz. baking powder
2 oz. salt

4# butter
half gal + 1c milk

Use a typical biscuit technique. This recipe makes about 175 biscuits. 

They're slightly sweet, and freeze beautifully.


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

What about Self Rising Flour?


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## katherine (Aug 12, 2000)

I always use self-rising flour when I'm making biscuits at home in small batches, substituting butter for the shortening called for on the label. They don't sell it around here (Maine), so I buy a couple of bags in Florida when I go to visit my parents every year.

When I'm doing a larger batch at home, I make raised biscuits. You can make them the night before and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight. Just brush the tops and pop them in the oven at 400 in the morning.

Raised biscuits
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1/3 cup butter
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
2 T. sugar
Put dry ingredients in a food processor and process until like flour. Dump into a bowl.

1 cup milk or half-and-half
1 T. yeast
Heat milk to barely warm. Add yeast and allow to rest until yeast is fully bloomed. Stir, then add to dry ingredients, stirring lightly, until they are just moistened and no loose flour remains. Be careful here, you may not need all the milk, or you need to add a little extra. Scrape onto a floured board, form into balls, or roll out and cut. If you roll it out quite large, you can spread the dough with butter, and fold so the finished biscuit comes apart in layers. 
Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet with baking parchment, let rise until doubled. Brush with milk, egg/milk, or egg yolk/cream before baking. Bake until golden.


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## bayou (Jul 30, 2000)

Has anyone else tried the bisquit recipe from "Cook's Illustrated," June 2000, labeled "Quick Cream Bisquits"? The fat used is heavy cream. I've had mixed results so far. Anyone else try these?

2 cups AP flour
2 tspn sugar
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

425 deg. F
rollout to 3/4 in. thickness


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## katherine (Aug 12, 2000)

Bayou--
What didn't you like about the recipe results? I haven't tried this recipe, but in the past when I made cream biscuits from 100% heavy cream, I thought they tasted too greasy, and ended up substituting milk for part of the cream. I like biscuits less rich than some do, so I often cut down on butter, too.


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## bayou (Jul 30, 2000)

Katherine --

Like you, I found this recipe produced rather high-fat tasting bisquits. They were creamy tasting, without the usual buttery taste I actually prefer. And, the thing I liked least about this recipe was that the rise was so inconsistent. I used the same ingredients, same mixing bowl, and the same oven and baking sheet - one time I got very nice rise, next time - flat (like teacakes, lol)

I'm going to try some of the recipees listed above this fall at a hunting camp I've been invited to cook at. "Bisquits for 45-50 hungry hunters!!" I'll let y'all know which recipe they liked best.


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## katherine (Aug 12, 2000)

Oooh, a bicuit tasting! Sounds wonderful.
I can't wait to hear how that turns out.


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## bayou (Jul 30, 2000)

If you never hear back from me .... then, they probably didn't like the bisquits ...


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

Once made angel biscuits, they were like nasty rocks BUT they went wonderfuly with Country Ham on top. Go figure!


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I made angel biscuits in HS home ec...supposedly you can make them and leave the batter in the fridge for 5-7 days....I don't remember being too impressed with our end product....
Don't people in the east beat their biscuits, or at least the dough


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## katherine (Aug 12, 2000)

I'm an Easterner and a Northerner, and I would NEVER! beat biscuits if I wanted them tender. Of course, I'm the only one I know around here who even makes biscuits, so maybe I'm atypical anyway...
If you aren't sure about what your results will be with different untried biscuit recipes, make extra, so if any don't work they can just disappear. Also, a good sausage gravy will hide many faults.


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## bayou (Jul 30, 2000)

OK Katherine - now, how about a good recipe for thet "good sausage gravy."


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## katherine (Aug 12, 2000)

Sausage gravy

For my sausage gravy, I make a white sauce, using sausage drippings instead of butter. Nowadays, sausage is so lean that sometimes I end up adding butter anyway. 
2 tablespoons of sausage drippings
2 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of milk, warm
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Fry flour in sausage drippings for a couple of minutes. Add milk, whisking until smooth and thickened. Season with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Most of the flavor comes from the pepper, so make it spicy. (ok to put it in the blender if the lumps get the best of you)
Split freshly baked biscuits, pour gravy over, and serve with sausage, if it hasn't all been eaten yet. Serves 1-2.

Maybe Shroomgirl was referring to "beaten biscuits" when she talked about beating them. They're something like a thick cracker, I've heard.


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

For cobbler tops I use my basic biscuit and sub heavy cream for milk and use 4 oz powder sugar and 3 oz of starch. yummy.


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## lynne (Oct 6, 2001)

It took me a while to find the proportions, but instead of heavy cream biscuits, consider using sour cream. You don't get the heavy greay feeling and get a good southern biscuit. 

The recipe I've used is

2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup sourcream
1 T. milk (if needed)

Add sour cream to flour to produce a soft dough (add milk if needed). Turn out onto floured surfacr, form dough to 1/2 inch thick and cut biscuits. Ungreased sheets 450 degrees 10-15 minutes.

My best friends mother swore by them.


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## lynne (Oct 6, 2001)

Regarding Beaten Biscuits and Angel's (Brides Biscuits).

From Bill Neal's Southern Cooking; one of the Most Wonderful books on Southern Cooking (he has a wonderful restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC, but his book discusses the South by regions.

Beaten Biscuits

"Beaten Biscuits are a symbol of the Old South, when time and labor weren't luxuries but a way of life. They still appear at fancy parties and especially weddings, sandwiched with wafer thin country ham. At such events, they rarely exceed 1 1/4 inch diameter."

Yield 5-6 dozen

4 c. flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tsp. sugar
3 T. lard
1 c. cold water
1 1/2 T. melted butter

Reccomended equipment includes "mallet, cleaver or rolling pin...

Sift flour, salt and sugar together. Work lard into flour until fat is completely and evenly dispersed. Make a well in the center of mixture , add water all at once and stir with wooden spoon until well mixed. Turn out and knead until dough is smooth, approximately 25 strokes.
Preheat oven to 325. Using 10 strokes at a time, begin beating the dough with a mallet, cleaver or rolling pin into a rectangle approx. 15 by 6 inches. Fold the rectangle into thirds, turn 90 degrees to the right, and repeat. Do this atleast 30 times (300 strokes, or 500 for company). Roll out to 1 inch thickness and cut with a cutter dipped in flour. Place on ungreased baking sheet and brush tops with melted butter. Prick with a fork and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, then raise heat to 350 degrees and bake 10 minutes until slightly browned.

End of quote from page 34-35.


Regarding Angel's biscuits they are a yeast raised biscuit and they shouldn't be dry or hard. (I've also never seen the dough kept...)

Hope this helps with biscuits. Then there are also good ol'fashioned raised or baking powder biscuits to go with that good sausage gravy...


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## nutcakes (Sep 5, 2000)

I made Angel biscuits recently and they were light and yeasty and pleasant. Still like regular biscuits better. Debrah Madison says she likes these made in 1-inch size and paired with ham or guyere cheese, which would make nice party food. They are a snap to put together and one batch would make 50 small, 25 large.

I also made yeasted potato biscuits, which are raised like bread and seemed more like small tender buns. We had these with Non-Sloppy Joes. I thought these were quite good and they reheated beautifully over the next few days.

For regular biscuits, I like a combo of butter and shortening. All butter is good sometimes, but awfully rich and bordering on greasy.

I love to make tender cream biscuits with an egg for use in strawberry shortcakes. Mine do not come out greasy.

Good discussion and am looking forward to trying the sour cream biscuits. The first few recipes make a bit much for me.

[This message has been edited by nutcakes (edited 11-06-2000).]


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

A great recipe for shortcake biscuits comes from Larry Forgione's American Place cookbook. He uses chopped cooked yolks, which makes it rich and flaky.


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## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

I've seen Austrian cake recipes that calls for cooked yolk. I never tried one because frankly the ide doesn't appeal to me. Mormoreg your comment got me curious. Could you please tell me more on the role of cooked yolks in pastry?


Thank you


Sisi


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

Cooked yolks would act as a fat in the mix adding layers without the work to a flaky pastry. Not greasy like butter.


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Exactly. Because they re fat, they add richness, but remain in the mealy form that they had before baking.


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## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

Thank you M Brown and Momoreg for the info. Now that I know why cakes can contain cooked yolks I may just try one Austrian recipe.


Sisi


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## epi (Apr 29, 2009)

Cheesy buttermilk buiscuit

20 oz all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 oz sugar
1 1/4 oz baking powder
-----------------------------------------------
1/2 cup or *1 cup of cheese (*your choice how cheesy u want it)
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7 oz butter (make sure butter is cold)
13 fl oz buttermilk (use volume cup)

*Method*

mix all dry ingredients together
cut the butter in 1/2 cubes
fold butter in the dry ingredients and with your finger tips break the butter into pea size
Add cheese
fold in the buttermilk (do not overmix)
Lightly flour a clean surface and lay dough out
With rolling pin press down to approx. 3/4 -1 inch in thickness
cut circles with a biscuit cutter 
Place biscuit on a lined sheet pan
bake 15 to 18 mins (375 degrees), until risen and golden brown


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## luvpie (Jun 20, 2007)

I just left you a message regarding this recipe.
I think the product will be light and airy due to the corn starch and "showdered pugar". < if you don't know Joyce Landorf, you won't get that but I do...... I'll reply after making these

Forgot to add my favorite, it's a new favorite as I just discovered it a month ago. So good..............


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## luvpie (Jun 20, 2007)

I have a recipe for "cloud" biscuits.
To me, they are heavy and don't come close to resembling a cloud.
But, like you say here, they hold up well under the weight of a good solid energizing gravy.


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