Homemade Biscuits

Homemade Biscuits are so incredibly easy no one should ever have to buy 'canned' biscuits from the store!

I remember my first attempts to make biscuits as an 18 year old new bride. They weren't pretty. I had only 1 real 'cookbook' at the time, given to us as a wedding gift by a friend. Using the cookbook, I kneaded the dough like it said to... and ended up with hockey pucks. Rock hard inedible pucks.

I only tried to make biscuits a couple more times over the years and both times were disheartening. They were edible for the first 5 minutes out of the oven but as they cooled, they hardened.

By 1996 I had hundreds of recipes and cookbooks but I still was a bit shy about making biscuits. What gave me hope was using a cookbook put out by the woman who played the Wicked Witch on The Wizard of Oz (Margaret Hamilton) to make a homemade turkey pot pie.
My crust for the pot pie was basically a homemade biscuit recipe but it was tender and flakey, not at all hard like my biscuits. This gave me hope. It wasn't me, it was the recipes I was using.

Around that time I stumbled on another recipe for biscuits and noticed this one said NOT to knead the dough. You 'pat' it into a rectangle but after mixing, there was no kneading. I knew this was similar to what I did with the pot pie recipe so I gave it and go. And? I've been making them ever since. This has been our favorite recipe for the last 10 and-a-half years. I suspect I'll be making it at least 20 more.

BISCUITS

2 c flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 T sugar
1/4 c butter, cold
3/4 c milk

Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and stir or whisk together. Add the butter in pieces (I grate mine with a cheese grater) and 'cut in' until crumbly using your fingers. Stir in the sugar and add the milk all at once. Mix with a fork until it holds together. Remove the dough and pat into a 1 inch high rectangle or circle with your hands on a lightly floured surface. Using a biscuit cutter or a circle cookie cutter cut straight down, do not twist! You can use a knife and slice the dough into squares if you don't have a cutter. Place on an ungreased pan. Brush with melted butter if you prefer and bake 12-15 minutes at 450.

These biscuits are so tender they can wrapped and reheated the next day.