Homemade biscuits: easier than you think

Can we all agree that biscuits are delicious? Plain, slathered with butter or jam or honey, or as part of a breakfast sandwich, biscuits are versatile and a delightful way to start your Saturday morning. Biscuits also have a reputation for being something difficult to make at home. But that’s not really true. We’ve been using the Joy of Cooking‘s biscuit recipe for years, and it’s quite straightforward. The only things you need to remember are: keep your butter cold, don’t be afraid to get your hands messy, and serve the biscuits fresh out of the oven.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

6 T. cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 c. milk

Recipe

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Drop in all the pieces of butter. With your fingers, toss the pieces of butter in the flour, making sure to break the pieces apart and coat all sides of each piece. Keep working until all the pieces are pea-sized and coated with flour.

Add milk and mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until most of the dry ingredients are moistened. With a lightly floured hand, gather the dough into a ball and press it together gently, turning and pressing the dough ball 5-6 times until all the dough in the bowl has come together.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. With your hands, gently press the dough into a 1/2 inch thick layer. Cut out 2-inch rounds with a drinking glass or biscuit cutter dipped in flour. Push the cutter straight down into the dough and pull it out without twisting. You can reroll the scraps and cut additional biscuits.

Place biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet at least 1 inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes until biscuits are golden brown. Serve hot.

Notes

– Cut your butter into very small pieces before you throw it in the flour. It’ll be easier to quickly coat the pieces in flour before the butter gets too soft.

– Buy a biscuit cutter. It’s like a cookie cutter, but taller and circular. You can purchase varying diameters depending on how large you like to make your biscuits. It’s an inexpensive kitchen tool that will make cutting your biscuits much less frustrating.

– Melt some salted butter and brush it on the tops of your biscuits halfway through baking, and again right after they come out of the oven. It’ll give your biscuits that finishing touch of buttery, crunchy goodness.