Mad Hungry: Flaky Buttery Biscuits

This is my first year making sucessful biscuits and now I wonder what took me so long to figure it out?  Biscuits are so easy because they don't require alot of fussing.  Just throw them together, mix only until combined, plop them onto a baking sheet, put them in the oven and there you have it.  Perfection.  My failure at previous attempts was handling the dough way too much.

This has become our families favourite biscuit recipe.  It is so easy to whip up a batch of these to have with our meals.  The outside crust is flaky, yet firm, while the inside is so soft it melts in your mouth.  Use any leftovers to make sandwiches the next day for lunch.  I simply love these biscuits.

FLAKY BUTTERY BISCUITS
from the book Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys
Makes 12 small biscuits

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use 1-1/2 cups spelt flour, 1/4 cup wheat germ)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter cut into small pieces
3/4 cup milk (see headnote)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Butter or line a baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a fork or 2 table knives, combine the butter and flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal. Slowly add the milk, stirring with a fork, to the desired consistency.

For softer biscuits, drop 2 tablespoons of the dough onto the lined baking sheet. For firmer biscuits, turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface and gently knead just to bring the dough together. Carefully roll out the dough about 3/4 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter or sturdy glass, cut about 12 biscuits, rerolling any scraps. Place on the lined baking sheet.

(The biscuits can be frozen at this point. Freeze on the baking sheet, then remove to a resealable container or plastic bag for easier storage.)  Bake the biscuits for 13 to 15 minutes (add 3 to 4 additional minutes for frozen ones), until golden brown. Cool slightly and serve warm.

Printable Recipe

Happily submitted to Family Friendly Fridays over at Mommie Cooks! (today she shares how she made animal crackers from scratch!)

Enjoy!


Speaking of boys, this is one of our 4 year old son's favourite activities while Mum bakes.  Place a scoop or two of flour on a baking sheet and let him run his cars through it.  I keep a bag of cheap flour in the cupboard just for this activity.  When he has a friend over, I give them each their own cookie sheet full of flour.

Amish Cook's Mystery Biscuits

My mother is famous for her baking soda biscuits.  Me, not so much.  So what is one to do when you love them, but your mother lives thousands of miles away?  You just gotta figure out how to do it on your own.  So, I turned to my favourite Amish cookbook for a simple recipe for biscuits and found these beauties.

One of the key's to a fluffy biscuit is not to handle them too much.  As these are made in muffin tins the handling is minimum.  They have mayonnaise in them and the dough is very sticky.  The center was soft and fluffy with a perfect crunchy crust.

MYSTERY BISCUITS
from The Amish Cook's Baking Book

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1-1/2 cups white & 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (I used Kosher salt)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a baking sheet or 12 muffin cups and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Blend in the mayonnaise, milk, and sugar until the mixture is creamy.  Drop by the Tablespoon onto the prepared pan or fill the muffin cups two-thirds full.  Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes.

Printable Recipe

Have I mentioned how much I adore this baking book?  I have tried many cookbooks but this is the one I can easily open, flip to any page, will likely have all the ingredients on hand and all the recipes are simple to make.  Does it get any better than that?

So far, I've made their Monster Cookies, Peanut Butter Swirl Bars (which I'll post another time), Banana Muffins, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Brownies (forgot to get photos of these and they were eaten in a flash).  Looking for the perfect gift for the baker in your family or novice cook - this is it!  (No, I'm not being paid to review or write about this lovely book either).

Enjoy!

My Aunt emailed me this link for creating a Santa message to your children.

Give it a try~

http://magicsanta.ca/