Page loading ... Please wait.
 
Baking & Dessert Recipes & Pictures

 
breakfast & brunch bars & squares biscotti recipes shortbread recipes comfort foods quick breads
about us
substitutions
ingredients
glossary
conversions
english tea party
pumpkin recipes
apple recipes
cranberry recipes
blueberry recipes
lemon recipes
strawberry recipes
trifle recipes
ice cream recipes
pudding recipes
christmas baking
christmas cookies
christmas candy
thanksgiving baking
easter baking
valentine's baking
baking history
bibliography

   
   

Bookmark and Share

Biscuits Recipe

Printer Friendly Page

Biscuits Recipe

In North America "biscuit" means a small quick bread that is made with flour, butter (or lard or shortening), baking powder (soda), milk (buttermilk), eggs, and sometimes a small amount of granulated white sugar. A perfect biscuit, in my mind, should have a golden brown crusty top and bottom and when you split it in half it should be soft and flaky and moist enough to absorb a pat of butter, which is absolutely necessary.

 

The American biscuit is very similar to the British scone. The difference is that while scones are often served more as a sweet, split in half and filled with jam and cream, biscuits are usually served alongside a meal. Both biscuits and scones are best served warm from the oven with butter. Biscuits are also excellent for making Strawberry Shortcake

To make a good biscuit, the correct mixing of the ingredients is crucial. Although you could use an electric mixer I prefer to mix the dough by hand using either a pastry blender, two knives or just my fingertips.  Mixing by hand helps to prevent over mixing of the dough. To begin, the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder/baking soda, and salt) are whisked or sifted together in a large bowl. Next the butter is cut into the flour until it looks like coarse crumbs. It is important that the butter be cold so when it is worked into the flour mixture it becomes small, flour- coated crumbs, not a smooth dough. This method is similar to how a pie dough is made and gives the biscuit a wonderful delicate and flaky texture. The wet ingredients are then added to the flour mixture. Only mix the dough until it comes together. I cannot stress enough that this dough should not be overworked and that a light hand is needed. If you end up with a hard and doughy biscuit, you will know to mix the dough less the next time. When the dough is mixed, gather it up in your hands and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough a few times to make it a cohesive mass and then roll to 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thickness. Use a lightly floured cookie cutter and cut into rounds. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and brush with the egg wash. Using an egg wash gives the biscuits a nice appearance and helps with browning.

Biscuits need to be baked in a hot oven so the dough sets quickly thereby producing a light biscuit with a golden brown top and bottom with white sides. They are done when they are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of the scone comes out clean. The texture of the interior should be light and soft, and white in color. Cool on a wire rack.  If you want crusty biscuits, cool them uncovered. If a softer crust is desired, then wrap the hot biscuits in a clean dish towel. 

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender, two knives, or fingertips).  Add the milk and slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined.  (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.)

Place mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.

Roll out dough to 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thickness.  Cut out biscuits with a lightly floured round cookie cutter.  Place on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk mixture and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.  Serve warm with butter.

Makes about 12 3-inch (7.5 cm) biscuits.

Recipe:

2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar (optional)

1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Topping:

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

 
   

Join Our New & Featured Recipes Email List

   
 

 

 

Top 40 Recipes of the Last Year*

*Top 40 Recipes based on actual site traffic from June 1, 2008  to May 31, 2009.

Contact Us   Privacy Policy

Arabic Chinese Dutch French German Hindu Indonesian Italian Japanese Korean Norwegian Portuguese Russian Spanish Greek Swedish Finnish

Use of materials on Joyofbaking.com is entirely at the risk of the user and Joyofbaking.com, Stephanie Jaworski or Rick Jaworski will not be responsible for any damages directly or indirectly resulting from the use.

This website and the contents are not endorsed or sponsored by the owner of the "Joy of Cooking" series of books or its publisher Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Content in any form may not be copied or used without written permission of Stephanie Jaworski, Joyofbaking.com.  Students and non profit educators may use content without permission with proper credit. 

A baking resource on the Internet since 1997

Copyright  1997 to 2009 Stephanie & Rick Jaworski