Country Biscuits (2024)

FAQs

What is the purpose of the biscuits touching each other on the pan? ›

Make sure the sides are touching when you set the biscuits on the baking sheet. As they bake, they cling to each other, rising bigger and taller.

HEAT oven to 400°F (200°C). PLACE biscuits 2 inches (5 cm) apart on ungreased cookie sheet. BAKE 8 TO 11 minutes or until golden brown. Entire product must be baked once opened.

In the Northern states butter is the favored lipid. In the South, lard or shortening is the standard. Biscuits became a source of pride as well as sustenance with Southerners even developing their own special flour, called White Lily, not readily available in the North.

SouthernKitchen.com says, "Ask any Southern chef or sagacious biscuit grandma and you'll hear a pattern emerge: they all swear by White Lily flour."

Baking soda and baking powder are both essential pantry staples for bakers. They have long shelf lives, but can they go bad? The answer is yes. Both baking soda and baking powder will eventually expire.

Mistake #1: Your butter is too warm

The only way to get the butter properly suspended in the batter is to make sure it is very cold when you begin blending it with the flour. If it's room temperature or even warm, the batter will blend and create a dense, gummy texture.

Biscuits are useful as canapés. Wrapped around slivers of genuine country ham is ambrosial. At breakfast, the biscuits marry well with honey, maple syrup, any kind of jam or jelly, sausages and you can't beat the taste of freshly baked biscuits dipped into freshly fried eggs and a tad of grits.

A Biscuit (U.S.) Is a Scone (U.K.)

A British biscuit is not remotely similar to the fluffy and filling American biscuits made famous in Southern American cuisine. The closest British equivalent to those buttery miracles is a scone, which ain't too bad either.

In most of North America, nearly all hard sweet biscuits are called "cookies" and savoury biscuits are called "crackers", while the term "biscuit" is used for a soft, leavened quick bread similar to a less sweet version of a scone.

Selecting the liquid for your biscuits

Just as important as the fat is the liquid used to make your biscuits. Our Buttermilk Biscuit recipe offers the choice of using milk or buttermilk. Buttermilk is known for making biscuits tender and adding a zippy tang, so we used that for this test.

Does sifting flour make biscuits better? ›

The solution: Use half cake flour and half all-purpose flour. This combination will give you a biscuit with light and airy interior with a pleasant, satisfying bite on the outside. Also, sifting the flour and other dry ingredients will give you a smoother, airier dough.

There is some actual science behind why White Lily flour is lighter than others and, thus, better suited for items like biscuits and cakes.

Whether using a cast iron skillet or a baking tray, lay your biscuits so they are touching sides and all connected. This helps them rise higher, as they provide support for one another as they bake – kind of like a doughy shoulder to lean on!

I've found that biscuits rise taller when they are placed close together. Since we use such a hot oven, the liquid in the dough steams and helps them to rise. If you do not have an oven-safe skillet, use a baking sheet, but still place the biscuits closer together than you would cookie dough.

The amount of fat in the dough affects how easily the biscuits, scones and shortcakes can be removed from the cookie sheet or baking pan.

The biscuit mixing method is the technique used to make quick breads that are tender and flaky by reducing gluten development. This technique also works to form layers in the dough that result in flakiness.