Biscuits

Now, biscuits mean a different thing to a Southern girl than they would to an English lady. But I say they are still the perfect book snack. You can open them up and fill them like sandwiches, crack them in two and eat the top and bottom separate with jam, or just eat them with a little smear of butter.

I'm not much for the canned kind and see no point in the mixes. My recipe is so cheap and easy anybody can make them. These are called drop biscuits there is no rolling out the dough, flouring it or cutting. You're just plopping dough on a cookie sheet, but the results--Heavenly.

You'll need
A large mixing bowl
A cookie sheet
Cooking spray
Vegetable oil or any oil you want to use
A milk product, I use evaporated milk because it can live in the pantry
Self rising flour
Cold water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and spray the cookie sheet with the cooking spray. 

Then in the mixing bowl, add the flour. The ratio is 3:1 flour to milk product. I like three cups, but you can easily double or triple that as long as you keep the ratio in mind.

Add to that your milk product, I've used a cup of evaporated milk. But any milk product that has fat in it will work. Traditionally, the milk product is buttermilk, but I've found that the taste doesn't justify spending money on a quart that will sour after a week. I've also used almond milk, powdered milk, and whole milk. All of the biscuits turned out the same.

 

After adding the milk product begin stirring the mix. I like using a large table spoon. Some people like mixing by hand after all the ingredients are in the bowl. I like adding the cold water a little at a time as I mix because in North Carolina the humidity makes a big difference in the amount I use.

The batter should be sticky, but not wet. It should want to come away from the walls.

 

The trick to a great tasting biscuit is fat. Now, lard is how my grandma made them. I've chunked up cold margarine, but my favorite quick and easy way to add fat to the biscuits is adding oil to the batter.  I use vegetable oil because that's what I have on hand, but any oil will do. Add a tablespoon or two coat the top of the dough. 

The batter should have a gloss from the oil, but there shouldn't be excess oil in the bowl.

 

The batter is ready to be portioned out. Coat a tablespoon or teaspoon with oil or the cooking spray. And scoop out the batter with the spoon onto the cookie sheet.  Whenever the batter starts to stick to the spoon apply more oil. 

If using a teaspoon scoop three times, if using a tablespoon scoop once, for good sized biscuits. The biscuits should be two to three inches apart. And the dough should render twelve biscuits. But I like mine big so I use two tablespoons per biscuit, but I usually only get six giant biscuits to a batch. Experiment with the size until you get results you are looking for. 

Bake for 35 minutes, then broil for a minute. I like them crunchy and golden brown. Now, Momma Nancy sets her timer to 30 minutes, but she likes hers to be soft enough to crumble. She still browns the tops for a minute. So, try both ways and see which one you like best. And to make them look extra pretty brush a bit of oil or melted butter on top after you pull them from the oven.

Now, a lot of recipes tell you to let your baked goods cool. Not so, my biscuits. You get that plate, filling and knife ready. So you can slice a big beautiful biscuit right down the middle, smear your choice of filling either savory or sweet on both sides, and then pop it right on your plate while it's still hot. It's called the perks of being the chef.