How to Make Baking Powder Biscuits

For the majority of my life I have watched, but avoided, making bread, biscuits, or rolls. It was just easier to purchase the bread at the store, or to wait for a holiday when my mom made her amazing homemade bread! Over the last few months I have realized that I need to learn how to do it, that I need to know how to knead the dough (or not to over knead). It is much harder to learn this on your own than to have a loved one, or a friend show you what you are doing.

One of the most simple recipes to learn is backing powder biscuits. I have memories, going all the way back to when I was a child, of my mom making Betty Crocker's Baking Powder Biscuits, though the recipe has changed slightly over the years.

Here is a link to my recipe for our Homemade Baking Powder Biscuits! It shows how we have changed the recipe and explains why it was changed. Please let me know what you think in the comments below, and if you changed anything yourself!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this recipe, it calls for a pastry cutter, or two table knives, to chop up the shortening. I actually had to ask my mom what that was, I had see seen it used before, but didn't know what it was called. This is not a picture that I took myself but I wanted to show everyone what a pastry cutter looked like. On a side note, you can also use this to mash your potatoes!

For those that don't have a pastry cutter sitting around, and money is a little tight, this picture shows you what they mean by using the two table knives to chop up the shortening. Again, this picture was not taken by me, there is a web address on the pictures to show where they came from. I wish that I HAD thought to take pictures myself, I won't make that mistake again!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Baking Powder Biscuits:

INGREDIENTS YOU'LL NEED

1 Cup Shortening 5 1/4 Cup Flour 7 1/2 TSP Baking Powder 2 1/4 TSP salt 2 1/4 Cup Milk

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the oven to 400 Degrees.

This recipe is 3 times the normal recipe otherwise the biscuits come out more thin and less fluffy.

In a large bowel add all dry ingredients together and lightly stir them together.

Next add the shortening to the top of the dry ingredients and use a pastry cutter, (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), to chop up, and mix, the shortening. Do this very lightly so that the dry ingredients don't fly out of the bowel.

You do NOT want chunks of shortening, by the time you are done you shouldn't see any shortening and when you finish mixing, and pinch the dough together, it should easily flake away once it leaves your fingers to look like the rest.

Add in 2 cups of the milk and stir it with the dry mix and shortening. Only add in the other 1/4 cup of milk if the does not dough leave side of bowl (dough will be soft and sticky). If you have to add more milk then do it little by little, not all at once.

On lightly floured surface, gently roll dough in flour to coat. Roll or pat the dough until it is 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Cut with floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. On a very lightly coated greased cookie sheet, place biscuits about 1 inch apart for crusty sides, touching for soft sides. Push together the remaining dough and cut out the rest of the biscuits.

Put the biscuits in the oven on 400 degrees and check every 10 minutes, if your oven does not cook evenly, like some toaster ovens, then turn the tray around and put on for another 10 minutes. If the biscuits need to be put on again then 5 minutes should finish them off. You want the biscuits to be lightly browned.

Take out of the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes, then enjoy!