Or what every child should be taught to make! I was in grade 7 taking Home Ec when I made them for the first time. At the time I’d never have guessed in a million years how to make biscuits would become in my repertoire. That simple recipe has served both myself and many others well with the only change to this basic recipe is that I changed up the milk for buttermilk.
Our curriculum for the first half of the school year included learning how to make “tea biscuits” and muffins. This turned out to be a very good thing. My Mom was pregnant with my brother. When I came home from school after the biscuit baking class I asked if I could make some for the family. Given the go ahead, I baked up a batch and she loved them. Thereafter, especially during that pregnancy, she often requested I make “tea biscuits”.
They are wonderfully light and yummy fresh from the oven with a bit of butter or cheese or jam or honey. They take no time at all to make and are a great addition to a “budding cook’s” repertoire. Just think, with a bit of flour, butter, buttermilk or milk and baking powder you have light (that’s the goal), biscuits to enjoy and impress your friends and family.
Biscuits are a welcome little morsel with soups, salads, stews and whatever else you might want to eat them with. Delicious. A bonus of being able to make this dough are cinnamon rolls. Who doesn’t want to have a warm cinnamon roll? As they are not made with yeast, are fairly quick and easy to put together. Another little treat to include in your repertoire are scones. You just can’t beat them with clotted cream and a bit of jam. Bet you could use mascarpone if you can’t find clotted cream!
I have, over the years collected many variations on the biscuit theme, however, the basic recipe from the Five Roses cookbook I bought in the late 60’s is the go to when I wanti a simple biscuit. I use the buttermilk version because I think using buttermilk in baking makes things especially light and tasty. I also like to use it for my pancakes.
My sister claims she is unable to make biscuits; guess it’s time for big sister to share the secret! She says hers are like hockey pucks and so resorts to using liquid cooking oil instead of cold butter. When you use cold fat in pastry making the butter melts during the baking creating light layers of pastry. Same with biscuits.
Helpful link to Making Biscuits.
Your goodies always look so delish! Mmmmmm….
Maybe she overworks the dough. Remember she cannot make pie crust either. I still use my grade 8 recipe for biscuits. It calls for shortening but also works with butter. I also sometimes roll out the dough and cut it into pie like triangles and place them on top of chicken pie filling if I don’t feel like making pie crust. Or roll up wieners in the triangles and bake them. You can also add some grated cheese of any sort to the dough before adding the liquid to make cheese biscuits. I mix my dough in the food processor, quicker and less chance for overworking.
Erin…I never do my dough in the processor except for working in the butter, too much chance for overworking the dough I think. When you make them with cheese usually you cut back a bit on the fat and if you are making them for a chicken pie adding a few herbs to the dough works really well…and of course buttermilk makes everything right with the world!
Thanks Victoria, why don’t you take a drive up this spring and come and stay a bit…we can sit in the backyard and eat biscuits and drink wine….OMG that would be fantastic…we could talk Joe into firing up the Weber later too!