In typical Midwest fashion, this recipe was passed along to me in a “some of this, some of that” level of accuracy – so with some tweaking, I think I have it down with some spot on enough measurements
Time: 20 minutes
Makes: 5-6 biscuits
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups self rising flour
- 1 stick salted butter, see notes
- 1/2-3/4 cup whole milk
Directions: Preheat the oven to 400-425 degrees. To a bowl, add the self rising flour and set aside. Using a box grater, grate the butter on the side with the bigger holes. Add the grated butter in the flour and combine so that the butter is covered in flour and not clumping.
Next you’ll need to add the milk to the flour and butter mixture. This is very much about feel and how you prefer the dough to be. I like to add enough milk so that it’s to the point where you can tell it’s moving toward a wet dough but still has some dry parts to it. At the end of the day, you’ll need to handle the dough so you can’t let it get too moist. If you accidentally do, you can always add more flour before you turn out the dough onto your work surface.
Sprinkle some extra flour and turn the dough out, working just slightly to bring it together if need be. Fold and pat out the dough a few times to help create those signature layers you find in biscuits and then pat out the dough to about 3/4-1 inch. Use a biscuit cutter or cup with a fairly thin edge and add to a baking dish or cake pan. There’s enough butter in these biscuits that you shouldn’t have to grease the pan but you can if you want to ensure they won’t stick. The key to biscuits is having them touch when you add them to the pan to help with the rise. You should get 5-6 biscuits out of this amount of dough. I don’t rework the dough to get more out of the scraps as sometimes these biscuits are too tough.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the biscuits have risen and are browned to your liking. Place the baking vessel on a wire rack to cool. See notes for different uses
Notes: It’s important that the butter used for this recipe is very, very cold. I usually put my butter in the freezer for about 30 minutes before I made the biscuits because grating it is much easier when it’s chilled appropriately.
Some of this recipe comes down to feel and that comes with making them multiple times. There will come a point in your biscuit making journey where these can be made without measurements but that comes with time.
These can be made both savory or sweet and are really versatile. I’ve used them for biscuits and gravy but have also added a touch of sugar and used them for peach shortcakes. The possibilities are endless!