What's the FDB's top biscuit recipe?

Here's an easy one that's pretty darn good.

Easier than Drop Biscuits!

Butter Dip Biscuits
Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) uns alted butter (see notes below)
2 1/2 cups allpurpose
flour
4 tsp. granulated sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 3/4 cup buttermilk (see notes below)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450F degrees.
Spray an 8inch
square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a microwavesafe
bowl (or you can use the baking dish that you'll be baking these in), melt stick of
butter in the microwave.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Pour in the buttermilk. Stir until a loose dough forms. Dough will be sticky.
Press biscuit dough into baking dish (right on top of the melted butter).
It is easiest to spread it out with your hands.
Take a sharp knife and cut the biscuit dough into 9 squares before baking.
Bake for about 20-25
minutes, rotating once during baking.
If you notice that some of the butter that is coming up to the top is getting brown, just take a paper
towel and dab around the edges a bit.
Oven times do vary since different ovens have different hot spots, but basically biscuits should be
golden brown on top and spring back to the touch.
Cook’s Note : I really recommend only using buttermilk with these but if all you have on hand is
regular milk then you can use that (just not skim milk, that stuff is far too watery). Keep in mind
though that when you use regular milk, you'll have to cut back on the amount you use because regular
milk is much thinner than buttermilk. You may need to use about 1 1/4 cups 1
1/2 cups (start with
less, you can always add more in).
The buttermilk adds such great flavor to these biscuits so if you can get your hands on some,
definitely give it a try. Also, if you use salted butter, make sure you leave out the additional salt that is
added to the dough.
www.thecountrycook.net
Copyright 20122014

I am wanting to try nates recipe, they looked great in his picture thread, however I will throw out there that pioneer buttermilk mix is hard to beat and very quick

Thanks for the cock tease

Tend-a Bake! That's it!!!

Always happy to get an MD recipe

Mary B's

Pioneer biscuit mix is awesome.

quote:

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Pioneer biscuit mix

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I use Pioneer and sub milk for beer, might be cheating but easy easy. When kneading, fold over the dough a couple of times for layers, then 18 mins @ 400.

For best texture, use White Lily or King Arthur self-rising flour (both are low-protein flours best for biscuits).
--1/4 cup of butter (1/2 of a stick), cut into thin pats.
--2 cups self rising flour
--2/3 cup buttermilk or whole milk
Put flour in a medium bowl, scatter butter pats on top. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until you have a mix of pea-sized and smaller lumps. Stir in the milk, using JUST enough to make the mass come together. (Drier is better; a very wet batter can lead to tougher biscuits).

Scrape the dough onto a clean countertop; shape into a rough oval. Using the heel of your hand, press/smear the ball to about 1/2" thick; use a dough scraper (or spatula) to lift about half of the mass up, folding it over itself. Repeat the press/smear two more times, folding between. Gently pat the dough mass into a rectangle or square 1/2" to 1" thick, depending on whether you want thinner or taller biscuits. Square up the edges, then trim them with a sharp knife or dough scraper without twisting...you want a sharp, 'cut' edge, not a pressed-down, sealed one. Cut the dough checkerboard-style, into rows & columns for as many biscuits as you like (big or little as you wish). Again, take care to make sharp, clean cuts, wiping your knife or dough scraper as needed. Gather the trimmed-edge scraps and make a little cook's treat biscuit lump. Place the cut biscuits, barely touching, onto a baking pan. Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for 10-12 minutes (or as brown as you like).

I occasionally teach a biscuit class, and most people have the following problems:
--using the wrong flour. AP flour has more protein & it will quickly make tough, heavy biscuits, even w/a minimal amount of mixing/folding. Use low-protein self rising, or pastry flour w/salt & baking powder mixed in, for best results.
--squashing the biscuits as they're cut. The folding steps on the countertop as described above create layers of butter trapped between the flour. During cooking, the butter makes steam, creating those light puffy laters. If you cut out the biscuits carelessly, the edges will seal, and you won't get as lofty, high-rising biscuits with pretty layers.
--using too much liquid. Biscuit dough should be on the dry side, very "shaggy" and not really holding together before the folding steps. A too-wet batter won't make fluffy layers...resulting biscuits will be "sinkers", ie, edible but not as light.
--spacing the biscuits too widely in the pan. Crowd the biscuits together & they'll have mutual support as they rise in the pan. For REALLY tall biscuits, crowd them into a round or square cake pan so they just fit. They'll rise together as a mass & be extra lofty, with soft, tender sides. (I know, some ppl like 'em crustier/crunchier, to each his own)

Good luck....I can remember my frustrations in trying to develop a "biscuit hand", as some old Southerners call it. Practice makes perfect, and it is very very satisfying to turn out a nice batch of biscuits while the coffee drips & the oven preheats. Over time, you'll get the muscle memory & will be able to do this without thinking.

My grandmother made a pan of biscuits most every morning for most of her life. She used self rising flour, mayo, and a tad of water. That's it. Those were the best biscuits I ever put in my mouth. You could eat one that evening (if there were any left over) and it would be just as moist and soft as it had just came out of the oven.