Simply Southern Recipes: 5 minute biscuits




Everyone loves biscuits! At least, everyone in my family does.  I made biscuits to go with supper last night and when my 2 year old realized what I was doing she ran around and screamed, "Yea! Biscuits, biscuits!"  Then my 11 year old son jumped up and down and yelled, "Biscuits! Mom's biscuits are the best!"  You can see the fanfare which biscuits has in our house.  (I swear I feed them regularly and this wasn't some half starved reaction to food.)

My father taught me how to make biscuits the traditional way when I was 7, but this is too time consuming. We would cut the butter into the flour with a pastry knife, mix it together with milk, rolled it onto a floured surface and cut the biscuits out with a cup, took the left over rerolled out that and cut it, then we took the scraps from that and made a "dog biscuit" because it was worth much after all that handling. That method takes me 20 or so minutes by the time I hunt down everything I need for it and do it.  This takes too long to do when you''re hungry!

I cut the time down by 2/3 with my new recipe & method!  I am going to share the recipe and my method with you, in case you have a craving for some great homemade biscuits. The method makes the biscuits, the ingredients are the foundation.  Having the right ingredients will make this super fast.  However, I put in the substitutions for people who still want awesome biscuits but are missing a specific ingredient.  I can't guarantee that you can do it as quickly as I can the first time, but you should be approaching it by the 3rd time.  And, I can guarantee that this is much faster and easier than the traditional method!  :o)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Depending on how long your oven takes to preheat, you may need to do this several minutes before you begin.

3 Ingredients:
* 4 c. self-rising flour (if you use All Purpose flour you will need to add 2 tablespoons of baking powder and a teaspoon and a quarter of salt)

*2 sticks of butter (Not margarine!  However, if you only have margarine you must cut it into the flour until it is pea size lumps (instead of melting it), therefor doubling the amount of time to make the biscuits.)

*2 cups of butter milk (Always in my fridge!  You can substitute 2 cups of milk with 2 T. of vinegar that has sat for 10 minutes, but buttermilk is best.)


 Thats it! Thats all you need! It's how you combine these ingredients that make for fast & awesome biscuits.

Step 1: Stick your butter into the microwave and melt it completely.  Meanwhile, Measure flour into a good size bowl.  (I like using a large measuring cup for this.  I just pour the flour in to approximately the right spot and keep going.)

Step 2:   Add 2 cups of the cold buttermilk to the melted butter.  Whisk the butter and butter milk to make the butter chill into tiny pieces.

Step 3:  Gently combine these ingredients until you have a big messy blob, do not stir this too much (look at step 6's important information).  Flour a surface to put it on.

Step 4:  Turn the dough out onto your floured surface and apply more flour on to the top of it. Gently shape the dough into a large rectangle using your hands.


Step 5:  Take a knife and cut it into 15 equal size squares, cutting two strips horizontally and 4 vertically.

Step 6:  Flour your hands and gently pick up each where shaping it into a puck. *Here is the secret to really good biscuits. You don't touch them any more than is absolutely necessary! Don't worry about making them into perfect shapes. Just gently pat them into a circle. The more that you touch a biscuit the flatter and tougher it will become.

I like to bake my biscuits in a clear casserole pan in order to make the bottom just as crunchy as the top. If you don't like that then I would suggest using a metal pan for a softer bottom.

The biscuit should be ready to come out of the oven in 25 to 30 minutes. Everyone's oven is different and this is a high temp.  So, keep an eye on the after 15-20 minutes the first time you make them.  Yours may be done earlier or later, figure out how your oven works for you.  Just look at the tops, whenever they're a nice, rich golden color with a bit of brown take them out. Enjoy!


I don't mind showing my mess!  :o)



Comments

  1. I will definitely be trying this recipe. It'll be interesting to see what, if any, changes I have to make for higher altitude.

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  2. Have fun Liz! Thanks for the chicken recipe!

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  3. I found you on Tasty Tuesday this week. I typically make my biscuits with margarine but you can bet I'm going to get some butter. This sounds like a super fast way to get the butter incorporated into the flour. Love it! Thanks for the recipe!

    Gina
    www.AtHomeMyWay.blogspot.com

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  4. I'm visiting from Wow us Wed. I'm always looking for a better biscuit recipe. I learned the way your father taught you, from my Granny, when she would come to visit. The tops of your biscuits look just like hers. I always have buttermilk too...okay I'm giving these a try for Sunday breakfast! Thank you!

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    1. That's wonderful June! Grandmother's are the best. Let me know if they live up to the memory, that's how you know you have an amazing recipe. It brings back sweet, satisfying memories by its complete goodness. :o) Have a wonderfully blessed Sunday morning and I hope you love them!

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  5. Charlie, your biscuits recipe is delicious! The texture was just as I remember my grandmother's. I think the most important part, besides using real butter and buttermilk, is not to work the dough. These did bring back sweet memories...hope your Sunday is blessed as well. Thank you!

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    1. You are welcome!
      It really does make a difference how much you handle the dough! My husband is from IL and several years ago his sister learned to make biscuits in "Home Ec." Well, she kept making batches while we were visiting that year and they were as flat as pancakes. I didn't even know that they were biscuits until I asked what she had made. I couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong because her recipe was adequate. So, I watched her in the kitchen the next time she made them. She rolled them out and re-rolled them like bread dough! I laughed so hard because it's the exact opposite of how you should treat biscuits. Their family makes amazing bread she handled it like a yeast dough because that is what she had experience with. It was a very understandable mistake and she was soon making biscuits like a pro. Why in the world did her "Home Ec." teacher not correct that? She got an 'A' for her biscuits and said they were the same as the ones she had been making for us. Did no one know how to make a biscuit? However she made a better grade than my biscuits in "Home Ec." I received a 'B' for my biscuits because I didn't want to waste time rolling them out and made drop biscuits instead! Hahaha! I believed in saving time then too. :o) However, my new method doesn't sacrifice aesthetics, they look like traditional biscuits without all the fuss. By the way, the same sister in law says that she likes this recipe, but that they like unsalted butter in their dough. They think the salted butter makes it too salty. We like salted. Everyone likes things a bit different.
      I am so glad that this recipe lived up to your memories. That is so sweet! It makes me glad that I chose to share my simple recipe on the internet. Thank you for sharing your experiences with me! :o)

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