If there’s one thing I love, its biscuits.  Buttery, flaky, and super easy to make, these little bundles of love are great when stuck inside with not much to do, or anytime, to be honest.

This recipe is pretty basic, and for good reason.  When I was doing some research, I found that biscuit means “twice cooked” in French; that’s why biscotti are so named (they are baked twice to achieve that crunchy texture), and why cookies and various are referred to as biscuits over the pond. Stateside, though, they always remind me of southern cooking, something I thoroughly enjoy but have only a basic knowledge. There’s always many schools of thought on how to make biscuits, but sometimes, the more simple the better.

Ingredients

2C  AP Flour

1t Sugar

1T Baking Powder

1t Salt

8t (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, frozen

plus 2t extra, for melting and brushing

3/4 C Milk or buttermilk

 

Preheat Oven to 425

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Take butter stick and grab a box grater, and use the larger holes (or the slicing attachment) to slice butter into dry ingredients. Be careful! This can be dangerous if your hand slips.

Once the butter is in slices, rub through your hands til the flour and butter are mixed thoroughly, but the butter is still in whole pieces and still cold.  These will create the flaky layers.

Alternatively you can cut the butter into small bits and mix together in a food processor until it create small pebble–sized bits of flour.

Once the butter and flour is mixed, add the milk and knead gently until the dough just comes together.  Overturn onto a floured surface and roll out to the same thickness.

You don’t want to overwork the dough! The more whole the butter,the more flaky the layers.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, and brush with melted butter when they come out of the oven.

These biscuits are great for anything; I made some sausage gravy to go with them, but I also highly recommend just butter and jam.

-L