Homemade Biscuit Recipes

Here is an interesting piece of information for you; the term biscuit is used to refer to two different kinds of foods. If you are an American, you are referring to a small bread, which is often eaten along with gravy. If you are a Britisher, you are referring to a hard baked sweet/salty product similar to a cookie/cracker. It often comes with a layer of cream between two biscuits. The American biscuits are an integral part of southern cuisine, and usually made with buttermilk. They are considered a side dish, and served as an accompaniment. When served for breakfast, it is usually eaten along with butter, molasses or fruit jam. However, biscuits baked at home and sausage gravy is usually served as the main course for breakfast or any other meal.

While many may scoff at the idea of making biscuits at home from scratch, it is the way our grandmothers used to do it. And I must add, the aroma of biscuits baking is to die for! For those of you who think I am insane for suggesting it, know that they are fairly easy to make and the dough stores well. While there are a few different methods you can use, if you want to make biscuits without baking powder, your only option to retain fluffiness is to use self rising flour. Here are a few options for you:

Homemade Biscuits Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup milk
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ¼ cup butter or margarine
• ½ tsp salt

Directions

Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and sieve them twice. Add in the milk, so you will have a loose batter and then mix in the soft butter. Keep mixing until you have a ball of dough. Dust a plain surface generously with flour, and then turn out the dough onto it. After it sets for a few minutes, knead for about a minute. Dust the surface once again with flour, and the roll it out to ½″ thick. Cut out biscuits from it (you could use a biscuit cutter if you have one), and place them in a baking pan. Use the remaining extra bits of dough to form a ball, and repeat the process. You should get about 12 biscuits out of this, and them for 12 to 15 minutes at 425°F. The good thing about this recipe is that it stores well. You can place the biscuits onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and freeze. Once they are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag and place them back into the freezer.

Thyme and Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

• ½ tsp. minced fresh rosemary
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup milk
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp fresh minced thyme
• ½ cup cheddar cheese
• ½ tsp minced fresh parsley

Directions

Preheat over to 400°F. Coat the cookie sheet with butter and then dust with flour. Combine baking powder, flour, herbs and cheese in a large mixing bowl, and sift twice. Add in the milk, followed by the butter. Stir well between each addition, until you have a fairly thick dough. Add large spoonfuls of this batter on the cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Homemade Biscuits to go with Sausage Gravy

Ingredients

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• ¼ cup warm water
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups warm buttermilk
• 1 tbsp salt
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ⅓ cup white sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder

Directions

Add the yeast to warm water and allow it to stand for 5 minutes, after which, add in the buttermilk. Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, soda and sugar. Stir in the shortening till you have a batter that looks like bread crumbs. Now pour in the yeast-buttermilk concoction and stir. transfer the batter to a lightly floured surface and knead it, till you have a ball of dough. Roll out the dough to a ½ '' pancake, and then cut into 2½'' biscuits. Transfer them on a lightly greased baking sheet, which should be kept in a warm environment for 1½ hours. Then place them in the oven, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden. Brush the biscuit tops with melted butter before serving.

To make these homemade biscuits, all-purpose flour and several other ingredient are required, which should be bought before you start the process. Enjoy the results fresh from the oven, along with savory sausage gravy.