Daring Bakers – January 2012 – Biscuits

This daring bakers challenge has probably been the simplest one yet. Who knew that biscuits are apparently so quick and easy to make? Not me. I had never made them before and always assumed that if Pillsbury is selling them refrigerated and rolled up in a tennis ball like container – they must be time consuming to make. Nope. 30 minutes or less from start to finish. Especially if you’ve got a kitchen helper, like D, who will sift the dry ingredient while you grate the cheese and flour. I added freshly grated Parmesan, dry mustard and cayenne powder to spice them up a bit – next time I’ll add even more cheese – perhaps a smooth and nutty Gruyere…and some fresh basil….Hmmm….

Cheese Biscuits

Recipe Adapted from Audax Artifex

Start to Finish: 20-30 minutes

Makes: 5-7 biscuits

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder (make sure it’s fresh)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

2 tablespoons frozen grated butter

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

finely chopped fresh chives/parsley/basil (optional)

1/2 cup cold milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

2. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and sift 3 times. Add cheese, mustard powder and cayenne to the mix.

3. Using a pastry cutter or your hands combine butter and dry ingredients until it resembles coarse beach sand.

4. Add almost all of the milk and mix until a sticky dough forms – add the remaining milk if necessary (the wetter the dough the lighter the biscuits will be).

5. To achieve an even crumb to the dough very gently knead the dough 4-5 times on a lightly floured surface. To achieve a layered effect knead very gently once then fold and turn the dough 3-4 times until dough has formed a smooth texture.

6. Pat dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle and use a biscuit cutter to stamp out (without twisting) the rounds. Combine scraps to stamp out the last biscuit. Or use a floured sharp knife to cut the dough into biscuits.

7. To have soft sided biscuits place the rounds just touching on a baking dish, or place them further apart to have crisp sided biscuits.

8. Bake in very hot oven 8-10 minutes until biscuits are well risen and lightly colored on top. Serve warm.