Basic Biscuits

Last year we took a trip to Wilmington, North Carolina.  Steve’s brother is in the Marines and he was graduating from MARSOC (Marine Special Operations).  This was a pretty big deal, being that a very low percentage of Marines actually graduate from MARSOC – It’s pretty much the Navy Seals for Marines.  So, the whole family packed up and visited this small town on the coast of North Carolina.  

Wilmington was much better than I expected.  I thought it was going to be a sleepy town, but it was just the opposite.  It has a cute downtown with lots of great food up and down the main strip. 

Some of my favorite foods that I had in Wilmington was biscuits and grits.  I never truly experienced this type of southern food before this trip.  The biscuits were flaky and buttery, and the grits were creamy and flavorful – Every time I had them.  Ever since then I have this new love for biscuits and grits.

When I saw that the Daring Bakers challenge for this month was Basic Biscuits I was super excited.  I love trying new recipes for biscuits and it’s always good to have a basic go-to recipe on hand.

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy biscuits to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

I was able to whip up these biscuits one morning without even breaking a sweat.  They took no more than 10 minutes to prepare the dough and get them in the oven.  After the scones came out of the oven, I slathered them in jam and took a big bite.  They were tender, flaky, and perfectly buttery.

This recipe is the perfect starting point to many more different flavors of biscuits.  Add cheese, herbs, fruit, nuts, and any others flavors you crave.  

Enjoy!

Basic Biscuits

For Printable Recipe, Click here!

Makes: 6 Biscuits

1 cup All Purpose Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

¼ teaspoon Salt

2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Very Cold & Grated

½ cup Milk, Cold {Plus more for brushing the tops}

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.  Line 1 baking sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside until needed.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; sift 2 more times.  Using your hands, rub the cold, grated butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse sand.  Add the milk and, with your hands, mix until the dough has formed. 

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface.  Knead the dough until it is smooth.  Carefully pat the dough into a 6x4-inch rectangle.  Using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter cut out rounds of dough, leaving as little scraps as possible.  Gather up the scraps and cut 2 more rounds of dough – These will not rise as much and won’t be as tender, but they are still delicious and are better than wasting the dough.

Brush the tops of the biscuits with milk and place in the oven to bake until the tops turn a light golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.  Immediately transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack to cool until warm or room temperature.  Serve and enjoy!

Spread the biscuits with jam or butter, eat with eggs and bacon for breakfast, use at the bun to your favorite sandwich, and much more!

Recipe from Audax Artifex for the Daring Bakers Challenge January 2012.