Dude with a biscuit problem

[trulefty]

I have these great eggs that I fix for breakfast every morning but I'm having problems making good biscuits. I know I can buy frozen ones at the grocery but I want to make them myself. I've had some real disasters but today's turned out pretty good except they were crumbly. meaning there were crumbs everywhere after breakfast. Okay, okay, I know what your thinking but I'm not really a pig.

So, what did I do wrong? To much Crisco? To much milk? Here's what I did...... 1 cup SR flour, 1 heaping tbls Crisco, added milk until it looked right while mixing with a fork. Floured my hands and pinched off pieces of dough rolled in my hands and placed in a small greased iron skillet and baked at 450 until they started browning..... Any suggestions?

 

[Chris09]

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS--

5 cups flour

3/4 cup shortening or lard

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar

1 pkg yeast

1/3 cup warm water

2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift dry ingredients together into large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture. Add buttermilk and yeast that's been dissolved in the warm water. Mix with a spoon until all the flour is moistened. Cover and set in refrigerator till ready to use. Take out as much dough as needed. Roll out on a floured board to 1/2" to 3/4" thick. Cut using a biscuit cutter or small glass. Bake 12 minutes until browned. Keep unused dough in refrigerator for use the next day.

BAKING POWDER BISCUITS--

2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Using two knives, cut in shortening until crumbly. Add milk and mix in well. Roll out on a lightly floured surface and cut with a biscuit cutter. Bake at 400 degrees for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Drop Biscuits--
Ingredients
3 flour
2 tablespoonfuls butter
3 teaspoonfuls baking powder
1/2 teaspoonful salt
1 1/2 cupfuls milk

Directions
Sift the baking powder, salt, and flour together, rub in the butter with the tips of the fingers, then add the milk, and beat to a soft dough. Grease a baking pan, lift a level tablespoonful of the dough and drop it into the pan, having each biscuit an inch apart, and bake in a hot oven.

Chris

 

[weaveagarden]

Two big things are, to not add the moisture until the fat has been cut into the mix. And also, don't over mix as you will end up with hockey pucks. Sounds to me like you may have been a little bit heavy on the fat, and light on the moisture. But I am by no means an expert..... I buy the schwans frozen kinds most of the time. But I miss a good homemade one at breakfast time.

 

[Jess N Jeff]

Quote:
Question:
Can you relace the shortening for butter?

 

[Chris09]

Question:
Can you relace the shortening for butter?

You could.
I would use real butter like the Land-O-Lakes stick butter. Most of the recipes my wife and I have are older ones handed down from our grandparents so everything was lard/ shortening...

Chris​

 

[trulefty]

These recipes all look good but I'm trying to make biscuits for 1 person........ That's like 2 biscuits...... Everytime I tried to make drop biscuits they turned out flat, like pancakes, they didn't rise like I think a biscuit should...

Guess I should've stood closer to grandma's apron strings............

 

[Jess N Jeff]

Quote:
You could.
I would use real butter like the Land-O-Lakes stick butter. Most of the recipes my wife and I have are older ones handed down from our grandparents so everything was lard/ shortening...

Chris

MMMMmmmmm....butter!!!!

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
Your basic recipe sounds about right...just make sure you get the shortening cut in good, if you don't have a pastry cutter just use your fingers.

Try putting a little flour down on the counter and kneading the dough a few strokes until it starts to feel smooth then pinch and roll. If you work up a tiny bit of gluten in your flour it will help your biscuits to hold together better.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Grandma should have lassoed me, I missed the biscuit making classes!

But I do know it's a good idea to make the full batch and freeze the rest- I make sausage biscuits for my DH and freeze them in pairs so he can have a hot breakfast on those icy days at work.

 

[flora]

I make my own biscuit mix, then I can make however many biscuits I want just by scooping out sme mix and adding water and/or an egg. My favorite is called Quick Mix.
There are tons of mix recipes on line, pick one that sounds like the recipe you normally use.
I also make up a big batch of biscuits cut them out and put them on a cookie sheet and stick in the freezer, when frozen I put them into a freezer bag. When I want just a few biscuits I take out however many I want to bake, place an a cookie sheet, thaw for about 30 minutes, then bake as normal.
Biscuit mixes are wonderful! You can use the mix to make a whole lot of different things!