Bisquits?

[tdog]

Anyone have a quick/good recipe for bisquits? We've been getting by with the canned variety, but thought we would like to try our own. Our 1st batch from a cookbook we had on hand was not worth trying again - - they did not rise much at all.

Any help would be greatly welcome.

Jack

[ScottAR]

All I can add is that I'd like some recipes as well. The last ones I made were hockey pucks. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]

[egon]

Hockey pucks?? Now whats the problem - you will be the kids Idol! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon

[BabblinBrookie]

Red Lobster Garlic Cheese Biscuits
Serving Size : 10

1 cup Milk
1/3 cup Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups Self-rising flour*
1/4 cup Kraft American Cheese
1/2 teaspoon Garlic POWDER -- not salt
3 tablespoons Melted butter or margarine
Muffin paper liners

*You may use all-purpose (regular) flour, however biscuits will not rise much and have a denser texture; flavors should be about identical. **Can substitute 3 packets of Sweet & Low for the sugar.
Original recipe does not say, but I would think you will want to shred the cheese.
In a 1 1/2 qt mixing bowl combine the milk, mayo, sugar, and flour. Beat on high speed with electric mixer for almost a minute, until smooth and completely combined. Using a rubber bowl scraper, streak the dough with the cheese. Batter should NOT be thin enough to pour; if necessary, add only enough additional flour so batter will "drop" from spoon.
Drop batter into 10 paper-lined muffin tins, or a greater number of tiny muffin cups. (Muffins tend to triple in size when baked; fill lightly.) Melt butter; mix in garlic, and brush tops of dough. You may shake 1 tsp additional cheese on each muffin if you wish.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden. Cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes.
[img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[ScottAR]

Not too many hockey players in Arkansas... [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Adron]

In order to be prepared, I always make a biscuit mix up ahead of time and store it in the fridge:

2 tsp salt
8 tsp sugar (optional)
1/3 C. Baking powder
8 C. all purpose flour
1 C. solid shortening

Combine everything except shortening and mix well. Using 2 table knives cut in the shortening until the mix resembles course meal.

Store in airtight container in fridge.

When you are ready to make biscuits: Heat oven to 450º, Mix 3 C. mix and 1 C. milk. Turn onto a floured surface and shape into a ball. Knead 3 or 4 times and roll out to ½ to 3/4" thick. Cut with 2" cutter and place on oiled baking sheet. Bake 11 -13 minutes, brush with butter. Yield 12-14 biscuits.

Notes: Use a baking stone if possible instead of a cookie sheet. Make sure to cut the dough 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick for fluffier (is that a word?) biscuits. Remember they will continue baking a little bit after you take them out of the oven, so don't try to get the finished brown color in the oven.

Enjoy with home made strawberry preserves, or blackberry jelly!!!

[Pat]

Bablin, That sounds truly yummy but how do you wait or get everyone else to wait for 30 minutes?????? TORTURE!

Adron, I'd be careful with the kneading as it is easy to overdo it and deteriorate the texture/fluffyness. Biscuits turn out fine when you use minimal mixing and kneading.

Comment to the original question: Biscuits are easy to make and require less effort than making "hockey pucks" which often result from over mixing and over kneading and sometimes old "bad" baking powder. If you substitute buttermilk you will get enhanced flavor. Don't let the name fool you. Compare the nutrition info on buttermilk to low fat (2%) milk. Buttermilk is lower in calories.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Adron]

Pat, did you check the attachment with my post? I admit to being a little biased, but those are not hockey pucks. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

You are certainly correct about the over-kneading though. My main thought was not to make them too thin. Haven't tried buttermilk, but I will now. Thanks.

[Pat]

Buttermilk is not a 1:1 replacement for "sweet" milk by volume. It will definitely change the flavor and modifies the texture as well.

Another texture and flavor modification that your mouth might enjoy is plain unflavored yogurt to replace all or part of the milk. You can use flavored yogurt (forget the stuff with chunks of fruit) and get mildly flavored biscuits.

I have never used a baking stone. Tell us a little about the difference it makes.

Some of the best biscuits I have had were cooked beside a campfire in a reflector oven improvised with a few sticks and some aluminum foil. I also have a store bought reflector oven and my main complaint is it won't do a large enough batch at one time, hence the improvised unit. The reflector oven is essentialy a corner reflector, i.e. two reflecting surfaces at rt angles with a shelf as the perpendicular bisector. The shelf sits level and the two reflectors are inclined 45 to the level, one up and the other down. You place it near the hot fire and the side of the biscuits toward the fire bake by direct IR radiation while the "back side" of the biscuits bake with reflected energy. As the shinny side of foil reflects about 97% or so of the energy the back side of the bread cooks as fast as the front. In haste I have just skewered a batch of dough and suspended the skewer with two forked sticks and surrounded the affair with foil. (Make tyhe dough a tad dry so it doesn't sag too much.) Got one long biscuit that was eagerly devoured by the camp. A downside is you only have crust around the periphery, except at the ends.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Adron]

Basically a baking stone is a large flat slightly rough piece of ceramic crockery about ½" thick. Mine sits on a heavy guage wire frame. Baking stones come in 2 varieties, rectangular and circular. I prefer the circular one. I keep mine stored in the over since I use it nearly every time I use the oven.

A baking stone can be used about anywhere your would use a cookie sheet and the bottoms will not scorch or burn. The stone will hold accumulated heat and disperse it evenly over the bottom of the item(s) being baked. Preheating the stone at the same time as the oven will have the stone at the same temperature as the oven and will give a nice even brown to the biscuits or other items.

Over time the stone will discolor and take on a dark tan or brown color. This is natural and indicates a well seasoned stone. Never wash the stone in soap and water. This would cause the stone to soak up the soap and ruin the stone. They come with a scraper to remove cooked on food.

The picture in the attachment on my previous post shows the biscuits on my baking stone.