Best Flaky Baking Powder Biscuits Scones Recipes

BEST EVER CLASSIC SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet or two (depending on how large your baking sheets are) by lining them with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a fork or a whisk.
• In a liquid measuring cup, measure the cream and add the eggs. Whisk together using a fork and set aside.
• The next few steps should be done quickly, as you're working with cold butter and you want the butter to be as cold as possible when it hits the heat of the oven. This will result in a flaky scone, rather than a heavy and dense one.
• Cut up your butter, right from the fridge, into little pieces and dump it into the flour mixture. Using your hands (wash them well first and remove any rings), pick up handfuls of the butter and flour mixture, rubbing the pieces of butter and the flour between the heels of your hands to create "sheets" of butter. You should act quickly here, and don't allow the pieces of butter to sit in your hands for any length of time as the heat from your hands will cause it to soften. The goal is to create paper-thin pieces of butter, small and large throughout the mixture. Once there are no thick chunks of butter remaining, only thin sheets, remove your hands from the mixture. Hands equal heat, so handle the mixture as little as possible.
• Pour in the wet ingredients and mix roughly with a fork. Do not over mix, or the result will be heavy and dense.
• Once the wet ingredients have been incorporated but there are still several streaks of flour, turn the dough out onto a clean and floured counter surface. Press the dough down into the counter and then fold one half over the other half like you are folding a piece of paper. Press down again and make another fold. Repeat this 2 or 3 more times, gathering any outlying dough bits and flour into your folds. Don't knead the dough like you would if you were making bread, and don't stir or mix the dough like you would if you were making muffins. Scones are technically a pastry, so the goal is flaky layers that are created by the thin sheets of butter and all the folding.
• Once your dough is formed after folding several times, shape it into a rectangle about 1 3/4 to 2 inches thick (approximately). Again, be careful not to handle the dough too much, so a few little cracks here and there are fine.
• Cut out circles of dough using a biscuit cutter or the rim of a class or jar. Arrange the circles of dough on the parchment-lined baking sheet and brush the tops with the egg wash (whisk together the egg and water).
• You'll need to re-shape the leftover dough to form another rectangle - do this carefully and gently, without adding much extra flour if possible. The less you handle the dough, the more tender and flaky the scones will be. Cut out the remainder of the scones until you have about 10-12 in total.
• Bake for about 15-18 minutes just until barely golden brown and the surface of the scones lose their shine. Let them cool for 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

FLAKY BAKING POWDER BISCUITS (SCONES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C).
• Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.
• Cut in shortening with pastry cutter or two knives (or just rub in with fingers)until it resembles a course meal.
• Combine egg and milk.
• Add this to the flour mixture all at once, stirring just enough with fork to make a soft dough that sticks together.
• Knead lightly 15 times on a lightly floured surface.
• Roll to 3/4" (2cm) thickness and cut with 2" (5cm) cutter, placing 1" (2.5cm) apart on ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Serve immediately.

PERFECT SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mixing lightly with your fingers, add heavy cream just until dough holds together. Wrap in plastic and chill about 1/2 hour before rolling out.
• Butter a large baking sheet; set aside. Roll dough into a circle, 1/2 inch thick for small scones and 3/4 inch thick for larger ones. Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut dough into various shapes. Transfer scones to prepared baking sheet.
• Combine egg and light cream in a small bowl; brush tops of scones with mixture. Bake until golden brown and puffed, 13 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.

BAKING POWDER BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cream; stir until dough just comes together (it will be sticky).
• Transfer to a lightly floured work surface, and with floured fingers, pat dough to a 1-inch thickness. Cut out rounds with a 2 1/2-inch cutter, cutting as close together as possible.
• Space about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack; let biscuits cool 5 minutes before serving.
• Place biscuits on an unlined baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Generously brush tops of biscuits with cream. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until biscuits are golden and flecked with brown spots, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer biscuits to a wire rack to cool.

BETTY CROCKER'S BAKING POWDER BISCUITS (LIGHT, FLAKY AND TENDER)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450F degrees.
• Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Cut in shortening using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk until dough leaves side of bowl (dough will be soft and sticky).
• Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead lightly 10 times. Roll or pat 3/4 inch thick. Cut with floured 2 ½ -inch round cutter. Place on ungreased cooked sheet about 1 inch apart for crusty sides, touching for soft sides (I prefer crusty sides). After cutting as many biscuits as possible, lightly press-don't knead- the scraps of dough together to make 1 to 2 more biscuits.
• Bake 10 to 12 min or until golden brown. Serve warm.
• Note: This recipe doubles very well. Every time that I make these, I always double this recipe. To double, simply double all the ingredients. Also, the key to high-rise, flaky biscuits is having really fresh baking powder and not overworking the dough. Even if your baking powder is not expired, the biscuits will not rise if the baking powder has clumps inside the container. Also, I cannot emphasize enough to just lightly knead the dough 10 times; over-kneading will produce a tough biscuit. When you pat the dough to ¾ inch thickness, the baking powder will already be activating the dough to rise. Do not re-pat the dough down again because the air bubbles forming will make the biscuits flaky.
• Betty Crocker's Tips for Biscuits: Tip One: One secret to making flaky biscuits is thoroughly blending or "cutting in" the shortening and dry ingredients. A pastry blender, which breaks the shortening into little lumps works great for cutting inches If you don't have one, you can crisscross two table knives through the flour and shortening or use a wire whisk.
• Tip Two: Use a biscuit cutter dipped in flour to cut the dough, pushing the cutter straight down through the dough. If you twist as you cut, the biscuits will be uneven. Cut the biscuits as close together as possible. If you don't have a biscuit cutter, use the end of an open 6-ounce juice can or other narrow can or glass, or use cookie cutters for fun shapes. Dip in flour before cutting.