Best Flaky Tender Biscuits Recipes

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.

TENDER, FLAKY, BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 485 degree F. Sift the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
• 2. Slice the butter into pats and with fingers, rub the butter into the flour, until you have pieces the size of large and small peas.
• 3. Stir the buttermilk into the flour with a fork, just until the dough starts to come together. Using your hands, start kneading the dough to incorporate all of the flour. If the dough is not sticky, add more milk.
• 4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and fold over itself 2 or 3 times ( this is what makes the layers.) Just fold and push 3 times. With your hands, pat out dough to 3/4 inch thickness. Cut out dough using a 3 inch biscuit cutter - DO NOT TWIST THE CUTTER! Twisting will seal sides, and keep biscuits from rising correctly.
• 5. Place biscuits on a greased baking sheet or cake pan, so they almost touch. Brush tops with buttermilk or melted butter.
• 6. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until desired brownness occurs. I turn the pan half way through baking time.
• 7. Brush the biscuits when taken from the oven and serve them hot. Enjoy with honey, butter, jam or gravy!

FLAKY TENDER BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender, two knives, or fingertips). Add the milk and slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined. (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.).
• Place mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.
• Roll out dough to 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thickness. Cut out biscuits with a lightly floured round cookie cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk mixture and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.
• Makes about 12 3-inch (7.5 cm) biscuits.

TENDER AND FLAKY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• 2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Add shortening to flour mixture; break up chunks with fingertips until only small, pea-sized pieces remain. Working in batches, drop butter slices into flour mixture and toss to coat; pick up each slice of butter and press between floured fingertips into flat, nickel-sized pieces. Repeat until all butter is incorporated; toss to combine. Freeze mixture (in bowl) until chilled, about 15 minutes.
• 3. Spray work surface with nonstick cooking spray and spread spray evenly across surface with kitchen towel or paper towel. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of extra flour across sprayed surface and gently spread to form an even coat.
• 4. Add all but 2 tablespoons of buttermilk to flour mixture; stir briskly with fork until ball forms and no dry bits of flour are visible, adding remaining buttermilk as needed (dough will be sticky and shaggy but should clear sides of bowl). With rubber spatula, transfer dough onto center of prepared work surface, dust surface lightly with flour, and, with floured hands, bring dough together into cohesive ball (BUT DO NOT KNEAD).
• 5. Pat dough into approximate 10-inch square; roll into 18 by 14-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, dusting dough and rolling pin with flour as needed. Using a bench scraper or thin metal spatula, fold dough into thirds, brushing any excess flour from surface; lift short end of dough and fold in thirds again to form approximate 6 by 4-inch rectangle. Rotate dough 90 degrees, dusting work surface underneath with flour; roll and fold dough again, dusting with flour as needed.
• 6. Roll dough into 10-inch square about 1/2 inch thick; flip dough and cut nine 3-inch rounds with floured biscuit cutter, dipping cutter back into flour after each cut (DO NOT TWIST CUTTER WHEN MAKING THE ROUNDS). Carefully invert and transfer rounds to ungreased baking sheet, spaced 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps into ball; roll and fold once or twice until scraps form smooth dough. Roll dough into 1/2-inch-thick round; cut three more 3-inch rounds and transfer to baking sheet. Discard excess dough.
• 7. Brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Bake, without opening oven door, until tops are golden brown and crisp, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet 5 to 10 minutes before serving.