Gardening Charlotte

Basic Biscuits Recipes

One would think it would be relatively easy to make basic biscuits. It can be once one settles on a recipe but there’s the rub, there are so many recipes how does one settle on one?

My mother used to make biscuits from scratch from a recipe in her head. She was an excellent cook but not as spontaneous or adventurous as I am. To remember how she would throw the ingredients together while talking about some event was a bit of surprise since she tended to depend on recipes written down.

One of the biscuit recipes I have coveted for many years were made at the Houston House in Newburg. “Angel biscuits” they were called, and they literally melted in one’s mouth. I finally ended up with the supposed recipe only to find that it was like my mother making her biscuits, a little bit of this and that thrown into a bowl without measurements.

When I spotted Joanna Gaines extoling the virtue of a biscuit recipe she had perfected, I had to try it. The Texas interior designer known for her shiplap and eclectic style might have the definitive quintessential biscuit recipe.

Here it is for those who want to try it:

JoJo’s Biscuit Recipe

4 cups flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 sticks of unsalted butter

2 eggs, beaten plus 1 large egg to brush on biscuits

1 1⁄2 plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

More butter if you want to brush biscuits prior to cooking

Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda. Cut in butter with pastry blender (or two knives) into pea size pieces. Add eggs, stirring with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in 1 1⁄2 cups of buttermilk until dough forms a sticky mass. If mixture is too dry, add more buttermilk 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition. Cover and let rest 30 minutes in refrigerator or overnight.

Place chilled dough on floured work surface. Dust your hands with flour and shape or roll dough out to 1⁄2 inch thick to cut into biscuits of your preference size.

Beat one egg beaten with 1 tablespoon buttermilk; brush mixture over biscuit tops.

Place rack in middle of oven. Preheat to 400F. Bake in 350F oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

The biggest issue I have with this recipe is the huge amount of butter. The rolls were literally cooking in butter, and that was even before I didn’t slather the biscuits with butter before cooking them.

I won’t make this recipe again, I will go back to my old standard:

Charlotte’s Basic Biscuits Recipe

2 cups flour (substitute 1⁄2 cup whole wheat flour for whole wheat biscuits)

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1⁄4 cup shortening or butter

3⁄4 cup milk.

Mix dry ingredients. Add butter and milk. That’s right, no eggs. Roll out on floured surface and cut into desired biscuit sizes. Bake in 450F pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes.

These basic biscuits freeze well and can easily be whipped up whenever needed.

Charlotte Ekker Wiggins is a beekeeper, gardener and sometimes cook. Published by El Dorado Springs Sun once in print and online with author’s permission. Copyright 2017, all rights reserved. This column may not be reprinted, republished or otherwise distributed without author’s permission. Contact Charlotte at gardeningcharlotte@gmail.com.

TOO MUCH BUTTER? – JoJo’s biscuits baking in the butter, which I personally don’t think is a healthy amount.

BASIC BOUGHT BISCUITS – When I don’t have time to whip up my own biscuits, I head to our local farmer’s market. These rolls were picked up for an event where I was serving my honey. (Photos by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins).