Host Mary Ellen Pinkham shares tips for making tasty, homemade biscuits, including ideas for strawberry shortcake biscuits and cheesy garlic biscuits.
Flaky Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
5 Tbs. unsalted butter
3 Tbs. vegetable shortening
3/4 cup cold milk
melted butter
Preparation:
Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Use your fingers to cut the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles oatmeal.
Add the milk and stir with a fork or rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Allow the dough to rest for about 10 minutes, then roll into a 6-by-10-inch rectangle.
Fold both ends of the rectangle until they meet each other in the middle. Fold the dough in half again. Place the dough in an eight-inch square, lightly floured pan and pat down until the dough is evenly spread in the pan.
Take the dough out of the pan and cut into 16 square biscuits by making four evenly spaced cuts in each direction with a pastry knife. Another option is to make 16 triangular biscuits by cutting the dough into quarters, then cutting those quarters diagonally twice.
Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet, brush with melted butter and bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.
Hint
Why use those light, spongy cakes for strawberry shortcake? Biscuits make a much better base for strawberry shortcake desserts. Follow the above recipe, but increase the butter by 4 tablespoons. Sprinkle one tablespoon of sugar on top of each biscuit before baking. After the biscuits cool, top them with strawberries and whipped cream.
Cheesy Garlic Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups commercial baking mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine baking mix, milk and cheese in a large bowl and mix well. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for eight to 10 minutes. For evenly sized biscuits, use an ice-cream scoop to measure out the dough.
While the biscuits are baking, combine the melted butter and garlic powder. When the biscuits come out of the oven, brush immediately with the butter mixture.
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