Basic Biscuit Recipe

Photo: flickr user not a hipster

Ingredients

3/4 cup milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450 to 475 degrees. Place flour in mixing bowl; add shortening. With pastry blender or blending fork, cut shortening into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Gently push the flour mixture to the edges of the bowl, making a well in the center. Blend the milk with a fork until dough leaves sides of bowl. Do not overmix.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently 10 to 12 strokes. On lightly floured surface, pat or roll dough to slightly more than 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with 2 or 2 1/2 inch cutter, dipping cutter into flour between cuts.

Transfer cut biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet. For crusty sided biscuits, place biscuits about 1 inch apart. For soft sided biscuits, place with sides just touching.

Reroll scraps of dough and cut into biscuit shapes. Bake in oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden. If sides touch bake biscuits 8 minutes; bake 6 to 7 minutes if sides don't touch.

Increase milk to 1 cup in recipe. Drop dough from tablespoon onto greased baking sheet; bake as for basic biscuits. Makes 12.

Substitute buttermilk for milk in recipe.

Substitute 1/2 cup dairy sour cream and 1/3 cup milk for the 2/3 cup milk. Combine the sour cream and milk thoroughly before adding to flour mixture. Bake as you would basic biscuits.

Add 1 cup of grated sharp Cheddar cheese, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Prepare biscuits as directed, except stir in cheese, mustard and pepper after cutting in shortening. Bake as directed. Makes 12 to 14 biscuits.