Scratch Biscuits

I have been making these biscuits for few years now with some tweaks from different recipes I found online. They are my son's favorite thing for me to make. We usually have the ingredients in the house and they are simple to make. This will make approximately 8-10 biscuits depending on the size you cut them. I believe my cutter makes 3" biscuits. We'll start with what you will need:

• Working Surface for rolling dough
• Biscuit cutter. (A nice round glass drinking cup works as well)
• Measuring Cup
• Measuring Spoons
• All Purpose Flour - 2 Cups plus some for dusting your surface
• Baking Power - 1 Tablespoon
• Salt - 1/2 teaspoon (May need more if you use unsalted butter)
• Sugar - 2 teaspoons (Can also substitute honey, if desired)
• Milk - 3/4 to 1 cup. (You can use water, but the milk makes the flavor better imo)

Time to pre-heat the oven while we start making the biscuits

Lets' add the flour, salt, sugar and Baking Powder. I use a fork to mix them together

I add the margarine in a whole stick because it is soft enough even right out of the fridge. If using butter, you may want to let the butter soften or cut into smaller cubes or it will be harder to cut into the flour. Using your fork start cutting the margarine into the flour mixture. You will want to keep mushing it in until it looks crumbly and you don't see any large pieces of it in the mixture.

This is where it's time for the milk. I usually do this by eyeball. I add a little, mix it in , then add more until it creates a dough that is not too wet. From my experience I think 1 cup is too much, so start with maybe a half cup and a tablespoon amount each time until the desired consistency. The good thing is that if you put in to much, just a little flour and mix it in to get it where you need it.

Dust some flour on your surface and start rolling out the dough. I start by taking my hands and flattening the dough ball from the bowl then fold it over and flatten again, do this about 3 times. When you are done, it should be no thinner than 1/4 inch. Remember, they will fluff up when baking.

Using your biscuit cutter (or glass cup) cut out your biscuits. ,Remember, we want to cut the biscuits, not squish them. Make sure you press firmly down and do not rotate the cutter or it may seal the edges. The only issue this will cause is the biscuits will not look uniform after baking, but are still completely fine.

After your first cut, you will need to regroup the dough. Just ball it up and flatten and fold a couple of times. You don't want to work it too much though, just enough to get more cut out. Repeat the process until you have about 1 biscuit worth left of dough. This is my son's favorite one. We call it the dump biscuit. Just roll it to a ball then flatten and cook it uncut. You will see the difference in the final picture.

I use a pampered chef baking stone to cook my biscuits, but you can use and baking pan you have, I have even made half batches of the recipe and used the toaster oven. Place the uncooked biscuits in the oven until the rise and are light brown, usually around 10-14 minutes.

When they done, remove them from the oven for a little cooling. Notice the center biscuit (the dump biscuit) that is what they would like if you do not cut the edges and they stay sealed, Still a perfectly edible morsel. Notice the layers from the folding on the other biscuits. Way better than canned biscuits from the store. Add some butter, jelly or homemade sausage gravy and end Enjoy!