Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Granny's Biscuits for Now and Later

Who doesn't love biscuits?  My late mother-in-law made the best biscuits.  And, though, she passed away when our oldest child was only 1-year-old, we are able to use her recipe to pass on the goodness of Granny's biscuits to her grandkids. 

And, because homemade biscuits require a bit more work than popping a can,  you can maximize your effort by freezing some for future use.

The original recipe, copied from Granny reads thus:
2 C. flour
4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. cream of tartar
2 t. sugar
1/2 C. shortening
2/3 C. milk

Bake @ 450 degrees
10-12 minutes

You've got to love the simplicity of the recipe -- just throw it all together, you know, the way you make biscuits.  But, I'd never made homemade biscuits before, so I needed a little more instruction my first time. 

Measure it all out in a big mixing bowl.  Use a fork to cut in the shortening.  Then, knead by hand until all the powder is incorporated, and it holds together as a ball. 
Dust your working surface with flour and roll out dough to about 1/2 inch thick.  Using a biscuit cutter (we got ours straight from Granny's kitchen), cut out biscuits and transfer to baking sheet.  If you don't have a biscuit cutter, you could use a glass or just form them by hand.   If you plan to bake your biscuits now, just pop them into your 450 degree oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.  If you have a baking stone, use it to avoild burnt bottoms.

To prepare your biscuits for the freezer to enjoy later, put them on a baking sheet and freeze for a few hours.

Then, transfer frozen biscuits to a storage baggie.  Now, when you're ready for some homemade comfort food, you can easily pull out however many you need .

Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden.


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