Making biscuits or, let me rephrase that, making tender biscuits can be challenging. Too much flour, milk or kneading will make them more like a tennis ball than a scrumptious bite of heaven.
My mom makes gorgeous biscuits. Her recipe box is tried and true but over the holidays, she treated us to a “new” biscuit. For her to use a different biscuit recipe told me that we were in for something special.
They’re commonly known as Angel Biscuits. A cross between a soft dinner roll and a flakey tea biscuit. The combination of yeast and baking powder guarantees that the biscuits will rise. If you struggle with biscuits, this recipe’s for you. If you’re a great biscuit maker, you need this recipe in your repertoire.
Meg and her little family leaves tomorrow.
Back to the other side of the country.
Enough said…
FAIL PROOF TENDER BISCUITS
Adapted from King Arthur Flour Angel Biscuits
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ cup hard margarine, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
1 cup room-temperature milk
2 tablespoons melted butter, for brushing on top
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
Paprika
THE STEPS:
- Place the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of your food processor.
- Pulse several times to mix up the dry ingredients..
- Add the margarine pieces, pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal and you can see pea-sized bits of margarine.
- Add the milk, pulse 7 or 8 times or until just combined.
- Empty the dough onto a well-floured work surface.
- Knead the dough quickly and gently into a 1″- thick circle.
- Use a 2″ round biscuit cutter to cut 16 biscuits.
- Place them close together on a lightly greased baking sheet or a pie plate.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400*F.
- Remove the biscuits form the fridge and remove the plastic.
- Brush the top of the biscuits with the melted butter then sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, fennel seeds, sea salt flakes and paprika.
- Bake the biscuits for 16 to 18 minutes or un til they’re golden brown.
THE LOVE: Using a food processor is a great time saver when making biscuits but you have to be careful. You can over process easily. Use the pulse button and check your mixture between pulses to avoid a disaster.
Thanks for reading.
Photography by Michelle Hooton
