Biscuits

Nothing tastes as good as freshly baked biscuits. You can pair them with a bowl of soup or even just eat them on their own with butter or jam. Yum. However, it seems as though I am stuck in a breakfast food mentality these days, so tonight I made bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits for the family. I will make the assumption that you are capable of knowing how to cook bacon and eggs, as well as how to cut the cheese! ;)

 Biscuit recipe

 2 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
2/3 c. milk
1 egg

 **Note, I doubled the recipe for my family

Start out by putting all your dry ingredients into a large bowl and haul out the pastry blender if you have one.  (A food processor makes quick work of making biscuits, but I prefer to make them by hand.)

**Dry ingredients and my great-grandmother's pastry blender**

Cream of tartar.  What the heck is that stuff and what is it used for anyway?  As far as I can tell, cream of tartar helps baked goods to rise well.  It's probably not imperative to this recipe, so if you don't have it on hand, it doesn't mean you can't make these biscuits.  They just might not rise nearly as high.

**Cream of tartar**

Next, it's time for the butter!  Remember, I'm doubling my recipe, which is why you see 2 sticks of butter.

**Butter**

Slice your butter into tablespoon-sized slices so it makes it easier to cut the butter into the dry ingredients.

**Bowl full of butter**

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the appearance is that of coarse crumbs.

**Coarse crumbs**

Next, add the wet ingredients and stir well with a large spoon until no dry spots remain.  Don't stir too much or you will end up with tougher biscuits.

At this point, you have a decision to make--do you want to take the fast, easy route and make drop biscuits?  Or do you want to have "pretty" biscuits that you cut out?

We'll assume that most people will choose the fast, easy route.  To make drop biscuits, simply gather up large, uniform blobs of the dough and drop them onto a cookie sheet.  Pop the sheet into a preheated 425 degree oven and bake until the biscuits are lightly browned and cooked through, which generally takes 9-11 minutes.

However, assuming you want nicer looking biscuits, you'll want to pat the biscuit dough flat on a lightly floured surface.  Don't roll it out; simply pat it to the thickness you desire.  I typically pat mine down to a 1/2" level.  You can cut the dough out however you like--some people like to use cookie cutters.  I like having large biscuits, so I use the rim of one of my bigger drinking glasses.  Simply dip the rim of your drinking glass (or cookie cutter) into a container of flour to prevent the dough from sticking to it, and then proceed to cut out the shape you desire, transferring the cut out pieces to a cookie sheet.

**Large biscuit made from the rim of a drinking glass**

Continue to cut out the dough until you are unable to cut any other pieces out.  At that point, combine all the dough once again, pat it down, and repeat.

Once all your biscuits have been cut out, put them in the preheated 425 degree oven and bake 9-11 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.  These things will really rise!

**Finished biscuit**

These biscuits are light and flaky and easily pull apart if you want to put anything inside of them...like bacon, eggs, and cheese!

**Yum**