American Biscuits

When I make biscuits, this is what I make. It’s very simple, I almost always have the ingredients on hand, and I can have them covered in butter and jam (or sausage gravy!) in under 30 minutes. I’ve seen lots of recipes for biscuits over the years and I even tried a few of them, but this one never fails me. I get fluffy, flavorful, tender, well risen biscuits every time.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus a little more for dusting
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• 1 TBSP granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt or table salt
• 6 TBSP frozen butter, grated
• 3/4 cups milk or low-fat buttermilk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425f and line a baking tray with parchment or kitchen foil.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a medium-size mixing bowl. Grate the butter directly into the flour and toss it in gently to coat. Then, rub it into the flour using your fingertips. The mixture should resemble fine bread crumbs with a few chunkier bits. Add the milk and mix it in with a wooden spoon, then switch to using your hands to form a soft, sticky dough.
3. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it down so it is evenly 1-inch thick. Use a 2 3/4 to 3-inch wide cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can. Pushing the dough together but not kneading it, to reshape to 1-inch think and keep cutting until you can’t make anymore.
4. Place the biscuits onto a baking tray lined with parchment or foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. Serve warm or cold. Store leftovers in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Makes 12 Biscuits

Notes

• For best results and the highest rise, push the cutter down straight. Don’t twist! Pull the cutter straight up. Don’t pull the biscuit out with your fingers if it gets stuck. Shake the cutter up and down firmly until it releases.