Mama’s Biscuits

In a world where convenience is king, sometimes we forget that homemade doesn’t mean hard.  And for those of us who aren’t exactly proficient in the kitchen, sometimes homemade means impossible.  Well this southern lady is about to prove you wrong! Mama’s Biscuits are as easy as they are good!  In only six ingredients and 20 minutes you can have your own homemade biscuits.  I know, I know – five ingredients is the max for some people, but let’s consider this a little country challenge. ; )

Let’s start with the basics: The ingredients.  All you need to make these amazing biscuits is:

2 c flour (plus a bit extra for the counter)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 TB baking powder
1 stick of cold butter (plus more for the skillet)
¾ c plus 1 TB of milk (1% or more, but not enough fat in skim)

Preheat your oven to 425.  While your oven is preheating, start by adding your dry ingredients to a mixing bowl.  Stir them together well.

Then add your stick of butter.  The colder, the better.  Cut your butter into your dry ingredients (you can use a pastry cutter like I have, or two butter knives, or even work it in quickly with your fingertips.  I say fingertips because you want the butter to be cold, and using your palms makes it too warm and melts it)

You’ll know you’re done with that when the ingredients start to look kind of grainy-ish (it’s a word…right???).  It should have small bits of butter throughout, and be somewhat the consistency of corn meal.  Now it’s time to add your milk and stir.  I add an extra tablespoon of milk because ¾ cup just wasn’t quite enough, but a whole cup was too much.  Mix, mix, mix!  (Feel free to consider this your arm workout for the day!)

Once you have a dough ball, turn it out onto a well-floured counter.

Start kneading the dough until it is no longer sticky, but be careful not to overwork it.  Only a few turns is necessary.  This is a good part for the kids to help with (hence the tiny hands helping in my pictures, LOL).

Then roll it out til it’s about ½” thick, and start cutting it out.

You can use anything to cut these from a juice glass, coffee cup, or biscuit cutter.  Whatever ya like.

Put your biscuit rounds into a well-buttered iron skillet (I use a 10” because I’m usually using the 12” for the gravy : ) ).  Take your “leftover” dough, roll it up, and stick it in there too.  They don’t have to be perfect – even if they aren’t pretty, they’ll still taste amazing!  It’s completely okay if they touch!  Smear a little butter on the top of each one, and then put them in the oven for 18-20 minutes.

You’ll know they’re done when they start to get a little golden on the top.

Carefully take the biscuits out of the oven and let them cool for a couple minutes.  OR, if you’re like me, you’ll dig them out while they’re still steaming, and smother them with gravy.

Whatever your style, I promise they’ll be perfect.  Even that little wadded up biscuit will impress you.  And when you’ve tasted them, you’ll wonder why you ever bothered spending all that money on the frozen ones!  Because I promise you, Mama’s Biscuits are way better than any you buy from the store.  And far more impressive too!