Tuesday, August 19, 2014

TWD: Baking Powder Biscuits

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: Marion Cunningham





Marion Cunningham - need I say more? I have her book, The Fanny Farmer Cookbook, from over thirty years ago - it was my first cookbook. The recipes are basic, no-frills, flawless, easy peasy, always turn out, kinda recipes. 



So, how can one one mess up such an easy recipe? Well, let me tell you:

1. Subbing butter for shortening - and we all know that shortening makes for flakier biscuits.
2. Subbing half & half for milk (either that, or non-fat milk)  - not detrimental, I'm sure.
3. Using expired baking powder - detrimental, if you want a little height to your biscuits.


I cut the recipe in half, and using a three-inch biscuit cutter, I came out with four biscuits, plenty for the two of us.

My biscuits were not as flaky as I had expected, and only rose to about an inch in height. They tasted OK. They are biscuits after all - not a whole lot going for them, other than what you top them with - gravy, jam, butter, honey - whatever floats your boat.

If I were to make these again, one, I would brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter, and give them a sprinkle of salt, before baking.


The biscuit with a bit of butter and honey. It was tasty this way.


The recipe can be found on page 211 - 212 of Baking with Julia, or by clicking here. Do visit my fellow baker's sites to see how they fared with this recipe.

13 comments:

  1. So the butter didn't work out? That's a bummer!! Still, they look good Cathy!!!

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    1. Thanks, Karen! Not sure if it was the butter, or the expired baking powder..

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  2. I used that same red plate to photography my biscuits! Mine didn't rise very well either.

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  3. Your biscuits look great. I used all butter and was pretty pleased with the results. But then this was my first time making biscuits, so maybe you are on to something.

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  4. I wonder if using half butter and half shortening would work. My mother always made hers with shortening, and they were so light and flaky, buy I really prefer butter. Maybe a denser biscuit isn't all that bad!! :) Yours look absolutely perfect! ~ David

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    1. Thanks, David! A more dense biscuit isn't bad at all - they tasted just like a biscuit should. I was just expecting a bit more rise. I too prefer butter over shortening.

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  5. Butter and honey is a good way to enjoy a biscuit. I just saw a collection of wooden honey spoons just like that in a store, but now I can't remember where...

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  6. I like butter and honey on a warm biscuit - good idea.
    These were no frill, but I loved how easy they were!

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  7. Your biscuits look great! And I agree, butter and honey on a warm biscuit is definitely the way to go. YUUUUUM yum!

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  8. I did the butter swap too and they definitely were a bit flat. Maybe I should try the shortening. The honey looks divine.

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  9. I subbed butter and was happy with the flavor, but do agree that they could have been flakier.

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  10. I clicked on the link provided above on this site & all I got was this:

    "Not Found The requested URL /baking/recipes/baking_p_biscuits.htm was not found on this server.
    Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request."

    How do I find the recipe?

    Thanks, Energy Doc

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    Replies
    1. Sorry the link is no longer valid. Here is another:
      https://archive.org/details/MarionOneBakingBiscuits

      Delete

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