Recipe: No-Fail Biscuits with Variations

NO-FAIL BISCUITS WITH VARIATIONS

Put 2 cups of flour in a bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons shortening (lard, Crisco, butter). If you want to use regular sweet milk add 3 teaspoons of baking powder. If you want buttermilk biscuits add 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Use your very clean fingers to rub that all together until it looks like cornmeal.

Stir in about 2/3 cup milk just until everything is combined. Do not use a mixer. Turn out onto a well floured board and knead EXACTLY 10 times to hold the ball together, then pat the dough out with your hand about 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a round cutter (1 1/2 inches is the traditional Southern size). No cutter? Use the floured rim of a small glass or just cut in squares with a knife.

Put the biscuits on an unfloured, ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 425 about 10 minutes until the tops are just faintly golden, (buttermilk biscuits will be darker because of the soda). Serve hot.

Variations:
Add any of the following - or anything else that you can think of - about 1/2 cup total: Mix with the dry ingredients before you add the milk.

raisins
sweetened dried cranberries plus 1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange/lemon rind
chopped nuts
grated cheese
1 to 2 tablespoons of your favorite herb (dill, thyme, etc.)
finely diced ham browned in a skillet with lots of pepper added (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of some "sweet" spice - cinnamon, cardamom, etc.

Grandma's Shortcake Biscuits:
Use butter for the shortening and add 2 tablespoons of sugar with the dry ingredients. If you would like to serve the shortcake as one large cake baked in a layer cake pan, increase the milk to one scant cup and pour the batter into a 9-inch layer pan, ungreased. Slice in half after baking to serve.

Mom's Cheese Straws:
Add 1 cup very sharp cheddar, pat dough about 1/3 inch thick and cut into long strips. Sprinkle with more grated cheese before baking. Great with soup.

Robin M. Bassett/2000