Basic Biscuits

A delicious recipe for plain biscuits, my family traditionally serves these alongside Beef Stew (see post of April 11, 2015). These biscuits will keep for several days but are best straight of the oven and can easily serve as a vehicle for your condiment(s) of choice. Though this is not a recipe I tried while on chemo, I did find other fresh, warm breads to be appealing.

Biscuits can be cut into pretty much any shape - on this day I was in the mood for triangles.

Basic Biscuits

Makes 10-12 biscuits.

Ingredients:

• 2 c flour

• 4 tsp baking powder

• 2 tsp sugar

• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 c shortening or butter (4 oz)

• 2/3 c milk

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt.

2. Cut butter or shortening into flour mixture until it forms coarse crumbs.

3. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour milk into the well all at once.

4. Stir until dough just sticks together.

5. Knead on lightly-floured surface for 10-12 strokes.

6. Roll or pat to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into 2 1/2-inch circles.

7. Arrange on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450F for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Tips & Variations:

• Growing up, I always tried to save a biscuit for later in the week. Unfortunately, these biscuits rarely last more than a week without developing mold, so my hoarding was in vain. Use this excuse to gobble them up while you can and then make a fresh batch!

A tray of biscuits waiting to go into the oven.