These homemade baking powder biscuits are ½ of my favorite breakfast ever. The other half is a bizarre sounding but delicious concoction called “Macaroni & Eggs” that comes out of the Great Depression and as far as I know was invented by and only exists in my family. This is the breakfast I always, always ask for on my birthday or whenever I’m at my parents house and my mom asks what I want for breakfast. There is NOTHING as good as a steaming hot biscuit covered in homemade apricot or raspberry freezer jam or creamy honey. It’s pretty much my ultimate comfort food. My girls sit on the counter while I cut shortening into flour, baking powder, and salt with a pastry cutter (<– affiliate link), and then pull it all together with just enough milk to moisten everything. Then I turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it flat and the girls take turns cutting the biscuits out with circular cutters. It makes me happy that this breakfast tradition is as much about preparing the baking powder biscuits together as it is about eating them together.
Should I use butter or shortening in biscuits?
When it comes to baking biscuits and pie crusts, I use shortening even though I know some people prefer butter. Shortening makes baked goods lighter and flakier, but it’s also how my mom always made these biscuits. Now, if you want to use butter in place of shortening, by all means go right ahead. They still turn out fabulous although I feel like they don’t have quite the same texture as biscuits made with shortening.
How to Make Baking Powder Biscuits
What does baking powder do in biscuits?
Baking powder is a leavening agent that provides lift to a dough or batter by creating a carbon dioxide that inflates baked goods like baking powder biscuits, cookies, cakes, or muffins.
What will too much baking powder do?
Even if you want mile-high homemade biscuits, you don’t want to increase the amount of baking powder in your biscuits. Too much baking powder will result in a bitter taste that is not enjoyable. If you find your baking powder biscuits aren’t as light and fluffy as you would like, it’s like that the dough got over-mixed. You might also want to make sure you are using a sharp biscuit cutter and not twisting when you cut the biscuits out, which tends to seal the edges a bit so they can’t rise and separate as well.
Tips for the Best Homemade Baking Powder Biscuits
If you really want a golden topped biscuit, you can achieve it by brushing your biscuits with an egg wash or cream before baking. Honestly, I always skip this because I like the rustic, country look of simple baking powder biscuits. I keep my shortening in the refrigerator until I’m ready to use it. Same with the milk. Cold ingredients make for light, fluffy homemade biscuits. Avoid overworking the dough by just using a fork to mix the biscuit dough together and patting it out with your hands rather than rolling with a rolling pin (affiliate link). Overworking the dough results in tough biscuits. You might also like to brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter right after they come out of the oven. I like the floury finish on top from patting out the biscuits, so I skip this step, but if you really love the butter flavor more, go for it!
More Biscuit Recipes
Biscuits and Gravy Casserole Southern Biscuits and Chocolate Gravy Easy Drop Biscuits Blackberry Scones
Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
Homemade Biscuits and Gravy
Easy Cheddar Bay Biscuits (Red Lobster Copycat)
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