My Homemade Biscuits

Preheat Oven To 500 Degrees

2 Cups Self-rising Flour
1/4 Cup Crisco Shortening
Milk - Just Enough To Make A Nice Biscuit Dough

Cut Shortening Into Flour Until Well Combined, Add Milk And Mix Just Until Evenly Moistened. I Then Spoon Out A Biscuit Sized Amount Of Dough And Drop Into Flour Bin And Dust It With Flour On Top Then Gingerly Pick It Up And Bounce In The Palm Of My Hand A Second To Remove Excess Flour Then Quickly Shape Into Round Shape And Place Onto Baking Sheet Or Pan. Place Biscuits Touching Side By Side. Place Into Oven For 12 Minutes Or Until Nicely Browned. When You Remove From Oven Cover The Biscuits In The Cooking Pan With A Clean Cloth And Allow To Steam For A Moment. Serve Immediately, Apply Butter Or Margarine As Desired!

My Secret To A Fluffy Biscuit Is High Heat And To Handle the dough As Little As Possible I Work Very Fast As To Not Knead The Dough. Biscuit Dough Creates A Gummy Texture If Over-handled. Save The Kneading For Yeast Breads Once You Master This Recipe... Making Biscuits Is So Easy You Will Find Yourself Making Them Often Cause It's Really No Big Deal! And Don't Forget To Break Out The Honey, Jelly, Or Syrup And Wa-la You Have An Instant After Meal Desert!

question

Hi again,
What's the difference between "regular" flour and self-rising? Do I actually need to purchase "special" flour for this recipe? Sounds as easy as making Bisquik biscuits but we can add our own spices to your recipe. YUMMY. - Did you see my pie crust recipe? Just as easy to make and oh, so good. (My Grandma's recipe handed down by my aunt.)

Hey ChattyRoo,
The difference between reg. and self-rising is: the self-rising flour already has salt and baking powder added to it so you do not have to add it to make biscuits, pancakes, etc.. Omit the salt and baking powder if the recipe calls for salt and baking powder when using self-rising flour.
Thank you for the pie crust recipe, I will certainly look at it and give it a try as I do bake alot and I love pie!
You know you mentioned your family cookbook, which I for one think is just a wonderful family tradition and warms my heart to know that there are families that actually do those kinds of things! Anyhow Jafo mentioned a website that actually makes cookbooks as you order them, he is doing it for X-mas gifts this year I thought ya' may want to check out his information on this in his post from earlier this morning!
Later, CCCathy

RooBee, sometimes self-rising flour results in a product that is too acidic. If that happens to you, next time include a pinch of baking soda in the dry mix.

Self-rising flour and self-rising cornmeal is more popular in the South than elsewhere. But you should be able to find it in the baking aisle just about anywhere, nowadays.

My 2 New Friends

Thank you both. I miss spending evenings in the kitchen with my mom cooking supper and talking so I love getting advice from you. Mom would rather pop something in the microwave these days as she's getting older and only cooks for herself and my dad. My daughter (as I've said) is 10 and is constantly getting up on a stool to help me cook. My mom started Hannah (or soon-to-be ChattyHan) out when she was still in diapers (and size 7 high heels...I have a picture of it....lol) mixing mashed potatoes with a hand masher. This is definitely a very tight bond my family shares.
Thank you again for the advice.
I never gave flour much thought.
By the way.....
any good bread-machine recipes that call for All-purpose flour?
Thank you in advance.

Can I make a suggestion, especially if you are cooking with children? Discard the machine.. You will find making bread by hand very easy and fun with children. Here is a recipe of mine you can use, and if you don't want to use flax seed, just substitute it with a cup of flour:

Jeffs Recipes » Flax Seed Bread Recipe

If you want to make this with your child, just double the recipe and when you get the dough out of the bowl, split it in half and each work on one. You can even make a few batches together and freeze them before the second rising and then thaw them any day you want to bake fresh bread.

I must second the motion to discard the bread machine! If you feel it is too difficult to do totally by hand I can suggest using your mixer with the dough hooks attached, if you have one. I use the Rapid-Rise yeast and follow their instructions for warming the milk and butter slightly before adding to the dry ingredients. It is no-fail and easier, but the end product is so nice! Plus as Jafo describes; the fun of making the dough into "shapes" with the children is such fun! Even if it is just to make dough balls for dinner rolls [to keep it simple].
P.S. When I make basic white bread I always use milk instead of water, and I add 2 eggs that I bring to room temperature before adding to the dry ingredients! This makes the bread more nutritious. My 8 yr. old was never a big bread eater, and since having my homemade breads and rolls simply tears into bread now like there is no tomorrow! And I delight in that since at that age they seem to have one empty leg anyway

Wish I could help, but I wouldn't even know how to turn a bread machine on. I make all our breads by hand (In fact, am in the middle of making rosemary potato bread even as we speak).

I second Jafo's motion. There is no better way for a mother/daughter to bond that by making bread. Your daughter, at ten, may not have enough upper body strength or a long enough attention span to knead by hand, however. So a stationary mixer makes sense. I would let her play as long as she wishes, then finish kneading in the machine.

Also, don't forget quick breads, all of which can easily be done with nothing but a mixing spoon.

Cathy, one thing to keep in mind is that instant (Rapid Rise) yeast is much more active than active dry. So you might want to cut back a little. For instance, an envelope of yeast contains 2 1/4 tsp (more or less, as it's actually packed by weight). Cut back to 2 tsp, or even 1 3/4 with the instant yeast, which is 25% "stronger."

Basic rule among bakers: Use only as much yeast as the bread needs.

Also, if you do much baking, and buy yeast in those envelopes, shame on you. Bulk yeast is the cheapest thing in the world. The 4-oz jars you find at the market make the envelopes look like an indulgence. And you can mail-order yeast by the pound for what those 4-oz jars cost.

Yeast can be stored in either the fridge or freezer. There is no need to defrost it, or even bring it to room temp. Just use it that way.

Something else to keep in mind, when making bread with kids, is that almost any bread recipe (other than high-hydration types like ciabata) can by made in the style of Monkey Bread, and kids love making that and eating it.

Thank you KYH, I honestly did not know about buying yeast in bulk. And I just get so annoyed at the price I pay for one 3 pack of the stuff! I can't tell you how much I appreciate the tip!
Thanks Once Again for the great input! Cathy

Mmm...homemade bisquits are the best. Warm too. I just use the bisquick mix....still comes out yummy!

Bread Machine Lover

Thanks everyone for the great advice. Honestly, the reason I use the bread machine is because I ALWAYS wanted one and my (used to be) boss was throwing his out and I "took it off his hands". And, though embarrassing to say, I don't own a bread pan and would love to make some bread right now but I can't find the box mix in stores any more. My daughter cooks and bakes with me all the time but during the week is so, so busy with homework that I would really just like to throw everything in the machine and help with homework while the machine does all the work and fills the house with that WONDERFUL smell. I used to make home-made bread when I was little with my mom and will share that with my daughter on snow days or weekends. I just would like a recipe to use for weeknights.
Any recipes out there?
Thanks again for all the advice.

Monkey Bread

Hey there KYHeirloomer,
Nice to chat with you again. You mentioned Monkey Bread.... You will be sad to hear the only recipe I have is with refrigerated biscuits rolled in melted butter then shaken in a cinnamon/sugar mixture, thrown in a bundt pan and baked. What's your favorite recipe?
Thanks for all your GREAT advice.
Rhonda
in Southeastern Indiana
where it's 11 degrees wind chill
home-made bread would be nice right about now...LOL

Actually, I don't make Monkey Bread as such. But when I need dinner rolls I often just pick an appropriate bread recipe and make it in that style. That is, roll the dough in balls, line them up, touching, in a ring mold, and let 'er rip. Last time I did that was with pumpkin yeast bread.

I really like the idea of break-apart breads, and make several styles. For instance, for Friend Wife's office Christmas party, I'll be making Pain D'epi (sheaf of wheat); which is basically a break-apart baguette. And, of course, Parker House Rolls are done that way as well.

Hi ChattyRoo,
I hope you are toasty & warm in your most comfy clothes! I certainly understand about the time factor w/ the bread machine, I used to have one & used it for some of the same reasons and the smell of bread baking is simply the best no matter what the method used to do so!
Now I just latley remember a recipe I used one time called "Beer Bread" using self-rising flour, 1 can beer, and 1 cup of sugar. You would mix all this together and put into a greased loaf pan and bake, smelled just like yeast bread cooking and didn't taste too awful bad! I just do not recall the exact amount of flour in the recipe and the oven temp. Maybe someone else will recall this and let us know! But it was easy and in a pinch you could make it when you didn't have time to make yeast bread. And I like the suggestion KYH gave about adding a pinch of baking soda to the selfrising flour recipes to cut down on the acidity, especially in the case of this "beer bread" recipe.
I can't help you out on the "Monkey Bread" as I have never heard of it, I will leave the honors to KYH!
I do not envy your weather, although her in North Georgia it is supposed to drop to 20 tonight! YIKES I only like tepid weather, but the cold weather makes it nice to bake {apple pie in the oven right now}
Take Care, CCCathy

Coooooooolllllllllddddddddd in IN

Actually CCCathy, I'm in lounge pants, T-shirt, Sweat-shirt, Fuzzy socks and slippers and I'm still cold. I have all the ingredients on the counter to bake some cookies I found a recipe for. (waiting for the butter to warm a little). It's basically a peanut butter cookie but you hide a snack-size snicker bar inside the dough-ball before baking. It will be a GREAT surprize for my dad...LOL...
Send me over a piece of that pie would you? I'll supply the a la mode from my front yard if this keeps up...

You in North Georgia, Cathy? I hope you're using Nora Mills as your flour supplier. A fantastic place (been in operation a century and a quarter, or some such) not only to buy stuff but to visit---it's on the way to Alpine Helen, so you could make a grand weekend out of it.

Check 'em out at ...::: Welcome To Nora Mill Online :::...

Rhonda, do a google search for Monkey Bread and you'll come up with several versions. It's a sweet dough bread, made into a break-apart ring. Kids love every aspect of it, including the making, cuz they get to play with the dough.

Monkey Bread

KYHeirloomer-
I will do the search right now. I just went to the grocery after taking my daughter to school and bought a jar of dry yeast so I'm ready to go. Darnit, I forgot to look for a bread pan. Speaking of bread pans....which type do you recommend?
Thanks again for all your help.

Hey Roo & KYH,
Roo your Dad's Dr. needs to yell at you making all those goodies knowing your poor Dad will cave in & just have to try a bite. Precious p-nut butter m-m-m-m love the stuff and those cookies sound delicious!
Yes KYH I live only about a little over 2 hrs from Helen, GA and I will most definently make a point out of finding that Nora Mills store one weekend! I live in a town that manufactures Southeastern Mills products [they pkg for Sysco, etc.] everything from flour, to grits [yummy], to gravy mix, etc.! But I prefer Martha White flour, but basically use whatever is on sale, and it's never Martha White.
I was born & raised in Miami FL [Yummy Cuban Cuisine!!!] but our family used to vacation in Helen, Ga and we went to Unicoi State Park and rented a cabin there. Somewhere in the area was a Restaurant that Made the best fried catfish in the world, fried whole, and we would feast on this treat. There were wild plum trees growing along side the road on the way up and we would stop and the entire faily of 7 would eat our fill of wild plums, I thought GA was simply heaven on earth! And lo & behold here I am in my favorite spot in the USA! And I have traveled and lived all over the US [thanks to the US military]. The thing I like about our grand nation is the local varities of different foods! I guess you can say that about any country, but I guess our great nation is so varied due to our melting pot of cultures! Helen being famous for the German influence. I love German bakery products! Well gotta' admit it's really all bakery products Just doesn't pay to be picky does it?
Thanks For the cool shopping tip KYH!
Be warm my friends, CCCathy

Yeah, I love the Georgia Smokies---probably the last undiscovered wild country in the U.S. Everything that NC offers, but without the crowds.

If you do get to Nora Mill, check out their Pioneer Porridge. It's a combination of something like 7 grains, and makes a really great cold-weather breakfast.

In terms of store-bought, I prefer the King Arthur flours, and don't care about paying the premium. Martha White is pretty good, too. The store brands run a very distanct third (and are packed as 4-lbs, not five, so the "savings" may be more imagined than real). But nothing compares to fresh, stone-ground fllours.

The fact is, though, that even premium flours are so inexpensive that I've never paid attention. There are other places to cut corners, IMO. With bread, it's all about the flour.

Rhonda: I'm not sure exactly what you mean by bread pans. For hearth-style loaves I use half sheets pans of aluminized steel. These get covered with parchment paper and sprinkled with either semolina flour or cornmeal. If you have nonstick sheets---which is likely in most households---you should still use the parchment paper & flour.

I also have a baking stone that stays permenantly in the oven. Start by preheating 50-100 degrees higher than the formula says, then lower the heat after putting the dough in. This is particularly important if you use steaming.

For loaves it depends on the size; I have both 1-lb and 2-lb loaf pans. For the monkey style bread, any round, oven-proof bowl will do. I used to use a Bundt pan. Recently I found a ceramic ring mold that is more convenient to use.