Biscuits from Gisslen.

Simple Biscuits

Folks are scared of biscuits for some reason. They are actually very easy to make. You can have these ready to go into the oven in minutes. I got this from my baking textbook, Professional Baking, 5th edition, by Wayne Gisslen. Go buy it. You can get a used copy for $15-40 from Amazon.

I’ll post the original here, and my adaptation separately.

Biscuits I

Biscuits!
Author: 
Recipe type: Simple quickbread biscuits
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 3 to 4 dozen biscuits depending on size
 
Folks are scared of biscuits for some reason. They are really simple. You can have them ready to go into the oven in just a few minutes. I got this recipe from my baking textbook, Professional Baking, 5th Ed. by Wayne Gisslen. You can pick up a used copy on Amazon.com for $15-40. It's a great book. I'll post the original and then my adaptation.
Ingredients
  • Bread flour 1#, 4 oz.
  • Pastry flour 1#, 4 oz.
  • Salt ¾ oz.
  • Sugar 2 oz.
  • Baking Powder 2.5 oz.
  • Shortening and/or butter 14 oz.
  • Milk 14 oz.
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Sift together the first 5 ingredients into a large glass or metal bowl. If you don't have an actual sifter, use a colander. It'll work.
  2. Cut the fat into small cubes and toss in the flour. Using a bowl scraper or a plastic spatula, chop up the fat until is in particles smaller than a pea.
  3. Slowly add the milk and stir until it forms a sticky mass.
  4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Roll out into a long rectangle. Fold in half. Turn 90 degrees and roll out again. Repeat this 4 to six times. Roll out to about half an inch thick and cut out biscuits with a round cutter or just cut into squares. Put the biscuits on a dry baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. If you want a pretty brown top, you can brush with egg wash (1 egg beaten with an equal amount of water or milk)