Angel Biscuits: The recipe

Ultimate success!

There are several keys to getting this recipe right:

1) The dough will be more of a thick batter when you dump it out to knead it. Don't be afraid of this - add too much flour and you will end up with dense hockey pucks.

2) Do not overknead - the dough should just come together - it will still be sticky in spots, and very soft.

3) Do not roll it too thin - the dough will rise before baking, but if you smash it down too hard, it will not recover.

Here is the recipe, courtesy of someone of my Grandmother's generation at the church where I grew up:

1 pkg dry yeast (about 2 tsp)

1/4 cup warm water

2.5 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup buttermilk

1) Stir to dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup warm water, set aside.

2) Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together in a medium mixing bowl.

3) Cut in the shortening to the dry ingredients.

4) Stir in the yeast mixture and the buttermilk just until moistened.

5) Turn out onto a floured countertop and knead lightly - just until the dough holds together.

6) Roll out the dough to about 3/4" thick. Cut circles with cookie cutter or the top of a drinking glass dusted with flour.

*Note - when your rolled dough is "holey" and you need to recombine it to roll out again, work it as little as possible. If you just pull the dough in to the center, filling the holes, it will recombine without needing to be rolled out again.

7) Place biscuits into lightly greased 9 inch pie pans. You should be able to fit 6 or 7 per pan, 2 pans per recipe.

8) Let the biscuits rise until they are touching each other - not quite doubled (about 45 minutes)

9) Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. They may take less time - watch them carefully the last 5 minutes. When they are golden brown on top like the picture below pull them out and let them cool slightly in the pan, then serve them hot with butter.

You can also refrigerate the biscuits after step 7 - just wrap the pans in plastic wrap, and then let them rise for about 75 minutes before baking.

Happy Baking!

I love biscuits - simple ingredients (yeast not shown)	It will be like thick waffle batter - not a stiff dough
I rolled these out to almost 3/4" thick.	They look much more promising - perfect color!
Sooooo good!

Angel Biscuits... Finally? No, not quite yet.

The angel biscuits have been a long time coming. I apologize - it's only the second bread, and I've already had a long hiatus from blogging. These biscuits have taken a couple of tries to get, but I finally got them right. But first... the failed attempt.

These biscuits don't have a long celebrated history like some of the breads I'll be making. They were originally billed as "The biscuit that even a new bride can make." The south is famous for their buttermilk biscuits - these are a northern take on that standard. They are warm and flaky and soft right out of the oven, but when they cool, they become more of a soft yeast roll, unlike their southern counterparts which are best in the first 20 minutes out of the oven.

I grew up on these - my mother made these all the time. I can remember eating them by the panful. So I had to try to master these as well, if for no other reason than I want to eat them.

My main problem the first failed attempt (see pictures below) was rolling the dough out too thin. I rolled it out to slightly more than 1/4" - they never recovered. By the time they had gone through the oven, they were crunchy on the bottom, and dry in the middle.

Never fear though - I tried again, and nailed it. I'll detail the recipe in the next post...

Happy Baking!

I think I rolled it too thin...	Well, maybe I can get it to rise pretty high.
Hmm... not looking good.	Yeah. They're not supposed to do that.