Adventures in Ratio Baking: Biscuits It Is

I love bread. When the weather started to cool off, and I was no longer able to get a good rise without having to turn on the heat or the oven, I scrambled for something else that could whet my bread thirst.

Biscuits!

Of course. So easy. So simple. Definitely something I could literally walk into the kitchen and decide to make because the butter must be as cold as possible.

Yes! No having to wait for butter to warm up. No eggs to take out. Just flour, butter, and liquid.

The ratio is a simple 3:2:1 flour to liquid to butter (fat). The liquid can be milk, buttermilk, water. I’ve even used evaporated milk. While I was adventurous enough to try making lemon cupcakes using lemon juice as my liquid, I don’t feel quite as adventurous when it comes to biscuits. Also, something about lemon biscuits doesn’t really appeal to me. Pineapple biscuits? Nah.

Anyways, I had read the biscuits could be formed as you usually see, or be simply dropped onto a sheet pan for a lumpy, rustic look. My daughter was already getting a little antsy with me since I wasn’t taking out any chocolate chips, so I knew I was going to be going with dropping them by the spoonful onto the sheet pan.

It took a lot of going through recipes to figure out the correct way to make biscuits as I’ve never actually made them before, and the information I could find on the ratio was a little…light on the details.

My first attempt involved me leaving the butter out while I mixed the flour and about a teaspoon of baking powder together. Then I used my hand to quickly somewhat work in the butter. I tried 2 forks, but didn’t seem to be getting anywhere fast. So, I used my hands. Then I mixed in some milk. And then took a spoon and just started spooning it onto my sheet pan.

Then I decided, what the heck, why don’t I go for a sweet biscuit? I rolled each biscuit in some granulated sugar, completely forgetting the bottom was now covered in sugar and about to go into a 375 degree oven.

Did you guess what was going to happen?

Yup, the sugar burned. The bottom was mostly inedible, unless you like the taste of burnt sugar. It’s quite bitter. But I won’t judge.

However, the actual biscuit wasn’t that bad. Of course, it lacked the layers as I hadn’t rolled it out and shaped it, but it did actually taste like a biscuit.

And then my next attempt involved mixing the flour and some buttermilk together before dropping in pieces of butter. Those were also dropped by spoonfuls, but I only dusted the tops with sugar. They were much less burnt and bitter on the bottom.

I was really getting into the biscuit thing by then. A third attempt, of course, followed, in which I actually took the time to roll out the dough. I also finally managed to cut the butter into pea sized pieces and just barely worked it into the dough. Pockets of butter, after all, really give the biscuits that rich, buttery taste and those beautiful, puffy layers. But, I couldn’t find a round cookie cutter (kids, you know), so I used a glass. The layers weren’t beautifully perfect, but they looked darn good on the inside.