Skip to main content

Baking Powder Biscuits

4.2

(37)

Light-gold and crusty outside, moist and fine-textured inside.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    16 Biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2/3 cup milk

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 425° F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans. Put the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl. Cut the shortening into the flour with two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the milk all at once and stir just until the dough forms a ball around the fork. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead 14 times. Pat until 1/2 inch thick. Cut into rounds with a 2-inch cookie cutter. Place touching each other in the cake pans and bake for 15-20 minutes.

  2. Crusty Baking Powder Biscuits.

    Step 2

    Roll biscuits to 1/4 inch thick and place 1 inch apart. Bake in a 450° F oven for 12 minutes. This will yield almost twice as many biscuits.

  3. Buttermilk Biscuits.

    Step 3

    Use 2/3 cup buttermilk instead of sweet milk and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, cutting the amount of baking powder in half, to 2 teaspoons.

  4. Cheese Biscuits.

    Step 4

    Add 1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese to the dry ingredients.

  5. Drop Biscuits.

    Step 5

    Add an additional 1/3 cup milk and drop by teaspoonfuls onto a buttered baking sheet.

Cover of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook 1996 edition.
Excerpted by permission of Knopf from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of America's Great Classic Cookbook, copyright © 1996 by Marion Cunningham. All rights reserved. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.
Read More
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Keep this easy frittata recipe on hand for quick breakfasts, impressive brunches, and fridge clean-out meals.
This one-pot dinner cooks chicken thighs directly on top of a bed of flavorful cilantro rice studded with black beans for a complete dinner.
Put that half-full tub to use with recipes that go beyond the Italian American classics.
Like Sri Lankan cashew curry and vegan stuffed shells.
Glossy, intensely chocolaty, and spiked with coffee and sour cream, this Bundt is the ultimate all-purpose dessert.
Filberts, goobers, scaly bark nuts: Explore the world beyond almonds in this guide.
Use this simple vinaigrette to dress a plate of greens, some steamed potatoes, or anything else that strikes your fancy.