Extra Tall and Tender Homemade Biscuits

Biscuits don't make an appearance on our table very often, so when I do serve them I want them to be the lightest and most tender I can find. So I make them myself.





If you've never made homemade, "from-scratch" biscuits you may be surprised at how EASY they are to prepare.









This time I modified my all-time favorite biscuit recipe to make it a bit more healthful by substituting half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour for a little additional nutrition. Although I doubt biscuits can really be defined as "healthy", this seems to make me feel a little better about eating them!








Biscuit dough needs fat; shortening, butter, lard, etc. I used Crisco solid shortening (the green label), as it contains reduced amounts of trans fats. And unlike some whole wheat biscuits which are heavy and tough, these had a very nice tender texture.

What a pleasant surprise. :D

The key to light, tall biscuits is to start with a great recipe (like the one I am sharing today), handle the dough gently and as little as possible, pat or roll the dough out to about 1" thick and cut the biscuits out by pressing straight down through the dough (don't twist the cutter), then bake them in a hot (425*F) oven until lightly browned.

And two more little tricks-up-my-sleeve that help with my pastry-making:
The rigid design of this pastry blender makes biscuit and pie crust making so much easier. Forget the other wire-models, the 2-knife method, forks, food processor (such a pain to clean)... this little tool is very effective with minimal effort.


This is the pastry scraper I cannot part with ~ it facilitates lifting and moving the dough on the board without having the dough to stick to your hands. It also cleans the pastry board thoroughly, and makes a great "taxi" to transport chopped food from cutting board to cooking pots and pans, too.

I like to serve the biscuits hot from the oven with butter (or any favorite creamy spread) and jam or honey. Try them in your favorite breakfast sandwich recipe, or biscuits and gravy!

I never throw any leftover biscuits away because I like them just as well the next day ~ split, then lightly toasted using the oven broiler (they are a little too tender and crumbly to place in the traditional style pop-up electric toaster.) When toasted they acquire a lovely tender, crispy crunch and are delightful spread with butter and jam with a cup of coffee or tea.

If you would like a copy of my favorite biscuit recipe, you can find it on my recipe blog by clicking HERE.

Happy Foodie Friday, friends!

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