Biscuits are one of the most popular quick breads and are found all over the United States. In the South, we use a low-protein wheat flour (such as White Lily or Martha White), which produces a light, tender biscuit. This recipe makes six big puffy biscuits, that's two each for supper and one each leftover for breakfast. (Larger image.)  

My father was the biscuit maker in our house when I was a kid. And he always made sure there were extra. Then the next morning he'd split them, butter them, place them butter-side up on a foil-lined sheet, and drizzle them with maple syrup or molasses, and then broil them for 3 to 4 minutes until browned and the syrup bubbled. This was probably our favorite breakfast.

Here’s more on how to make biscuits.

Here more Cooking for Two recipes with a Southern pedigree:

• Southern Fried Chicken Recipe
• Breakfast Casserole Recipe
• Southern Pork Cutlets Recipe

See Also

Fried Chicken: A Southern Favorite

Breakfast Casserole: All the Major Breakfast Groups

Pork Cutlets: An Old Southern Favorite

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups low-protein flour*
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup very cold (but not frozen) butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1 cup very cold milk

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 12 minutes

• Total Time: 22 minutes
• Yield: Makes 6.

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using the knife blade in a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in the work bowl and whiz  until well mixed.
3. Add butter and pulse 6 to 7 times until you have clumps of butter the size of baby peas.
4. Scoop flour into a large bowl, add milk, and mix gently with a fork until the dough comes together.
5. Lightly flour a pastry board or counter (I have one of those linen pastry cloths which I swear by for biscuits and pie crusts). Lightly knead dough by pressing and folding half a dozen times.

1. Using your fingers, press dough into a 7x5-inch rectangle.
2. Use a 2-inch cooking cutter to cut out six biscuits. Do not twist the cutter, simply press straight down firmly and lift up. If you twist the cutter, you will seal the edges and the biscuits won’t rise as high. Arrange biscuits on the baking sheet. Gather the dough scraps  together firmly and add to baking sheet and bake as is. Alternatively, you can reroll the scraps and cut, but these biscuits will not be as fluffy. If you cut the biscuits closely together, you shouldn’t have many scraps to deal with anyway.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, until nicely browned on top. Serve immediately. To reheat leftover biscuits, wrap in foil and heat in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Or do what my dad did (see the introduction, above).

*Note: Here in the South we use a low-protein flour, which produces a light, fluffy biscuit. All-purpose flour also works for biscuits but neither cake nor bread flour work. Also, the moisture content of flour can vary, you may need to add a touch more milk or a touch more flour to get a cohesive dough.

Recipe Source: Based on a recipe by Beth Sheresh in Kitchen Mage.

Edited by Barbara Rolek