Easy Sourdough Biscuits Recipe - Tender Homemade Biscuits! (2024)

FAQs

Why are my homemade biscuits tough? ›

If your biscuits are too tough…

Biscuit dough is moist and sticky, so much so that it may seem too wet after you've added all your flour. If you do think this about your dough, fight the urge to add more dry ingredients — dough that isn't wet enough will bake into a hard, dry biscuit.

A smart hack to store freshly baked cookies for a long time can be done by wrapping every individual biscuit in a baking paper followed by aluminum foil, and then keeping it all in an airtight container. Make sure, these biscuits are wrapped only after they attain room temperature.

With biscuits, however, the goal is to avoid this chewiness. So, by adding hard-boiled egg yolk to a biscuit recipe, you'll thwart the formation of gluten, thereby resulting in a buttery, flakey crumb that'll dissolve in your mouth.

Too flat? The dough temperature might have been too cold. Either way, she assures people, don't worry too much — even if the bread is technically flawed, it's probably still delicious with butter or jam.

If you use too much flour then you will end up with dense biscuits. So you want to be sure to measure your flour correctly. If you are using a dry measuring cup, then first fluff up your flour with a fork. It tends to settle in the container.

The butter version rises the highest — look at those flaky layers! The shortening biscuit is slightly shorter and a bit drier, too. Butter contains a bit of water, which helps create steam and gives baked goods a boost.

The secret to the best biscuits is using very cold butter and baking powder. We've made a lot of biscuits, but this easy biscuits recipe is the one we turn to the most (they are so fluffy!). See our easy drop biscuits and cheese drop biscuits for even easier biscuits.

Buttermilk also adds a subtle tang. Cream biscuits are made with heavy cream. Cream biscuits are beloved because they're incredibly easy-to-make. But, since cream is much milder than buttermilk, they won't be quite as flavorful (unless you incorporate more spices and seasonings).

Biscuit making is an art. It requires the right touch—and that means with your hands. A blender or processor will create too much friction, heating up the butter and flour quickly. You also have to be careful not to over-blend or you'll end up with chewy biscuits.

Before putting biscuits in bag, turn on your oven to ~~~250° F/~~~120° C, then lightly spray the inside of the brown bag with water from a sprayer. Put the biscuits into the bag and close the bag firmly so it will stay closed. Place in oven for about 20 minutes and it should be enough to reheat the biscuits inside.

Should you chill biscuit dough? ›

But if you chill your pan of biscuits in the fridge before baking, not only will the gluten relax (yielding more tender biscuits), the butter will harden up. And the longer it takes the butter to melt as the biscuits bake, the more chance they have to rise high and maintain their shape. So, chill... and chill.

The process simply involves using a pastry brush to lightly coat the top of your unbaked biscuits with a liquid ingredient known to create that browning effect once heated. One of the most popular choices for this is cream, which imparts a rich golden color to the crust.

What does egg wash do to biscuits? Egg washing the tops of your biscuits is the key to perfect golden brown and shiny tops. Don't skip this step.

This results in a looser dough that can expand and puff up more. The egg white on the other hand acts as a coagulant and sets the crumb making it bouncier and chewier in a good way. Crust is another part of the bread that is greatly affected by egg. It caramelises more and becomes crispier.

Keeping the lid on for the first part of baking allows steam to expand between the gluten fibers to rise the bread and create a fluffy loaf. Step 4: Remove the lid and bake for an additional 12-14 minutes or until the crust is crispy and golden brown. Once you take the lid off, the bread likely won't rise anymore.

Cut squares. Instead of patting the biscuit dough into a circle, shape it into a square. Use a sharp knife to trim a thin strip of dough all around the edges of the square; then cut the square into smaller squares or diamonds. Bake as directed.

Most likely old/expired baking powder, overworking the dough, or making it too thin (it has to be at least 1 inch thick, 1.25″ works even better). It's not going to 'rise' like bread does, but the baking powder and flakes of butter help lift the layers.

Overworking (or Underworking) the Dough

The biscuits will be hard and tough if you stir the dough too much. They will have a floury, uneven texture if you don't mix enough. Our Test Kitchen cracked the code: Stir the dough 15 times for the perfect consistency and texture.

Preheat your oven to 425°F with a rack in the upper portion. Get out a baking sheet; there's no need to grease it. Line it with parchment if you like, for easiest cleanup. Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess.

Which liquid makes the best biscuits? ›

Buttermilk also adds a pleasant tanginess to baked biscuits, and its relatively low levels of fat make it work in recipes that call for any kind of fat, from butter to shortening, and even cream. (Yes, cream can be used as both a liquid and a fat.

What's the Difference Between Buttermilk Biscuits and Regular Biscuits? As the names might suggest, regular biscuits do not contain buttermilk, while these do. Regular biscuits are typically prepared with milk or water instead. Buttermilk adds a nice tang to the biscuit flavor and helps them rise better.

Can I use all-purpose flour? Yes, the biscuits will be denser, and you will need to add 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder and ¼ teaspoon of salt for each cup of flour. But using White Lily self-rising flour or pastry flour combined with the mentioned baking powder and salt will give you the best results.

The best way to make soft biscuits crispy again is to put them in the oven at a low temperature (200–250°F) for about 10 minutes. The heat will help dry out the moisture in the biscuits, making them crispy again.

As in bread, starch from the flour in biscuits begins to crystalize after a few days, theoretically making biscuits more brittle. But in many biscuits, the high sugar content masks this process by absorbing water from the atmosphere, ultimately resulting in a soft biscuit.

Whenever you're working with buttery doughs like biscuits, pie crust, shortbread, and the like, you're constantly reminded to chill the dough frequently, as well as chill the dough before baking time. Baking biscuits directly from frozen also keeps the biscuits from spreading and flattening out.