Baking Powder Biscuits

Drop Biscuits with cheese

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450°F. Cut shortening into flour, baking powder and salt with pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in just enough milk so dough leaves side of bowl and rounds up into a ball. (Too much milk makes dough sticky, not enough makes biscuits dry.)
2. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead lightly 10 minutes. Roll 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured 2-inch biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart for crusty sides, touching for soft sides. Bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. 

Buttermilk Biscuits: Decrease baking powder to 2 teaspoons and add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to the flour mixture. Substitute buttermilk for the milk. (If buttermilk is thick, it may be necessary to add slightly more than 3/4 cup.)

Cheese biscuits: Stir in 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheese.

Chive-Yogurt Biscuits: Substitute 1 cup unflavored yogurt for the milk; stir in 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon snipped chives with the yogurt.

Cornmeal Biscuits: Substitute 1/2 cup cornmeal for 1/2 cup of the flour. Sprinkle cookie sheet with cornmeal; place biscuits on cookie sheet and sprinkle with additional cornmeal.

Drop Biscuits: Increase milk to 1 cup. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. (If desired, first drop dough into sesame seed; coat all sides.)

Herb Biscuits: Add 1 1/4 teaspoons caraway seed, 1/2 teaspoon crumbled leaf sage and 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard to the dry ingredients.

Rye Biscuits: Substitute 3/4 cup rye flour for 3/4 cup of the all-purpose flour.

~From Betty Crocker's Cookbook 1978