How to Make Baking Powder Biscuits

Making perfectly light and fluffy baking powder biscuits takes a bit of practice, but once you do, you'll never make biscuits from a box again. The biscuits are delicious with honey or butter for breakfast, but can be served with any meal or can be used to make the best strawberry shortcakes.

Things You'll Need

• 4 cups pastry flour
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. baking powder
• 2/3 cup shortening, chilled
• 1 1/2 cup whole milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl and stir in the sugar.

3. Cut in the shortening with a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk gradually with a fork, using just enough milk so that the dough makes a soft dough. Don't add more milk than necessary.

4. Stir only until the dry ingredients are moistened, then put the dough on a lightly floured board and knead it for about 30 seconds.

5. Pat the dough lightly until it's about 1/2 inch thick, and cut it with a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter or inverted glass.

6. Bake the baking powder biscuits until they begin to turn golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes, and serve the biscuits hot.

Tips & Warnings

• Handle the biscuit dough as little as possible for fluffy, light biscuits. Biscuit dough is different than bread dough and should never be smooth and elastic.

• When you cut the biscuits, push the cutter straight down and don't twist it.