Baking Powder Biscuits

Nothing beats a buttery biscuit for breakfast. I made these to serve with Sausage Gravy, but they would make delicious shortcakes or egg sandwiches just as easily. Each time I make a batch, I bake half + freeze the other. This leaves me with about 6 biscuits ready to be baked on demand over the next few weeks. It's important to keep all ingredients + the dough cold for biscuits, so I avoid contact with my hands as much as I can. I use a bench scraper to work the butter into the dry mixture, and again to cut the stack the dough repeatedly to form layers. A quick recipe like this is perfect for little helpers in the kitchen, whether they help combine the dough, cut the shapes, or sprinkle with salt, they'd look adorable in our new kiddo aprons!

Here is our favorite Slow Cooker Sausage Gravy to pair with the biscuits.

Makes 15 biscuits 

Ingredients:

• 3 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2.5 tablespoons baking powder
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cheese of your choosing, I used gruyere + parmesean
• reserved bacon fat, optional
• 1 teaspoon Maine Sea Salt
• 1 teaspoon Tellicherry Peppercorns, freshly cracked

Directions:

1. Dice your butter into small chunks, cover + freeze.
2. In a large bowl, or directly on a clean work surface, combine all dry ingredients.
3. In a measuring cup, combine your milk + vinegar then chill. *You could use buttermilk here, but that's not an ingredient I always have on hand so this is the trick I use to bring a similar tangy flavor.*
4. Add your butter to dry mixture + using hands or bench scraper, chop butter chunks into flour until evenly coated and broken down. Larger butter chunks create flakier biscuits. Smaller chunks will create more stable biscuits.
5. When you're happy with butter size, add wet ingredients + your cheese. I like to make a nest with the drys, and pour the wets in the center. Then, using a fork, slowly incorporating the edges in until evenly combined. Work dough into ball/
6. Dump dough onto work surface. Cut dough in half, then stack one atop the other to create more layers of butter. Repeat this 3/4 times, then roll dough to desired thickness. A rolling pin is helpful, but this dough is easy to work with and can be pressed into shape with your hands.
7. Portion biscuits, either into squares with a knife or in shapes with cookie cutters.

1. Transfer biscuits to the freezer until ready to bake.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Arrange frozen biscuits on lined baking tray. If you nestle them together, you'll have tender biscuit. If you bake them with space between, you'll have a nice exterior crust with tender interior. 
3. Brush biscuits with bacon fat, or butter if preferred. Top with cracked Tellicherry Pepper and Maine Sea Salt, then bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. 
4. These are best served warm, I topped mine with Sausage Gravy + chives. Enjoy!