Vintage Best Ever Biscuits
Best ever biscuits. Edna said it, I didn’t. But, I actually agree. If you’re looking for those flaky, buttery, classic American biscuits that will give you that Ratatouille feeling of breakfast at grandma’s, these biscuits are it. It’s my go-to recipe and the best one for my all-time favorite meal - biscuits and gravy. They are super easy to make and come out perfect every time - as long as you follow basic biscuit rules. I could talk all day about biscuit tips, so I made another post for that, otherwise I’ll never get through this recipe. Click below if you’re interested in learning :
Click here for the best biscuit tipsTo make these buttery national treasures, it’s pretty simple. You’ll have to forgive Edna, she gives almost no instructions at all in her recipe, but that’s actually pretty common in vintage community cookbooks. They often assume everyone reading these cookbooks has made things like biscuits a million times, so they basically just give ingredients and that’s it, but I’ll walk you through how to make these perfectly every time.
First, you’ll want to lightly mix all your dry ingredients together- so flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. You’ll see that I just use my hands for almost everything when it comes to biscuits. If that stresses you out, you can totally whisk, or even sift them together, but biscuits are anything but fancy, so if you’re comfortable getting some flour under your fingernails, dig in.
Then comes butter. First rule of great biscuits - cold butter. I cube mine up and refrigerate or even freeze it for 10 or 15 minutes before I cut it in. That’s how you get a flaky biscuit with those lovely peel-apart layers. And second rule - don’t overmix. It will seem strange if it’s your first time, but you actually want to see uneven chunks of butter all throughout, don’t bother getting it perfectly blended.
You can use a pastry cutter, but I think your hands are the best way to get the most accurate feel for how the mix is progressing and when to stop. Squish all the large chunks flat without rolling the butter between your fingers. Just find a big chunk, squish it, and drop it back in. This might seem tedious, but it’s actually my favorite part. Kind of zen to me for some reason. Toss it a few times to make sure you didn’t miss any really big pieces, then set it aside for a moment so you can blend an egg with milk.
The recipe doesn’t specify what kind of milk, and really any full-fat milk will do, but my favorite is buttermilk. It adds flavor and makes the biscuits extra tender. Pour the milk mixture into a well in the center of the flour mix and lightly blend as little as possible only until there is no dry flour visible.
Lightly flour a smooth surface and turn the dough out. Now, I have no idea where this number comes from, but I have learned not to question the wisdom of my elder biscuit makers, so i don’t ask why, but someone decided at some point in history that 19 is the perfect number of times to knead biscuits, so that’s what I do. And when I say knead, I really mean more like fold. It’s not like some breads where you would aggressively push through the dough and slap on the table, it’s really just fold it over, gently press it together, turn it to fold the opposite direction and fold and press it again. 19 times, no more.
When you’re done, you’ll have a surprisingly smooth dough, though don’t worry if yours is a bit shaggy. It’s always better to under than over everything when it comes to biscuits. At this point, if you mixed it perfectly, you’ll should be able to see visible chunks of butter scattered throughout the dough. That’s how you know you’re on the right track.
Roll the dough out to about 3/4 of an inch thick. You can go thinner, but any thicker and you risk an undercooked center. Then cut the biscuits out. I use a 3” cutter, and I like to make a little pile of four off to the side that I swirl my cutter in between each cut to prevent sticking. And another tip for biscuits- no twisting the cutter. It’s always tempting to twist the cutter back and forth to make sure it cut all the way through, but that binds the edges, causing the biscuit to rise unevenly or even not rise at all. It’s an easy mistake, but easy to avoid by cutting straight down, then lifting straight back up.
Set aside the cut biscuits, and gently press together the scraps, handling them as little as possible, before rolling to 3/4 inch again and cutting. For this recipe, with a 3 inch cutter, six perfectly cut biscuits works great. You’ll actually bake 7, but I’ll show you how that works.
Set your 6 perfect biscuits aside, and gather the remaining dough into a ball; again, handling them as little as possible. My mom would call this the sacrificial biscuit. Don’t bother making it perfect. It’s not going to be pretty anyway, so don’t bother trying, just form it into a rough version of the other biscuits, pressing the top flat with your hand. If it’s a little big, you can pinch off a bit. This unique little guy is going to be the center of your biscuit bake. That’s because the center biscuit is the most likely one to get messed up. It has the biggest chance to get underbaked, has the highest probability of looking bad anyway, and will have the least amount of crusty bottom and golden top, so that’s what I mean when I say sacrificial biscuit. Of course, it usually comes out fine, but now you won’t have to stress about it.
So, place that one in the dead center of a generously buttered cast iron skillet. I melt a few tablespoons of butter before I start my dough, or as an even tastier treat, I’ll cook bacon in a skillet, and leave a few tablespoons of bacon grease and blackened bits in the bottom. And cast iron is a must in my humble opinion. I won’t take your time here with why, but if you’re curious, watch the separate biscuit tips video.
Place the rest of the perfectly cut biscuits snugly around your center one. Last rule for biscuits- placement is important. They should support each other to rise upward, without restricting one another. I’m embarrassed by how cheesy it is, but I always say, they should be like really great friends, supporting each other to their highest potential while still encouraging each other to grow. It true though, and that includes the pan. Use the smallest pan you can, leaving only about 1/4 inch around the outside. For me, a size 7 pan is perfect, but it depends on the size of your cutter, so experiment a bit.
And that’s it, time to bake! The recipe doesn’t tell you how long or at what temp, but 12-15 minutes at 425 worked for me. Some bakers will brush butter or egg wash on top, but I don’t. The reason for that is pretty simple - there is no real way of testing when biscuits are done outside of judging by the golden brown color of the tops, and I think brushing any coating on them makes it too hard to tell when they’re done, so I leave mine bare.
It can take a bit of practice to get a feel for what to look for, but all over golden browning with a few darker brown peaks is what you’re looking for. Also, when they’re done, don’t take them out of the pan right away. Let them cool in the skillet first at least 5 minutes before serving. A good cast iron skillet will stay warm for a remarkably long time, so that gives you some extra assurance that they won’t be doughy in the center.
That’s it! As simple as it gets, and remarkably delicious. Ready to absolutely smother in creamy sausage gravy. I hope this convinces you not reach for those tubes of mystery ingredient store bought biscuits next time. These extra tasty buttery treats are so worth the very little effort they take to make, and you’ll be blown away by how much tastier they are.
Thank you so much, Edna for your perfect recipe. It most certainly is not my recipe, I was just lucky enough to find it in the vintage Rock Creek Mobile Home Park community cookbook, and I hope it encourages you to cook more old recipes.
LOVE THIS RECIPE? GET TO KNOW THE VINTAGE COMMUNITY COOKBOOK ITS FROM.
KITCHENWARE USED IN THIS RECIPE
VINTAGE PYREX
Amish Butterprint from the 1950’s
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Vintage Sweet Potato Biscuits
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Vintage Whipping Cream Biscuits
A super simple two ingredient biscuit recipe.
