Biscuits

I'm not a big breakfast eater.  I have to be awake a bit before food even begins to sound good.  By the time I'm fully awake it's time to go to work, so I usually have a bowl of oatmeal or a few slices of toast before heading out the door.  However, breakfasts on the weekends are a different story! I like to make things such as cinnamon rolls, breakfast casseroles, or waffles and eat around mid-morning. Eating late means I get out of having to worry about what's for lunch, too!  I often have ulterior motives!

My Hubbers' favorite breakfast is sausage gravy and biscuits served with scrambled eggs. A real stick-to-your-ribs meal and one he especially enjoys during the winter months. When we are traveling in the RV I usually buy frozen biscuits, but at home I always make my own. In talking to people I'm always amazed at how many people have never made biscuits, they think they are too hard to make.  They are so easy to make and taste so much better than the Pillsbury biscuits in a can!

This is my favorite biscuit recipe.  They are a little unusual in that they have sugar and cream of tartar in them.  The sugar gives the biscuits a little sweetness.  I find some biscuits to be rather bland and I like the addition of sugar in these.  The cream of tartar helps with the rising, the goal being a nice fluffy biscuit. For best results, the butter needs to be cold.  You want to see small pieces of butter in the dough.  When putting the biscuits on the baking sheet make sure the biscuits are touching each other.  Not only does this help them rise, it also means that the sides are soft and flaky like the insides.

I had a cart that needed assembly.  Making my Hubber's favorite breakfast means I now have a workable cart on my timetable!

Biscuits may sound boring but, seriously, is there anything better than a hot buttered biscuit with jam?

Biscuits

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup ( 1 1/2 sticks) cold butter
1 egg
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter in until you have small, pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the mixture.

Add in the egg and milk and mix until the ingredients are just combined.  The dough will be sticky but don't over-work it.

Turn the dough out onto a generously-floured surface.  Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough so it won't stick to your fingers and knead 12-15 times. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky to work with.

Roll or pat the dough to a 1-inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or glass.  Re-roll scraps.  You should get about a dozen biscuits. Place the biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.