Biscuit Making 101

Biscuits should be light as a feather and tall as a skyscraper. In addition they should taste buttery, split into flakey layers, with rich and delicious flavors. That’s is exactly what you will get from all three of these biscuit recipes. Cream biscuits are light, fluffy and soft as a pillow.  They are excellent with a bit of sweet strawberry jam or raspberry preserve but, if you are like me, clotted cream is amazing with them.

Classic, rich, and golden brown buttermilk biscuits are exactly what every camper dreams of making in a camp Dutch oven. Those tall and sturdy biscuits hold up to the weight of a peppery sausage gravy as its poured over the top of them. Want a way to make that meal out of this world? Top them with a few extra sausage bits or bacon crumbles and possibly some scrambled eggs.

Savory sausage and cheese biscuits compliment any meal, especially an oven-roasted spiral ham. Adding sharp cheddar cheese, smoky gouda, or salty parmesan cheese will create delicious and unique flavors. Additions of dried herbs, granulated garlic and a sprinkle of sea salt on top of the biscuit will have your mouth watering.

Cream Biscuits

 

The first time I ate a cream biscuit I was about ten years old when my Grandmother took me to high tea. Among all the tea sandwiches, teacakes, and scones was a platter filled with small biscuits. Alongside the platter of biscuits were two bowls; one filled with strawberry jam and the other with clotted cream. I carefully split the biscuit in two with my knife and spread a bit of the clotted cream and strawberry jam over the biscuit. I believe my eyelashes fluttered.

Since that day I have worked at perfecting my version of cream biscuits, testing everything from quantity of cream to the temperature of the ingredients. After a lot of baking sessions, I finally discovered every ingredient needed to be refrigerator cold to get the soft texture. The flour also needed to be self-rising. My choice is King Arthur Self Rising Flour.  Having every ingredient at or around 40 degrees F makes for a softer more tender biscuit. The steam escaping from the liquid and fat helps the dough rise and stay soft verses a buttermilk biscuit where the sides and top get crisp while baking in the oven.

You can find the recipe to my Cream Biscuits here.

 

Campground Buttermilk Biscuits

Tending a campfire early in the morning is something I love to do. I can sit there with my cup of coffee and watch the smoke swirl up into the trees. After my first cup of coffee, I can pull all the ingredients together for buttermilk biscuits. Quite a few Dutch oven recipes have you preheating the cast iron, but with biscuits you omit that step. You want the iron cold, just like the biscuit dough. As the cast iron heats from the hot coals it cooks the dough, which releases steam to give the biscuits height. The browning happens quickly when you cook over fire; you need to rotate the Dutch oven carefully and check the biscuit tops to make sure they don’t burn.

Serve the buttermilk biscuits with jam, scrambled eggs, cream gravy, and my daughters favorite, chocolate sauce. I have included the oven cooking time and temperature for you in case cooking over the fire is not for you.

You can find the recipe to my Campground Buttermilk Biscuits here.

 

 Savory Sausage and Cheese Biscuits

My mom was the master of casserole dinners when I was growing up. From rice to pasta dishes she could make a meal out of any leftover we had in the refrigerator. She also made savory cheddar cheese biscuits for us to eat along with those casseroles. Bisquick biscuit mix and a handful of grated cheese was all that she mixed together, it was heaven.

When I created this recipe, I took elements of my cream biscuits and my buttermilk biscuits and married them together. Creating a tender yet flaky biscuit,  with a beautiful golden crust. The addition of sausage and cheese came to me when I was solo camping and I didn’t want to make a whole batch of sausage gravy but I wanted that flavor. I reached back into my memory and pulled out my mom’s idea, put it all in the biscuit and see how it tastes. It was amazing! I added some dried herbs and spices then grated fresh extra sharp cheddar cheese, Tillamook or Kerry Gold Dubliner Irish Cheddar are the best, they have the fantastic sharp flavor and they melt into the biscuits perfectly.

You can find the recipe to my Savory Sausage and Cheese Biscuits here.

 

Tools and Equipment

Here is a list of links for you to source all the tools I use while making biscuits. I have also provided links to the flour and the spice company I prefer. I can not forget my favorite salt company, their large flakey sea salt tops buttered biscuits perfectly. Enjoy!