More biscuits--Basic Biscuits

Basic Biscuits
The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook Copyright 1997, 1998

1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup Crisco solid shortening
2 cups buttermilk I used soured milk (milk + lemon juice)

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Dissolve yeast in warm water; set aside. Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening. Add yeast and buttermilk and mix well. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and roll out to desired thickness. Cut with small biscuit cutter and place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
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I found myself making Sunday dinner again this week. I slathered a pork tenderloin with a bit of Dijon mustard and sprinkled it with salt, pepper and garlic powder and stuck in the new toaster oven. I made mashed potatoes, corn and gravy - same as last week. Then I decided to make biscuits again and chose this recipe. It was definitely a step up from the Fluffy Whole Wheat Biscuits I made last week. The flavor was definitely better and they may not have turned out as well as they could have - I'm getting towards the end of a big bag of Costco yeast. When I buy a new bag, I put some in the refrigerator and the rest in the freezer. I'm reaching the end of my freezer stash so it might not be as fresh as it can be. I also used soured milk instead of buttermilk since I didn't have any buttermilk AND I made these in the toaster oven, which may or may not affect how these baked up, I really don't know for sure. Oh, I also halved the recipe but I don't think that mattered.

So these were really good but were they better than canned biscuits? I don't know. I happen to really like canned biscuits. BUT, I don't make it a habit of keeping them on hand so it's more helpful for me to be able to put a batch of biscuits together with pantry ingredients. I was able to whip these up almost in the same amount of time it takes to pop open that can.

Speaking of Costco yeast, I was in Costco this week and I don't think they had any. I don't recall seeing any yeast as I scoured the baking aisles looking for vanilla, which they didn't have either. Vanilla was one of the best deals at Costco. $6.99 for a 16-ounce bottle and it's really good vanilla (IMHO). I expected the price to go up but I wasn't expecting it to disappear. I'm hoping it was just a fluke as I'm getting to the end of my bottle and it's almost time for holiday baking.

My oven element has shipped! I really hope that I don't have any further issues with my oven, at least until after the holidays.

Question of the Day: Have you purchased vanilla lately? Was it expensive? I'm so out of touch - I haven't bought anything but Costco vanilla in years.