Dropped Biscuits from Joy of Cooking

 

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk
Butter or milk to brush on the biscuits before baking (optional)

Preheat the oven to 450F.

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

2. Cut the butter into approximately tablespoon size pieces, and add it to the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender  cut the butter into the flour until the largest pieces of butter are approximately the size of peas. As with pie dough, it is critical that the butter not melt during this step (or later).
 

3. Add the milk and stir to mix.
 

4. Once the milk is mixed in, knead the dough in the bowl approximately 5-10 times. This can be very quick and simple kneading.
 

5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll (or just pat) the dough until it is approximately 3/4" thick (or the thickness you prefer; I like thick biscuits).

6. Cut the dough into whatever size biscuits you want.
 

7. Arrange the biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes (or until the tops and bottoms are nicely browned).  Brush the biscuits with butter or milk before baking to enhance browning.

 

8. Serve hot, preferably with lots of butter and honey.

Notes:
If you don't want to bother with the kneading and rolling, you can make drop biscuits instead. To do this, increase the volume of milk to 1 cup, which makes the dough softer. Spoon this dough straight onto the baking sheet (~1-2 tablespoons of volume per biscuit) and bake for ~12 minutes. The biscuits are smaller and don't have as much flaky internal surface area to spread with butter, but they are faster and easier to make.

From: Rombauer, I. S., M. R. Becker, and E. Becker. 1997. Joy of Cooking. Scribner, NY.