biscuits

 

i love weekend mornings when we've got no reason to be out of the house or even out of our jammies before noon. i'll lazily make coffee, read books with atticus, throw some laundry in (and forget to dry it) and generally sloth around for hours perfectly happy in elastic waist pants and extra eye cream. i do like to make breakfast on the weekends though. something different then the standard choo-choos, yogurt or even pancakes. no. weekend breakfasts call for biscuits. we've gotten really into those baby grands biscuits. so much so, that i've been feeling a little guilty, wondering about the ingredients as i delight in the pop from the tube and slide the pan in the oven. but biscuits are a tricky business. i tried to make them once about a decade ago and got hockey pucks in response to what i thought was a simple recipe. i think that's how i got stuck on the biscuit tube conveyer belt. don't get me wrong, i am not done with tube products altogether. heavens no. i will always be a fan of those beloved biscuits, but when i have a bit more time and i'm feeling a bit ambitious, these biscuits are a very tasty and easy alternative. i make the dough as the oven preheats and then i still only have to wait about 15 minutes till breakfast perfection. just enough time to make the target list, drink a cup of coffee and read elephants cannot dance three times. standard weekend.

recipe: biscuits (cribbed from: everywhere!)

ingredients

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

6 tablespoons cold butter (kerrygold if you've got it), cubed

3/4 cup whole milk

method:

mix dry ingredients, add butter and dice into flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two forks if you're like me and have yet to purchase a pastry cutter. it works just fine. once the butter is about the size of small peas, add the milk all at once and mix till just combined. flour your surface and dump the dough on the counter. pat with hands to "roll out" instead of using a rolling pin. the less you touch, massage and warm the dough (and butter!) the better these biscuits will be. dough should be about an inch thick. cut rounds of dough with a floured juice glass, place on cookie sheet. bake at 400 for 15 minutes, keeping an extra close on them. serve warm, with extra kerrygold butter, strawberry jam and your weekend smile.