I’ve said many times before that I’m no baker. I like to blame it on the science (too much measuring! no flexibility!) but it’s really because I’m not careful enough. I think improvisation is the key to making recipes your own and I don’t know enough about baking to be able to do that.
However, last Thanksgiving I thought I’d take a shot at biscuits. I had successfully made chive biscuits for a chicken pot pie casserole and thought these would be just as foolproof. I followed Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits to the tee except for two major details:
I doubled the recipe, and tried to make a brand new recipe for a gathering.
That was enough to do me in as a professional butcher, baker, or candlestick maker. Here they are before baking – looking good, right?
Well, something went wrong within the doubling and they refused to rise. I was left with cheddar wafers instead of biscuits. Ironically, the wafers were delicious, but not something I could serve to 20 family members on the Thanksgiving dinner table.
However, thanks to a prompt from Foodbuzz and Frigidaire, I decided to remake the biscuits. I once again followed Smitten Kitchen’s recipe exactly, making only one batch this time instead of two.
I took my time, measuring precisely and really working the cold butter into the flour mixture. I used plenty of flour (this dough is sticky!) and didn’t try to multitask by cleaning as I went, like I usually do.
I also used a heart-shaped cookie cutter, which means I couldn’t go wrong.
And the result? Turns out, I can bake, if I put my mind to it.
These not only looked but tasted like biscuits. Topped with a dollop of butter, these were eaten before I could even exclaim their greatness.
Good thing I photographed before my first bite!
This post was sponsored by Frigidaire. When you share your own do-over moment at Facebook.com/Frigidaire, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children’s U.S. programs. Plus, Frigidaire will help cover the costs for one lucky visitor to win the ultimate do-over. I received compensation for this post.
Question: Given the chance, what recipe would you do-over?
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They look great! Congrats on successful biscuits – they can be a bit tricky at times. I wonder if maybe you over-handled the dough the first time? Or maybe your baking powder was old? (Baking powder does expire; I usually replace mine every year, in the fall when the time changes so I always remember.) Either case possibly could cause flat, dense biscuits. Anyway, like the heart shape!
You know, when I doubled the recipe, the dough had a difficult time sticking together and I remember leaving a lot of flour in the bottom of the bowl, so maybe the baking powder stayed there too! I also think I need to replace my powder though – these biscuits definitely rose but I think they could have risen more. Thanks!