Baking Powder Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour*
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup shortening
• ¾ cup milk

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Measure flour, baking powder, salt into bowl.
3. Cut in shortening thoroughly, until mixture looks like meal.
4. Stir in almost all the milk.
5. If dough is not pliable, add just enough milk to make a soft, puffy, easy-to-roll dough. (Too much milk makes dough sticky, not enough makes biscuits dry.)
6. Round up dough on lightly floured cloth-covered board.
7. Knead lightly 20 to 25 times, about ½ minute.
8. Roll ½ inch thick.
9. Cut with floured biscuit cutter.
10. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
11. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

*If using self-rising flour, omit baking powder and salt.

Variations

• Bacon Biscuits: Stir in ⅓ cup crumbled crisply fried bacon with the milk.
• Buttermilk Biscuits: Substitute buttermilk for milk; decrease baking powder to 2 teaspoons and add ¼ teaspoon soda to flour mixture. (If using self-rising flour, omit baking powder and salt and increase buttermilk to 1 cup.)
• Cheese Biscuits: Stir in ½ cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese with the milk.
• Drop Biscuits: Increase milk to 1 cup. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet.
• Herb Biscuits: Add 1¼ teaspoons caraway seed, ½ teaspoon crumbled leaf sage and ¼ teaspoon dry mustard to flour mixture.