Quick & Easy Sour Milk Biscuits

There's a running joke around here that these are "Sour Milk Biscuits with Salt." The second time I made these, I forgot to put in the salt. After assuring my husband I had followed the recipe exactly, I was puzzled why they didn't taste as good as the first time. He quietly asked me if I had put any salt in them and I insisted the recipe didn't call for any. Well, I swallowed my words when I checked the recipe. Now, whenever I say I'm going to make some biscuits my husband asks "oh, are you going to make Sour Milk Biscuits with Salt?" It's just a gentle reminder. Don't forget the salt.

At our house we always seem to have some sour milk on hand, so this recipe is pretty perfect for our family. If you don't have sour milk don't worry, you can still make these biscuits. Just set out a scant 1 cup of milk and add a tablespoon of vinegar to it. The milk will curdle in about five minutes and voila, sour milk. These will work just as well with lactose-free milk or half and half. I haven't tried soy, rice, or almond milk, but my guess is that as long as you add some lemon juice to react with the baking soda, it just might work.

Sour milk biscuits with a side of persimmon. 

We like these biscuits because they are fluffy and have nice buttery layers to them. They are a perfect substitute for the Pillsbury Biscuits from a can, but better since they don't have chemicals or unnecessary ingredients. They also come together pretty quickly- I start out by preheating my oven, and by the time it gets to 450F, my biscuits are ready to go in the oven.

You can have these versatile biscuits for breakfast with jam and butter, or with a sausage patty and egg inside, or for dinner with chicken pot pie filling. They also freeze well- I've kept them for about 2 months in my freezer and reheated them in the micro for less than a minute when we want some.


Quick and Easy Sour Milk Biscuits

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder (seems like a lot, but you want them to be fluffy!)
4 TBS cold butter or lard
1 cup sour milk

Preheat oven to 450F and line a cookie sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Mix dry ingredients together. Put fat in flour and mix together until pea-sized lumps occur (crumble with fingers).

Make a well, pour in milk, and mix until it becomes a sticky dough. Flour work surface, rolling pin, and hands. Drop dough on surface. Work some flour into the dough by gently kneading.

Roll out and fold dough in half. Repeat two more times, turning the dough 90 degrees each time. Roll out one final time and cut into circles with a cookie cutter (or, like I do, make squares but cutting with a pastry scraper). Bake 8-10 min. until lightly brown.