Should we talk about empowerment? Why not. It is Saturday after all, and the sun is shining. You could go out and do whatever you want in the world right now. You could be cheerful and hopeful in the face of widespread global anxiety. You could make other people feel a little bit more at ease (because, let’s be honest, no one can fully predict what comes next so a little hope and positivity can’t hurt). You could check something off your to-do list, or send someone a handwritten postcard, or make a funny bracelet that reads “#1 goddess” for your best friend using sparkly plastic beads from a nearby toy store. [I did not do this for anyone, but feel free to make me one and mail it to me. I also accept woven friendship bracelets and my favorite colors are blue and pale green!]
Are you on board yet? No? Okay, how about if I let someone else convince you. Maggie Smith has the right idea with this poem:
How long have I been wed
to myself? Calling myself
darling, dressing for my own
pleasure, each morning
choosing perfume to turn
me on.
/
I know the kind of wife
I need and I become her:
the one who will leave
this earth at the same instant
I do. I am my own bride,
lifting the veil to see
my face. Darling, I say,
I have waited for you all my life.
Which is to say, you have yourself! Make the most of it! Be the sort of person you’d like to be wedded to, the sort of friend you’d like to spend all day with, the sort of person who would make you laugh and feel uplifted.
And, in terms of empowerment, there’s nothing quite like mastering a skill. And if you can eat the results of said skill, so much the better, right?
With that in mind, I recommend you master biscuits. If you prefer to master, say, woodworking or slacklining or geocaching, I won’t stop you. But none of those are as delicious as biscuit-making.
I’m a little bit of a biscuit obsessive—partly because I grew up eating them regularly and have realized how few people feel confident making them. My mom makes them with the ease of someone folding laundry or pouring a glass of milk. She makes the classic flaky kind, but also used to lean heavily on cheesy drop biscuits, which are about as simple as a baked good can be: stir together the ingredients, drop them by the spoonful onto a baking sheet, and bake.
I make the drop ones when I need something quick to go alongside soup or salad. I’ve tested out dozens upon dozens of recipes for others: fat sourdough biscuits and sturdy square buttermilk biscuits and round cinnamon sugared behemoths. I’ve tried using whole milk and skim milk and buttermilk and yogurt and kefir. I’ve folded in fresh mozzarella and showered them with herbs and seeds. I’ve brushed them with beaten egg and heavy cream and water and nothing at all.
All, to be honest, are good. But my go-to, bake-with-my-eyes-closed recipe is the one that follows. I make it so often that I don’t have to check the ingredients. I don’t time them in the oven, relying on sight and sense alone to tell when they’re ready. And while I’ve written versions of this recipe here on my site before, this is the blank canvas version.
This recipe can accommodate all manner of add-ins to customize the flavor. My general rule of thumb is to stick to about 1 cup of extra ingredients, be that grated cheese or chopped roasted vegetables or fresh herbs. Try not to use anything too wet or sticky. If you really want to, dial back on the liquid a bit and just add more as needed.
Don’t forget about toppings, too! If you use cheese in the dough, sprinkle some on top, and so on. Here are a few ideas for great flavor combinations:
everything bagel topping
cinnamon sugar
lemon zest and fresh blueberries
grapefruit zest and rosemary
pecorino cheese and lots of freshly cracked black pepper
chopped fresh spinach and crumbled feta
maple syrup and toasted pecans and cinnamon
prosciutto and dried peaches (WEIRD BUT GOOD)
Brie cheese and thyme
tomato paste and fresh mozzarella and dried oregano
People always ask about how you make biscuits so flaky. Here are my best tips and bits of advice:
Do not overhandle or overmix the dough! You don’t want the dough to be cohesive—it should have plenty of bits of visible butter and dry spots. Err on the side of “shit, I did not mix this enough, it looks wrong.”
Use cold butter and cold liquids, but don’t freak out about this. I’ve tried grating frozen butter and all of that, but it doesn’t seem to make much difference. Warm butter is no good though, as you want to keep the bits of fat intact so they can melt into layers.
Fold, fold, fold! When you’re mixing the dough, use a fork or wooden spoon (or your hands) to get it to the stage where it’s a “shaggy mess”—it should be just starting to come together but still have lots of wet and dry spots. Now, either turn it out onto a lightly floured surface or onto your parchment-lined baking sheet if you want to save a step. (If I’m mixing the dough in a big mixing bowl, sometimes I just do the folding step right in the bowl.) From here on out, don’t think about “mixing” the dough but think about folding it. Just gather as much of it as you can (it’ll fall apart some because it’s still very crumbly in some places) and “fold” it on top. In the beginning, it’s more like scooping half of the dough mixture on top. Now press down firmly with your hands. Now repeat the process with the dough on the bottom. Keep doing this for about 12 folds or so, grabbing the dry and crumbly bits and incorporating them with each fold. Don’t ever “knead” the dough, but just fold and press, fold and press, fold and press.
Next, slice the biscuits. You can use a round cutter but be sure it’s very sharp. I like using a sharp knife and slicing mine into squares. You might find the some of the layers aren’t stuck together and can almost slide off each other—this is good! That means you folded well and didn’t overwork the dough. As the biscuits bake, the butter will melt and will forge the biscuits together.
Basic Flaky Biscuits
Makes about 12 medium biscuits
2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt (use less if you’re adding in salty cheeses)
6 tablespoons (85g) very cold unsalted butter
3/4 cup (170g) milk
1 cup add-ins, optional (a combination of cheese, fresh herbs, etc.—see above for ideas and tips)
1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk or 1 egg white, beaten
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Preheat the oven to 425º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a fork or pastry cutter until it's in mostly pea-sized chunks—some chunks can be slightly larger and some smaller, but don't overwork it.
Stir in the add-ins, if using.
Add the milk, stir the dough with a fork until it is somewhat evenly moistened, then knead it a few times in the bowl so it mostly comes together in a ball but don't overwork it at all. It should not be cohesive and there should be chunks of drier areas and some wetter areas.
Turn the dough out onto the parchment-lined sheet, and fold it over onto itself until there aren't any dry spots remaining. Don't think of this as kneading: You want to handle it gently and as you fold, the wet/dry areas will disappear. Fold about 10 or 12 times, then gently press the dough down to a rectangle about 2 inches high.
Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 2" squares and separate them slightly on the baking sheet. Brush with the heavy cream or milk or beaten egg white. If you’ve used cheese or herbs or seeds or sugar, sprinkle some more on top!
Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly, then eat!