Can I Get a Biscuit?

Why yes, you can.

Biscuits from scratch sound daunting, but trust me, peeps. They are a snap to make. Probably because biscuits don’t require a lot of ingredients: Flour, cold cold cold butter, salt, baking powder, a lil’ sugar, half-and-half, and some parsley or chives for color.

I always have all the above on hand, so when I was craving a biscuit straight from the oven recently, I got to work.

Perhaps, the trickiest thing may be the light kneading you need to do right before you cut out the biscuits. If you are a scaredy pants baker, this may be the one step that pushes you away from making biscuits. But, please don’t run for the hills. You can’t do it wrong. Once your dough forms a nice, smooth rectangle, you successfully kneaded it into submission.

The biscuit recipe I use is from the Barefoot Contessa aka Ina Garten. I love her. I’m providing the link for the recipe and it is listed below. It also appears in her cookbook, “Barefoot Contessa Family Style.” I highly recommend the book. It is fabulous, as she would say.

Hot biscuits straight from the Jersey Girl's oven. Yummy.

Chive Biscuits
By Ina Garten
From "Barefoot Contessa Family Style"

Makes about 8 biscuits.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
3/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives or fresh parsley leaves
1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. With the mixer on low, add the half-and-half and beat until just mixed. Add the chives and mix until just combined.

Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and knead lightly into a rectangle 3/4-inch thick. Cut out rounds with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush with the egg wash.

Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are firm. Serve warm.