Bacon Green Onion Biscuits Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should you use butter or Crisco in biscuits? ›

Crisco may be beneficial for other baking applications, but for biscuit making, butter is the ultimate champion!

For light and fluffy biscuits, steer clear of any flour made from 100% hard red wheat; this style is relatively low in starch and high in protein, readily forming gluten in a high-moisture dough. That's great when it comes to making chewy breads and pasta, but bad news for light and tender biscuits.

They're Taller. Put on your science hat—things are about to get nerdy up in here! Southern biscuits made using flour made from soft red winter wheat are taller because of the lower protein content of the flour. According to Science Direct, the amount of protein is inversely proportional to the volume of the baked good.

Place the biscuits closer together (about 1/2-inch apart) on the baking sheet to help the biscuits rise taller.

Buttermilk Biscuits vs. Cream Biscuits

Buttermilk also adds a subtle tang. Cream biscuits are made with heavy cream. Cream biscuits are beloved because they're incredibly easy-to-make. But, since cream is much milder than buttermilk, they won't be quite as flavorful (unless you incorporate more spices and seasonings).

In general, you can substitute Crisco shortening for butter or margarine in equal amounts (1 cup Crisco shortening = 1 cup butter or margarine). Not only does Crisco shortening have 50% less saturated fat than butter and 0g trans fat per serving, it gives you higher, lighter-textured baked goods.

The secret to the best biscuits is using very cold butter and baking powder. We've made a lot of biscuits, but this easy biscuits recipe is the one we turn to the most (they are so fluffy!). See our easy drop biscuits and cheese drop biscuits for even easier biscuits.

Just as important as the fat is the liquid used to make your biscuits. Our Buttermilk Biscuit recipe offers the choice of using milk or buttermilk. Buttermilk is known for making biscuits tender and adding a zippy tang, so we used that for this test.

A hot oven helps biscuits bake—and rise—quickly. We recommend 475˚F for 15 minutes. Remove them from the oven as soon as they are lightly brown.

White Lily Brand Gets Rave Reviews

SouthernKitchen.com says, "Ask any Southern chef or sagacious biscuit grandma and you'll hear a pattern emerge: they all swear by White Lily flour."

Why Northerners can't make biscuits? ›

In the North, the flour was milled from hard winter wheat, which has a higher protein level — great for bread and other baked goods, but not ideal for biscuits, as it can make them tough.

Founded in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1883, White Lily^® Flour is milled from 100% soft red winter wheat, which has a lower protein content and a finer texture than conventional all-purpose flours. These features ensure delicate pastries like biscuits achieve a higher rise and flaky, fluffy, pillowy-like texture.

So what's the final verdict? Butter is the winner here. The butter biscuits were moister with that wonderful butter taste and melt-in-your mouth texture. I'd be curious to test out substituting half or just two tablespoons of the butter with shortening to see if you get the best of both.

Biscuits, scones and shortcakes are usually baked on ungreased cookie sheets or baking pans. Follow the directions in your recipe.

Use good butter and dairy

Because biscuit recipes call for so few ingredients, it's important that every one is high quality—you'll really taste the difference. Catherine recommends splurging a bit on a grass-fed butter or European-style butter (now's the time to reach for Kerrygold!).

High-fat butter, such as Kerrygold Butter, is best. The rich fat from the butter releases water when the biscuits are baking which is what contributes to the beautiful layers and flakiness that we love about biscuits.

While baking, the butter (which contains water) melted, and steam filled the small spaces left behind, creating flaky layers. The melted lard (which doesn't contain water), on the other hand, aided with tenderness and flavor.

Nutrition. Some say butter is not the healthiest choice when cooking, but compared to shortening, it packs way more nutrition value. Harvard Public Health even states that fats are crucial to our health, and butter is more of a natural and heart-healthy ingredient overall.

You'll notice these differences if baking with butter instead of shortening. Cookies made with butter or margarine may be softer and spread a little more. Cookies made with butter are usually crispier than chewy cookies made with shortening, but the flavor is richer with butter.