Jelly Jar Biscuits

These biscuits are our new favorite! They are very light and flaky! It's actually a delightful mistake I made on my everyday biscuits that was a serendipitous treat. Crunchy on the outside and tender in the middle. This makes six nice sized biscuits when cut with a jelly jar. Serve with biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, or beef stew. Make sure your oven is really heated for a longer length of time than usual. I use a pizza stone in my oven all the time to ensure even and constant heat. It really helps baked goods along the road to perfection. PLEASE NOTE - You can use a lot more milk in this recipe if needed. Just add until you get a soft biscuit consistency. I have used anywhere from 1/4 cup to 2/3 cup depending on the humidity and flour.

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Serves: 6
• Yields: 6 biscuits

Ingredients

• 2  cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1  tablespoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon table salt
• 1⁄3 cup shortening, plus
• 1  tablespoon shortening
• 1⁄2  plus more cup  whole milk (do not use low fat)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425* F.
2. Do not mix your wet and dry ingredients together until the oven is very hot or you will not have fluffy biscuits.
3. After the oven is screaming hot, sift dry ingredients together and stir to make sure they are mixed well.
4. Add shortening to the biscuit mix and cut in with a pastry cutter or two knives until the lumps are as small peas.
5. Add the cold milk and stir until it barely clings together.
6. By hand, knead three or four times.
7. Turn out onto a floured board and pat into a disk about 1/2 inch high.
8. Cut with a floured jelly jar ( 2 1/2"), give the tops a gentle poke, re-roll scraps and cut, sprinkle each top with a little flour.
9. Place biscuits on a sheet pan or cookie sheet with parchment. The closer you put them together the softer they are. I don't let mine touch usually.
10. Put into the center of the oven.
11. Bake about 11 minutes. Depending on the size of the biscuits you can bake them from 8 to 15 minutes. So keep an eye on them.
12. This recipe can easily double or even quadruple.