Biscuit tips

Made these tonight: http://food52.com/recipes...
They were lovely, but this is my first ever attempt at making biscuits, and I know they could have come out lighter and flakier. I'm wondering if some of the excellent bakers out there have any tips for light, flaky biscuits (I'm guessing that not overworking the dough is one of them, but it's hard to know where that line is exactly when I lack experience of what "just right" biscuit dough should be like).

Also, I'm wondering if I cut a little of the honey out to make them slightly less sweet, would I need to tweak any other ingredients for proper texture.

Kristen W.
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4 Comments

Kristen W. June 30, 2014
Thanks, these are great resources and ideas!
 
Lindsay-Jean H. June 30, 2014
There are a lot of tips for flaky biscuits in this piece: https://food52.com/blog/10330-how-to-make-perfectly-flaky-biscuits
 
ChefJune June 30, 2014
I've been making biscuits for centuries, and never put honey in a one! I'm sure you could leave it out with no repercussions. Yes, the secret to light biscuits is handling them as little as possible. For foolproof biscuits every time, I recommend Shirley Corriher's Touch of Grace biscuits. They are really wet ones, but oh, my goodness, they're always delicious.
 
Liza's K. June 30, 2014
Hi Kristen! I love making biscuits and have used this recipe from the Times recently - http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/1016082/master-recipe-for-biscuits-and-scones.html. One of the most important things about making biscuits (similarly to pie crust) is the butter. You want there to be tiny little pieces of butter in the dough and not break it down completely. The little pieces of butter is what creates the flakiness. The dough will be a little dry, but don't worry about it. You can definitely leave the honey out, no need to add anything to replace it.
 
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