When there’s only two people in your household it can be difficult to pare down recipes to more appropriate quantities. Sure, left overs are great, but when you end up with several containers of leftovers a week, fridge space can get tight. Meals get overlooked, and two weeks later you are left dumping uneaten food into the bin. When it comes to many biscuit recipes, the end product produces far more biscuits than we will eat before they start to go bad.
I’ve been doing mental math for years to reduce recipe sizes to fit my needs, but some things just don’t work as well. Some ingredients just don’t divide easily, such as eggs. It can also be more hassle than its worth to make such a small amount on a weeknight. I’ve set out to make this recipe perfect for 4 good sized biscuits perfect for two people. As an additional time saver it is shelf stable and can be put together whenever you have a spare couple of minutes.
Quick Biscuits
The reason this recipe takes less that five minutes to make is because half the work can be done ahead of time. Bulk batching is a great time saver, reduces the number of times you wash the same dishes, and means that making biscuits is as easy as reaching your hand into the pantry. This is an optional step, but can also grate your butter ahead of time and keep in a plastic bag in the freezer. Weighing is more accurate when the butter is grated, 4 tablespoons is equal to 2 ounces.
Isn’t this Bisquick?
Yes! But these biscuits are much better, I promise you! The addition of actual butter and milk make these biscuits tender and flaky, and perfect for smothering in butter and jam, or as a base for biscuits and gravy. They beat the standard on the box biscuit recipe provided by Bisquick by a mile.
More Biscuits Please
What if I have a larger household?! If you still want to have tender, flaky biscuits ready in five minutes but need more than 4 at a time this recipe is easily scaled up. Use quart jars instead of pint jars, and just double or triple the recipe. Making these biscuits does require having some diary on hand, but milk and butter are good staples to keep in the fridge.
Detailed Recipe
Dry Ingredients
1 C Flour
1 Tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar
1 1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
Wet Ingredients
4 Tbsps. Butter
1/3 C Milk
Optional
Add 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese to mix for Cheddar biscuits.
Preparing Your Jars
First, take out as many clean dry jars as you would like. This recipe is designed to make it easy to prep several servings worth of biscuits all at once. If you eat biscuits a lot you can make as many as you have shelf space for, I usually make between 4 and 6 which lasts me several months.
Working your way down the line, add each of the dry ingredients listed to the jar. I usually add all my flour first, then the sugar etc. to each jar.
Lastly, cap with lid and ring band, (I reuse old canning lids for this), shake gently and write on the lid with permanent marker the wet ingredients needed to make the biscuits. Store in a cool dark place until ready to use.
Butter – As needed option
The best biscuits are made with cold butter. You have two options for butter in this recipe. You can grate it as you need it or alternatively grate it ahead of time and keep in the freezer in a plastic bag. If you choose the first option, , grate your butter onto parchment paper or a small plate. Place this in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before mixing into your biscuit mix.
Butter – Freeze ahead option
If you choose to freeze ahead of time, grate all the butter you need for however many portions you have onto a parchment covered baking sheet. Place in freezer for an hour or until completely frozen before pouring into a plastic bag and returning quickly to the freezer. When taking out a portion for your recipe, it’s best to weigh out the butter instead of trying to measure it with a measuring spoon. The 4 Tbsps. you need per portion is equal to 2 oz. of grated butter.
Making Biscuits
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a baking tray with a piece of parchment paper. Dump your prepared dry ingredients into a bowl, add the butter and mix briefly to coat the butter with flour.
Add the milk and mix until the dough just comes together. If the the mixture is still dry add additional milk as necessary a tsp at time.
Dump your biscuit mix out onto the baking tray and flatten slightly to about 1 inch thick. You can use a glass or a biscuit cutter to make round biscuits, otherwise just use a sharp knife and cut into four biscuits and space out a little bit on baking sheet.
Bake for 12-17 minutes or until golden brown.
Biscuits for Two
Prepare your own quick biscuit ingredients for easy weeknight biscuits for two.
- Glass jars with lids and ring bands
Dry Ingredients Per Jar
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
- 1¼ tsp Baking Powder
- ¼ tsp Cream of Tarter
- ¼ tsp Salt
Wet Ingredients Per Jar
- ⅓ Cup Milk
- 4 Tbsp Butter (Grated and chilled in freezer for 10 minutes)
Optional
- ⅓ Cup Shredded Cheese
Prepping the Dry Ingredients
In each clean glass jar add the above dry ingredients. Place lid and ring band on and store until needed up to 9 months.
When Ready to Make Biscuits
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Grate butter onto paper towel or small plate and set in freezer for 10 minutes.
Empty dry ingredients from jar into a small bowl.
Add frozen grated butter and gently mix until butter is coated in flour mixture.
Add the cream and milk and stir briefly until it mixture just comes together.
Turn out onto prepared parchment lined baking sheet.
Shape roughly into a square about one inch thick.
With a knife cut into four smaller squares (if you want a more even look, trim edges and tuck extra dough under the squares).
Place in preheated 425° oven for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.
Each batch makes 4 biscuits.
