Midnight Biscuits Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 450°F.
• Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor.
• Cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal.
• If using a food processor, just pulse a few times until this consistency is achieved.
• Add the buttermilk and mix JUST until combined.
• If it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk. It should be very wet.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured board.
• Gently, gently PAT (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick. Fold the dough about 5 times, gently press the dough down to a 1 inch thick.
• Use a round cutter to cut into rounds.
• You can gently knead the scraps together and make a few more, but they will not be anywhere near as good as the first ones.
• Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you like soft sides, put them touching each other.
• If you like"crusty" sides, put them about 1 inch apart- these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.
• Bake for about 10-12 minutes- the biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.
• Do not overbake.
• Note: The key to real biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in the handling of the dough.
• The dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.
• I have found that a food processor produces superior biscuits, because the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of overmixing.
• You also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly.
• Rolling with a rolling pin is a guaranteed way to overstimulate the gluten, resulting in a tougher biscuit.
• Note 2: You can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month.
• When you want fresh biscuits, simply place them frozen on the cookie sheet and bake at 450°F for about 20 minutes.

Steps:

• Put sugar and butter in a bowl and cream until light and fluffy (or until your arm really aches if having the food mixer on will wake the whole house!).
• Sift the flour and cinnamon into the bowl and mix to form a smooth dough.
• Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8in (3mm) thick.
• Cut out rounds using a 2in cutter and place on a greased baking sheet.
• Knead and reroll trimmings until you have no more dough left.
• Dredge the biscuits with caster sugar and bake at gas mark 4/180degC/350degF for 8-9 minutes until just firm to the touch. These biscuits do harden up as they cool - if you leave them to cook until they feel cooked enough you will end up with something which sounds just like a ceramic tile when you tap it against the worktop!
• Leave to stand for a minute or two and then transfer to wire racks to cool.