Easy Sourdough Biscuits Recipe - Tender Homemade Biscuits! (2024)

FAQs

Why are my homemade biscuits tough? ›

Kneading too much and overhandling biscuit, shortcake and scone dough overdevelops the gluten in the flour, resulting in a chewy, tough baked product.

For super light, crumbly biscuits try grating or pushing the yolks of hard-boiled eggs through a sieve into the biscuit dough. This increases the fat content and slows down the development of gluten. Cookie recipes on the other hand are more likely to contain eggs. Adding moisture as well as binding the mixture.

Take the biscuits and wrap them in a plastic cling film or zip pouch to make sure there's space for moisture to seep in. Lastly, put them in an airtight box and store inside a refrigerator to enjoy crunchy biscuits each time.

Overworking (or Underworking) the Dough

The biscuits will be hard and tough if you stir the dough too much.

Wondering why your biscuits are too hard? If you're making shaped biscuits, don't re-roll the trimmings too many times. Doing this develops gluten and makes tough biccies. If you find the dough is becoming elastic and hard to roll, wrap it in cling film and chill it for 10min to allow the gluten to relax.

Biscuits are notorious for that; they're best eaten right away. If you want to preserve their original texture longer than 12 hours (yes, that short of a time), your best bet is to freeze them as soon as they are cool and eat them within a month or two. Wrap them as air-tightly as possible.

And baking powder is typically made of 2 parts baking soda to 1 part cream of tartar. In the presence of a liquid, the acidity of the cream of tartar activates the baking soda, causing it to start bubbling away, and that, in turn, is what makes the biscuits rise.

The reason for that is the fat in the yolk that inhibits gluten formation just as any other fat would. This results in a looser dough that can expand and puff up more.

The Perfect Finishing Touch. Egg washes are used to brush on pastries, breads, pie crusts, biscuits, scones and more before baking them so they bake up with a beautiful, bright, golden brown finish.

Cover the dough loosely with a kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. Gently pat out the dough some more, so that the rectangle is roughly 10 inches by 6 inches. Cut dough into biscuits using a floured biscuit cutter (or even a glass, though its duller edge may result in slightly less tall biscuits).

What causes biscuits to go soft? ›

As the biscuits sit around, even in a tin, the sugar absorbs moisture from the air. Leave sugar in a bowl in the tropics, for example, and it will absorb so much water it will eventually turn into a liquid! As the sugar in the biscuit absorbs more moisture, it becomes softer and softer and less and less appetising.

Fully incorporating the butter and flour guarantees tender, airy biscuits every time. Low-protein flours keep biscuits fluffy and light, never tough. Yogurt provides both hydration and structure, for biscuits that bake up straight and tall but moist.

There is some actual science behind why White Lily flour is lighter than others and, thus, better suited for items like biscuits and cakes.

Baked goods can have a crispy/crunchy outer edge due to several factors, including: High heat: The intense heat of the oven can cause the surface of the baked goods to dry out, resulting in a crispy texture. Sugar content: Sugar caramelizes during baking and creates a crunchy texture on the surface of baked goods.

More fat will make softer biscuits, which could be a good thing. Too little fat will result in dry and heavy biscuits. The type of flour you use is important. Don't use bread flour unless the recipe calls for it and avoid whole wheat and other whole grain flours.

Overworking the dough will not only create a tough biscuit instead of a tender biscuit, but can also result in a flatter biscuit. The more you play with the dough, the warmer the dough becomes. If the fat becomes too warm it will melt into the flour and they won't rise as tall.

Use Cold Butter for Biscuits

For flaky layers, use cold butter. When you cut in the butter, you have coarse crumbs of butter coated with flour. When the biscuit bakes, the butter will melt, releasing steam and creating pockets of air. This makes the biscuits airy and flaky on the inside.

This can be caused by the cookie dough being too warm when it went into the oven. If the dough is warm then shape the cookies and chill them thoroughly before baking and make sure that your baking sheet isn't warm if you are transferring the chilled cookie dough from the fridge to a baking sheet.