Doughnut Biscuits

National Doughnut Day is the First Friday in June, but we say why wait? Our biscuit doughnuts are BAKED not fried, a good reason to have them anytime.

They are fun to make, just start with Southern Biscuit ® Self-Rising Flour, sugar, and cream. Mix and form into “doughnut hole” size balls. The kids will love this project. You pop them in the oven and let them cool enough to handle and let the kids coat them. with a glaze or powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar or sprinkles, the list can go on and on. I love these little bites of hot doughnuts right from the oven.

So since it is National Doughnut Day, we took a look at doughnut history. It seems fried dough is popular in every culture. In the US, National doughnut day started when in 1938 the women in the Salvation Army served doughnuts to soldiers in France during World War 1. If you want to take a deep dive into doughnut history, there is even a book called Glazed America: the History of the Doughnut.

History aside, this is a fun project and they are really, really delicious and better than eating the fried ones!

Doughnut Biscuits

Makes 24 mini-size doughnuts.

2 cups Southern Biscuit® Self-Rising Flour
¼ cup sugar
1 cup cream

Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cream

Powdered Sugar Topping
½ cup melted butter
½ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir in cream. Dough will be thick. Using a cookie scoop or heaping tablespoon, measure dough and roll into round balls. Place on a baking sheet about 1-inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Coat with either the glaze or powdered sugar toppings.

For glaze: Combine powdered sugar and cream just until you have a thick glaze. Dip biscuits into glaze or brush glaze over biscuits.

For powdered sugar: Dip in butter and then in powdered sugar to coat.

Hot Cross Biscuits

Hot Cross Buns is an Easter favorite.  We made them into biscuits.  The flavors of cinnamon and orange have a come back flavor worth returning to no matter what the date.

These delicious and unique biscuits are topped with a sugar glaze cross or you can simply glaze them.

Makes 8 biscuits

2 cups Southern-Biscuit ® Self-Rising Flour

1/8 cup sugar

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ cup (1/2 stick) cold butter

½ cup golden raisins

¼ cup currants

Zest from ½ orange, grated

Zest from ½ lemon, grated

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 large egg, lightly beaten

¾ cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

 Glaze

¼ cup confectioners’ sugar

½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450˚F.  Lightly coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, sugar and brown sugar.  Cut in butter using your fingertips, two knives, or a pastry cutter.  Stir in raisins, currants, orange zest, lemon zest, and cinnamon.

Make a well in the center and add egg and milk.  Stir until combined.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Fold three times pressing between folds.  Roll to ½-inch thick. Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter.  Place on baking sheet ½-inch apart.

Bake for 12 minutes or until light brown.  Brush with melted butter.

To make glaze:  Combine confectioners sugar and lemon juice until glaze is desired thickness.  Place in a small plastic bag and snip the corner of the bag.  Pipe a cross on the cooled biscuits or simply use to glaze the warm biscuits.

Pimento Cheese Biscuits!

“Here in the South we love our pimento cheese spread so we came up with a biscuit that combines the flavor of pimento cheese and the delight of a biscuit. Serve along-side lunch or dinner, or make small ones for a party appetizer.” ~ By Tendabake

 Ingredients:
• 2 cups  Southern Biscuit Self-Rising Flour
• 2 teaspoons  sugar
• 1 teaspoon  freshly ground coarse black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon  cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup  mayonnaise
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup  sharp Cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons  diced pimento

Cooking Instructions:
Heat oven to 450°F. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.

Combine flour, sugar, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Stir in mayonnaise and milk until the flour is moistened. Do not over mix. Stir in the Cheddar cheese and pimento.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

If desired, brush tops with melted butter.

Hog Heaven Pure Lard Biscuits

No one in their right mind would admit to actually eating lard just a few short years ago.  Yet hidden in my memories are the flavors from my grandmother’s kitchen – lard seasoned her green beans, fried chicken, and yes, her biscuits.

Now, lard is cool again.  Books such as the Good Fat Cookbook includes lard, but not trans-fats such as shortening.  Pork fat appears on menus of some great restaurants in the form of pork belly and at Husk in Charleston to make the Pork Butter spread for bread and cornbread.

But as with all ingredients, all lard is not alike, I use lard rendered the old-fashioned way without hydrogenating.  The main ingredient, and therefore most important is the flour. I use Southern Biscuit® Flour milled by Midstate Mills for the very lightest biscuits you can find these days.  There is no substitute to starting with the best flour to make the best biscuits. Then there is buttermilk, I always use whole buttermilk – we are lucky to find it in larger grocery stores.  If you don’t have it combine buttermilk with a few tablespoons of heavy cream.

Then find a great quality country ham, your favorite – I love Benton’s Country Ham in Madisonville, Tennessee.  If you haven’t tried this ultra smoky ham, it is worth it to order it by mail.  It is used all over the country in fine restaurants.

Now you have the makings for a fantastic biscuit slider – worth the effort and delicious.

Hog Heaven Pure Lard Biscuit Sliders

Makes 8 biscuits.

2 cups Southern Biscuit Self-Rising Flour

1/4 cup pork lard

¾ cup full fat buttermilk

Southern Biscuit All-purpose flour

2 tablespoons butter, melted

8 slices cooked country ham

Preheat oven to 450˚F.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Measure flour into a large bowl.  Cut in lard using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingertips until the pieces are the size of peas.  Stir in buttermilk.

Dust a counter top lightly with all-purpose flour.  Turn dough onto surface and with floured hands fold the dough and press three times.  Roll dough to ½-inch thick.

Cut using a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter.  Place on baking sheet about ½-inch apart.

Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned.  Brush tops with butter.  Fill with cooked country ham.  Serve with mustard if desired.

Rosemary Olive Oil Biscuits

“Olive oil in a biscuit? Yes, a touch of olive oil with fresh rosemary gives this a biscuits a fresh flavor that you will enjoy with Italian meals. Best of all, these biscuits are much faster to make than the more traditional yeast breads. “

~ By Tendabake

  Ingredients:

• 2 cups  Southern Biscuit Self-Rising Flour
• 1 teaspoon  finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2/3 cup  milk
• 2 tablespoons  olive oil

Cooking Instructions:
Heat oven to 450°F. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.

Combine flour and rosemary in a large bowl. Stir in milk and olive oil until the flour is moistened. Do not over mix.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Shape dough into a ball using floured hands. Handle the dough as little as possible. Press dough to flatten slightly and fold in half. Repeat 3 or 4 times.

Pat or roll dough to ½ inch thickness. Cut with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place on prepared pan close together but not touching.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and brush the tops with olive oil if desired.

Zydeco Biscuits: Spicy Benne Seed Biscuits

The word for the style of folk music known as Zydeco is French for “the snap beans aren’t salty”. The phrase indicates hard times because there was no money for salt. Rather than austere, these spicy biscuits are named for the lively Louisiana music and their word for sesame seeds – benne seeds.

You don’t have to be a fan of washboards and accordion music to enjoy these biscuits. Midstate Mills makes real Southern Biscuit® Flour which strikes the right note for making perfect sandwich biscuits. We stuffed them with pimento cheese, but feel free to use your favorite filling or none at all.

The inspiration for the use of lard in this recipe is my personal favorite Zydeco song – “Everything on the Hog is Good” (along with the fact that biscuits made with lard are delicious). However, feel free to use shortening if you would prefer.

Makes 18 to 20 biscuits.

2 cups Southern Biscuit® All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne
1/3 cup lard
½ cup toasted sesame seeds
½ cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 425˚F.

Combine Southern Biscuit All Purpose Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper. Cut in lard using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingertips until pieces are the size of peas. Stir in toasted sesame seeds and buttermilk.

Dust a counter top lightly with all- purpose flour. Turn dough onto surface and with floured hands fold the dough and press three times. Roll dough to ½-inch thick.
Cut using a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter. Place on baking sheet about ½-inch apart.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Brush tops with melted butter.