![]() The biscuits were alright but they had an off-taste because of too much baking powder and I didn’t feel like they were as light and fluffy as White Lily biscuits are purported to be. What struck me about this recipe is that it’s so simple! Of course it gets slightly more complicated if you don’t have the White Lily self-rising flour, but it still doesn’t take much more time to throw these together than to open a can of store-bought biscuits!Īfter doing some research both online and on my cookbook shelf, I decided to try to approximate a White Lily biscuit by substituting a mixture of national brand all-purpose flour, cake flour, and leavening for the white lily self-rising flour.įor the first batch I tried using half all-purpose flour and half cake flour plus 3 teaspoons of baking powder. Bake at 500 for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Knead gently 2 or 3 times on lightly floured surface. Blend in enough buttermilk until dough leaves sides of bowl. Cut in butter until mixtures resembles coarse crumbs. Spoon flour into measuring cup and level with a knife. ![]() Or you use your newfound knowledge about protein content in flour to create your own version.Ĭarmen was nice enough to e-mail me the biscuit recipe from her bag of White Lily Self-Rising flour so that I would have a starting point in creating my own version:Ģ cups white lily unbleached self-rising flourġ/4 cup butter (plus two tablespoons for brushing on But what about those of us who can’t run to the store and buy some White Lily flour? Well, you can order it online. Now that our quick flour lesson is over, let’s get back to baking some great southern biscuits.Īs I mentioned before, White Lily brand flour is the flour of choice for biscuit-making in the south. And since more protein equals higher rising yeast breads, the flours from the bottom of the list will be best for those. So, keeping in mind that less protein equals light and tender cakes and quick breads, the flours from the top of this list are going to give you the best results for those types of baked goods. Northern unbleached all-purpose (King Arthur): Northern all-purpose (Robin Hood, Hecker’s): National brand bleached all-purpose (Gold Medal, Pillsbury): National brand self-rising (Gold Medal, Pillsbury): Corriher:īleached southern all-purpose (White Lily, Martha White, Gladiola, Red Band): Here’s a quick rundown of some flours and their protein contents, taken from the book Cookwise by Shirley O. Strains of soft winter wheat have less protein than the hard spring wheat and therefore southern all-purpose flours are better-suited for quick breads such as biscuits, cakes and muffins. Southern bleached all-purpose flours are made from the soft winter wheat that grows well in the warmer southern climate while northern all-purpose flours are made from the hard spring wheats that grow in the colder climate. I won’t get too technical because for the purpose of this post, all you really need to know is this: White Lily flour is made from 100% soft winter wheat and it has a much lower protein content than other brands of all-purpose flours. I’ve heard for a long time that White Lily brand flour is the best thing you can use for biscuits and Carmen’s passionate e-mail confirmed it. The most important ingredient, of course, is the flour. We live in Texas now and it amazes me how many people have never had a great homemade biscuit.“Ĭarmen, the reader who sent the e-mail, went on to explain to me some of the real secrets of making great homemade biscuits and I am now forever in her debt. “ Even in Tennessee where I’m from, when canned biscuits came out, women quit making homemade ones except for my grandmother who is 90 years old and still going strong. Apparently, when canned biscuits made their debut, many women quit making them from scratch, even in the southern states. Who knew biscuits could stir such passion. That was the subject of an e-mail I received after my last biscuit post.
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