Parmesan Drop Biscuits Recipe - w/ Mayo, No Butter! (2024)

FAQs

What does butter do in biscuit dough? ›

In biscuits, pie and pastry dough, butter is rubbed or cut into the flour. This causes the particles of flour to be coated in fat molecules, preventing excess liquid (like water or eggs) from absorbing into the flour, which creates an overdevelopment of gluten.

As the names might suggest, regular biscuits do not contain buttermilk, while these do. Regular biscuits are typically prepared with milk or water instead. Buttermilk adds a nice tang to the biscuit flavor and helps them rise better.

When the fat is cut too small, after baking there will be more, smaller air pockets left by the melting fat. The result is a baked product that crumbles.

Conclusion: If you're a purist and just can't stomach the "fake crap", then by all means use butter. But if you want to save a few bucks and a few calories, margarine is a great alternative that may even make the biscuits taste better.

Butter in bread dough tenderizes the dough, making the soft, pull-apart texture of bakes like brioche, dinner rolls, and Pullman loaves. Standard bread dough (also called a “lean dough”)—just flour, water, salt, and natural or added yeast—relies on a strong, stiff gluten network to yield a chewy loaf.

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.

Just as important as the fat is the liquid used to make your biscuits. Our Buttermilk Biscuit recipe offers the choice of using milk or buttermilk. Buttermilk is known for making biscuits tender and adding a zippy tang, so we used that for this test.

Yes, you can substitute sour cream! Thin it with milk or water to get the right consistency. For each cup of buttermilk needed, use 3/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup liquid. Editor's Tip: Sour cream has a higher fat content, so this will result in richer-tasting foods.

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).

How to make biscuits rise higher? ›

Conclusion: More baking powder makes the biscuit rise more (imagine that!). About 1 tablespoon of baking powder per 2 cups of flour seems to be about the right amount, but even halving or doubling this amount should not ruin your biscuits.

A hot oven helps biscuits bake—and rise—quickly. We recommend 475˚F for 15 minutes.

Mayonnaise – Mayonnaise is a substitute for butter in the biscuit recipe. The fat from the oil and eggs replaces the butterfat and makes these biscuits incredibly easy to make. Use full-fat, traditional mayo for the best result. Hellman's or Duke's are the favorites around here.

Cream cheese is used to replace some of the fat from the butter. This results in a buttermilk biscuit that is thick, fluffy, tender, and delicious!

Even though butter is a better choice over margarine, people who are overweight or obese are often advised not to consume butter. For such people, margarine with low or no trans fat is sometimes considered to be the best option, since it may prevent increases in blood cholesterol level and heart disease.

Butter is an amazing ingredient. It makes bread soft, and it gives it a wonderful flavour and aroma. The mouthfeel of bread made with butter is smooth and pleasant.

Increasing the amount of butter definitely makes the biscuit "taste" softer, more crumbly, and more flaky.

The dough could be rather crumbly as it won't have enough fat to combine the dry ingredients. Also could be too dry if the butter is melted as there won't be enough 'liquid '. The end product could be a little tough as it's the butter that makes the biscuit short.

Crisco may be beneficial for other baking applications, but for biscuit making, butter is the ultimate champion!