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.

The solution is as simple as putting the biscuits in an airtight jar along with a small piece of bread (no more than half a slice). If you don't have an airtight jar, a zip-lock bag also works well.

like Pillsbury biscuits from a can. Kneading more makes the dough rise higher. This is directly in conflict with anything you'll ever read about biscuits, but I've seen it happen over and over again. Kneading more makes the texture slightly tougher.

If your biscuits are too tough…

If you do think this about your dough, fight the urge to add more dry ingredients — dough that isn't wet enough will bake into a hard, dry biscuit.

Heavy cream provides rich butterfat that gives the biscuits tenderness and flavor, as well as moisture from its water content. The formula requires minimal mixing, reducing the risk of too much gluten development.

Eggs are natural binders, helping hold all other baking ingredients together and increasing the viscosity of batters and doughs. Egg white has the capability to gel and is frequently used as a binding agent in many different prepared foods.

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.

This results in a looser dough that can expand and puff up more. The egg white on the other hand acts as a coagulant and sets the crumb making it bouncier and chewier in a good way. Crust is another part of the bread that is greatly affected by egg. It caramelises more and becomes crispier.

Biscuit making is an art. It requires the right touch—and that means with your hands. A blender or processor will create too much friction, heating up the butter and flour quickly. You also have to be careful not to over-blend or you'll end up with chewy biscuits.

What causes biscuits to not be fluffy? ›

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.

Overworking (or Underworking) the Dough

The biscuits will be hard and tough if you stir the dough too much. They will have a floury, uneven texture if you don't mix enough. Our Test Kitchen cracked the code: Stir the dough 15 times for the perfect consistency and texture.

Why are my biscuits hard? If your biscuits come out hard and crumbly, it's most likely because the dough was overworked during the kneading process. To prevent that, mix your dough just until it comes together. You should still see bits of butter in your dough.

DO NOT OVERMIX. Dough will not be completely smooth. Gather dough into a ball and knead on lightly floured surface quickly and gently, about 6 to 8 times, just until no longer sticky. The kneading is meant only to flatten the pieces of fat into flakes, not to blend fat completely with the flour.

Sugar attracts moisture and homemade biccies often contain a lot of it, so they are prone to losing their crunch. To stop biscuits getting soft, make sure your container is airtight and put a layer of dry rice in the bottom of it to absorb any rogue water particles in the air.

The secret to the best biscuits is using very cold butter and baking powder. We've made a lot of biscuits, but this easy biscuits recipe is the one we turn to the most (they are so fluffy!). See our easy drop biscuits and cheese drop biscuits for even easier biscuits.

But if you chill your pan of biscuits in the fridge before baking, not only will the gluten relax (yielding more tender biscuits), the butter will harden up. And the longer it takes the butter to melt as the biscuits bake, the more chance they have to rise high and maintain their shape. So, chill... and chill.