| May 29th is National Biscuit Day. How about biscuits with appetizers?
Serve biscuits instead of other breads or crackers with appetizer plates, cheese boards, dips, spreads, and specialties like Baked Brie (photos #1, #2, and #3).
Whether warm from the oven or room temperature, they’re that much more of a treat.
Below:
> What’s a biscuit?
> The different types of biscuits.
> Yummy biscuit recipes.
Elsewhere on The Nibble:
> The history of biscuits.
> The history of bread.
> The different types of bread.
WHAT IS A BISCUIT?
In the U.K., ask for a “biscuit” and you may be surprised.
- In the U.K., a biscuit is a cookie or a cracker, not a bread product.
- What Americans think of as a roll or biscuit is a scone in the U.K.
- An American roll is a British cob.
- An American English muffin is a British muffin (the history of the English muffin—invented by a British immigrant to the U.S.).
- A bun in the U.K. may look like a kind of American roll, but it is sweet, what Americans call a sweet roll or sweet bun.
- A burger bun is called a bap. And so on, and so forth.
> Here’s a longer discussion of the different American and British terms.
10 TYPES OF BISCUITS
- Angel Biscuits. These lighter, fluffier biscuits are made with yeast. They rise before being baked.
- Beaten Biscuits. A historic Southern staple, these are “beaten” with a mallet or heavy handle until the dough blisters. The result is a dense, crisp, almost cracker-like texture.
- Cathead Biscuits. Technically a variation of the drop or buttermilk biscuit, but deserving of their own mention because of their sheer scale: “as big as a cat’s head,” with lot of soft, fluffy interior under the crust crust.
- Cream Biscuits. Instead of cutting in cold butter, heavy cream is both the fat and the liquid. More tender richer, and milkier flavor than standard buttermilk biscuits.
- Drop Biscuits. A wet dough is dropped from a spoon onto a baking sheet. They’re not shapely like cut-out rounds, but just as delicious.
- Dumplings. The dumplings in the chicken and dumplings recipe are actually smaller drop biscuits. The biscuits are steamed in a pot rather than baked, and are served atop a hearty chicken stew.
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[1] An appetizer board with biscuits instead of crackers and baguette slices (all photos © Mason Dixie Foods).
[2] Baked Brie with biscuits instead of crackers and party breads. Here’s a recipe.
[3] Scoop up Maryland crab dip with biscuits. Here’s the recipe.
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Rolled Biscuits. Also called baking powder biscuits, the dough is rolled out, then cut into rounds, and baked.
Scones. Yes, scones are biscuits, even the versions that add cream and butter.
Shortcake. The same biscuits used for shortcake—sliced in half and topped with whipped cream and berries added—are also popular in the bread basket. Scones can be used as well.
Southern Buttermilk Biscuits. Loaded with butter and buttermilk, the result is rich and flaky. Baking soda is also often added to make the biscuit fluffier.
There are numerous variations on the above. For example:
- Self-rising biscuits are made with self-rising flour.
- Sourdough biscuits are made with sourdough starter.
[4] The different biscuit categories (photo: The Nibble).
MORE BISCUIT RECIPES
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