Homemade Tea Biscuits

There are many reasons to make homemade tea biscuits. I make them as a family tradition.

My son is a biscuit addict. We have them at least once a week. Usually Sunday breakfast. I serve biscuits with fruit, cheese and homemade jam. So delicious. 

Click here to find my absolute favourite Raspberry Jam Recipe.

My kids eat them in their lunches, as sandwiches, mini pizzas and have them for breakfast as egg sandwiches. If I'm serving biscuits, the kids are in!!

I'm pretty sure I have perfected the ancient art of biscuit making (If I do say so, myself). I used to make them with my grandmother, as a child. She whipped them up without ever looking at a recipe; almost daily. We would cut biscuits with a glass, I loved listening to the puff of air as it escaped and watching them fall out of the glass onto the counter top.  I loved the intoxicating smell of fresh biscuits and the melting warm butter as they were served my favourite way...with molasses. I didn't spend much time with my grandmother when I was young; these memories are as a result, forever cemented in my brain. 

I don't have her original recipe and I'm sure hers probably contained shortening or margarine, which I don't typically eat. The flavour in these tea biscuits are as close as I have managed to get. It's the process, I have discovered that makes a tea biscuit great, more so than the recipe. 

The trick to a flakey biscuit is folding.  As you roll your dough out, fold, roll again, fold, roll again, fold and roll again, as many times as you desire. This process will create layers in your biscuit. I can assure you...you want layers. 

Homemade Tea Biscuits 

4 cups of Unbleached Flour

3 tbsps of Baking Powder

1 tsp of Salt

1/2 tsp of Sugar

2/3 cup of Butter

2 cups of Milk

Place dry ingredients in a stand mixer, blend with the paddle attachment. 

Cube butter and add to the stand mixer. Blend until it resembles coarse crumbs. 

Create a well in the centre of the biscuit mix. 

Add two cups of milk and mix until just combined. 

Preheat your oven to 400° F

Pour mixture onto a heavily floured surface. It will be rather wet, knead for a moment as you incorporate some of the flour from your worktop. 

When your mixture is no longer sticking to your hands, begin rolling.  

Roll your dough to approximately 1 inch. Fold; then roll back to 1 inch. Repeat this process two or three times. 

When you're ready, cut your biscuits with a glass...or a biscuit cutter. 

A large glass will cut approximately 15 biscuits, a smaller cutter will give you closer to 24. 

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. 

Allow a few moments to cool before you dig in!!  Be sure to fully cool before freezing. They will last several days on the counter top, in an air tight container; unless you have a son like mine. We never have biscuits around the house for more than 48 hours! 

If you liked this big idea, try making them with someone you love. Feel free to comment below!!