Biscuit Help

Every biscuit recipe I've seen has some form of leavening. If you have just milk,butter and buttermilk, it is more like a pastry.

EDIT: Duh! Just figured out SR flour means self-rising. Time for another cup of coffee-the brain isn't awake yet.

Although I agree strongly with Jean6's observation. I'm a regular buttermilk scone maker. Some buttermilks — especially the best ones  — tend to get a bit foamy as they age. So that means they take up more volume the older they get. Having experienced that sometimes my scone dough was too dry and sometimes a wee bit too wet, I changed to weighing everything as if I was doing loaves of yeasty bread. It really helped me get consistant results.

So start off weighing the flour and buttermilk of your standard recipe to get a baseline and go from there. I think you'll see improvements.

I agree with Jean6's observations and with Crider's observation that your dough may be too slack.  In addition your pictures make me think you are not working your dough.  Also your SR flour may have been on the grocer's shelf longer than you think and the baking powder has lost its ability to raise the dough.  Here is my recipe and I have no problem with keeping the shape and with rising.  I haven't added jalapeno, but I see no reason not to add the chopped jalapeno with the dry ingredients.

[as cut 3/8"x2" diam., 22 g, 72 cal., 1.4 g prot., 3.4 g fat, 8.7 g carb.]

2 cup (8.5 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour

1  tspn. salt

2 tspn. double acting baking powder

1  tspn. baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

1/2  cup (1.8 oz.) Earth Balance, or Crisco Shortening

3/4 cup (6.5 oz.) buttermilk

*Note: Butter, margarine, and “spreads” all contain water, as much as 15 to 30%, or even more.  Consider this, if you substitute these for shortening.  Earth Balance Shortening contains no “trans-fats” and makes the best biscuits, in my opinion.  This shortening must be refrigerated and note the container has only 15 oz, not a full 16 oz.  Not all groceries carry it.  Crisco shortening now has no trans-fats, does not need to be refrigerated, and may be substituted for Earth Balance.  Or try your favorite solid shortening.

Preheat oven to 450°F.  Sift together and mix the dry ingredients.  (Baking soda tends to have clumps.)  Then add the shortening in teaspoon size bits.  With the fingers of one hand, mix the shortening with the dry ingredients, then mash and rub the shortening with the dry ingredients to form thin flakes of shortening covered with flour.

Add the buttermilk to the dry ingredients and lightly stir the ingredients; dough should be slightly sticky.  Add more buttermilk, if necessary.  Place on a floured surface and sprinkle dough lightly with flour.  Flatten the dough with a floured hand to about 3/8 to 1/2  inch thickness. (If you use only one hand, the other will be clean for handling other things in the kitchen.)  Fold double four times, flattening after each fold.  Cut with 2 inch diameter biscuit cutter, straight down and do not twist.  Alternatively, just cut the biscuits into 2” squares with a knife.  Should make about twelve biscuits.  Place biscuits on ungreased, or slightly greased, baking sheet or other suitable pan.  King Arthur bakers claim that freezing cut biscuits for a half hour before baking will make them flakier.  (It doesn’t hurt them, and I have frozen cut, raw biscuits for 30 days and then baked them with no discernable difference between them and those frozen for only a half hour.  Ford.)

Bake until brown, about 12 - 14 minutes.  If you use a forced convection oven, reduce the temperature to 425°F and bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until brown.  Serve hot with real butter and honey, preserves, marmalade, etc.  Leftover biscuits may be split and the opened side browned under the broiler – still good.

 Enjoy,

Ford