Consider the Rising Agents

Most biscuit recipes rely on baking soda, baking powder or a combination of both to help these little nuggets rise. When mixed with wet ingredients, baking soda reacts right away, creating bubbles and making air. If your biscuit recipe is made with baking soda only, bake as soon as possible after mixing and shaping your dough. Biscuits made with baking powder benefit from a bit of rest – 15 to 20 minutes – to allow the flavors and texture of the bread to improve. Biscuit dough made with yeast or sourdough starter should rise for 1 hour before baking in the oven.

Refrigerate the Dough

Achieving light and flakey biscuits is more about technique than ingredients. When using both baking soda and powder, keeping the dough cold is one secret to achieving fluffy texture and good taste. After mixing your dry ingredients, add chilled butter chunks to your bowl, and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. Mix the butter into the dry ingredients, and then chill again for 30 minutes or more before proceeding with your recipe. Dough made this way with the addition of buttermilk can be held for up to 1 hour in the refrigerator once the biscuits have been shaped.

Freeze the Dough

Some recipes for biscuits call for the addition of buttermilk. The additional enzymes from the buttermilk further react with the baking soda and powders to create more airiness for your biscuits. This kind of biscuit dough can be refrigerated or frozen before adding the buttermilk, and baked on a later date. To freeze buttermilk biscuit dough, combine the flour with the rising agents and any butter or lard called for in the recipe, place in a zip-top style freezer bag and freeze or refrigerate for up to one month. To use, bring the bag to room temperature for 30 minutes before adding the buttermilk, and proceed with the recipe.

Test Your Rising Agents

It’s no fun to go through the trouble of making fresh biscuits only to have the dough fall flat. To test your baking soda before adding your other ingredients, place 1 teaspoon of baking powder in a small amount of warm water. If it fizzles, it’s good. Baking powder keeps for up to four months once opened. Baking soda can last indefinitely when stored properly. To test for activity, place 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Good soda will foam and bubble. To test your yeast, check for activity after adding it to warm sugar water but before adding flour. If there are no bubbles or signs of life, start again with new yeast.