Pizza Biscuit Wreath

 From: Pillsbury 2007 Annual Recipes Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 2 cans (12 oz each) Pillsbury Golden Layers refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
• 60 small slices pepperoni
• 5 sticks colby-monterey jack cheese, each cut crosswise into 4 pieces
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• pizza sauce for dipping

Heat oven to 375°. Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Separate one can of dough into 10 biscuits, keep second can refrigerated. Press each biscuit into a 3-inch round. Place three pepperoni slices and one piece of cheese on each dough round. Wrap dough around filling, pinching edges to seal and form ball.

Repeat with remaining can of dough, pepperoni and cheese.

Leaving a 4-inch hole in the center, arrange eight balls, seam side down and sides almost touching into a ring on the cookie sheet.

Arrange remaining 12 balls, sides almost touching, around outer edge of first ring. Brush rings with beaten egg.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in small microwavable bowl, microwave pizza sauce, loosely covered, on high 45 to 60 seconds or until warm. Carefully slide wreath from cookie sheet onto serving platter. Place bowl of pizza sauce in center of wreath. Garnish with fresh oregano, if desired. Serve warm.

Verdict: Thumbs up! I only did one can of the rolls. They were very good. I wouldn't say we were astounded with them or anything, but they were good.

What I would do differently next time: So, I'm just now seeing that the recipe says to arrange them almost touching. Yeah... I definitely had them touching, which meant the sides took much longer to cook. Reading is fundamental! I also feel like they could have used garlic powder sprinkled on top. That's how I make these when I use crescent rolls. Other than that, they were really easy to make and would be a great, simple recipe!

Homemade Biscuits (And You Can Freeze Them!)

From: Here

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 to 1 cup milk

Add all the dry ingredient together in a bowl or food processor and mix together. Add the shortening and use the metal blade on the food processor until the mixture is crumbly or mix by hand, with a fork or with a pastry cutter until the shortening is fully incorporated in little pieces.

Next add just enough milk to bring the mixture together. Stir by hand or pulse in the food processor. Once it forms a ball it’s done, don’t over mix.

Flour your hands, rolling pin and counter and drop the dough on the counter. With your hands bring it together to form a ball and knead once or twice if you need to bring the dough together more.

Roll from the center out until the dough is your desired thickness. Generally about ½ inch thick is good. And use a small, 2 inch cookie cutter to cut out the biscuits. Give the cookie cutter a gentle twist against the counter to help it cut through the dough.

Place the biscuits on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet to flash freeze or a greased cookie sheet to bake.
Gather extra dough and re-roll it to the same thickness as before then cut more biscuits. Repeat until you use all the dough.

Bake at 450 for 8-12 minutes until golden brown and flaky.

How To Freeze
Freeze on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for an hour or two, just until the biscuits are solid then place in a freezer bag. Label and date; use within six months.

How To Thaw Or Reheat Homemade Biscuits
Cooked biscuits can be thawed in the fridge or on the countertop. They can also be placed in the microwave for a few seconds or in the oven for a few minutes to reheat.
Frozen biscuits that are uncooked can be baked from frozen or thawed in the fridge. Add about 50% cooking time for frozen items, thus at 450 they should take 12 minutes or so. Check them after 10 minutes but allow up to 15 minutes to bake.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! I made these by halving the recipe and making them in the afternoon just in case they failed for dinner. Now I wish I had made them closer to dinner time...  Definitely an EASY recipe, basically no-fuss. And the fact that you can freeze them? BONUS! I see homemade biscuits and jam in my future... homemade bacon, egg and cheese biscuits in my future... lots of new breakfast ideas in my future since I am too cheap to buy store-bought biscuits!

Easy Garlic-Cheese Biscuits

From: Betty Crocker cookbook

Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup stick margarine or butter, melted
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix baking mix, milk and cheese to make a soft dough. Beat vigorously 30 seconds. Drop dough by 10-12 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Mix margarine and garlic powder; brush on warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! Incredible. Absolutely delicious. I regret making only half a batch of these! I made only half a batch because my Bisquick recipes tend to turn out dry and crumbly. These were moist, soft, and addicting!! They tasted a lot like the cheddar biscuits from Red Lobster (I have that recipe somewhere, used to make them all the time!) I HIGHLY recommend you make these. They are simple, FAST, and absolutely perfect. A new staple for our dinners around here!

Spicy Pepperoni Biscuits

From: Christmas with Southern Living 1998
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup finely chopped pepperoni
3/4 cup milk

Combine first five ingredients; cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Stir in pepperoni. Add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times. Roll dough to 1/2" thickness; cut dough with 2" or 2 1/2" biscuit cutter, and place biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

What I did differently from the recipe: Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time: Put more pepperonis in.

Verdict: Why do my biscuits always turn out crumbly?? I think these could have been delicious...

Rolled Biscuits

I failed at this "simple" recipe. Maybe you'll have better luck!

Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk

Heat oven to 450. Mix 2 cups Bisquick baking mix and 2/3 cup milk until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 30 seconds. If dough is too sticky, gradually mix in enough baking mix to make dough easy to handle.

Turn onto board well floured with baking mix. Gently roll in baking mix to coat.

Shape into a ball.

Knead 10 times. Roll 1/2 inch thick.

Cut with 2-inch cutter floured with baking mix.

Bake on cookie sheet until golden brown, 8-10 minutes.

What I did differently from the recipe:

Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:

Won't be making this again! A 2" cutter made TINY biscuits and they turned out not so great. I choose Grands Flaky Biscuits over these any day! They weren't hard or anything but they just didn't have a great flavor, and certainly didn't look like the picture!! (My fault!)

Verdict: Thumbs down.