Super Quick and Easy Olive Oil Biscuits

By Kath Dedon

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It’s surprising to me that I haven’t shared Super Quick and Easy Olive Oil Biscuits before today. I made these biscuits fairly regularly when I was cooking for my family of four. There’s no reason not to make them now that I’m mostly cooking for two. It’s easy to cut the recipe in half for fewer servings.

My recipe is adapted from the “Biscuits Supreme” recipe in the 1981 version of Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. It called for shortening; I can’t remember the last time I used shortening. Maybe I used shortening in this recipe back in the day.

I know I came up with Super Quick and Easy Olive Oil Biscuits after seeing Rozanne Gold’s recipe for Olive Oil Biscuits in her Cooking 1-2-3. I loved the idea of using olive oil in biscuits. It’s certainly a healthier fat than shortening. Rozanne’s recipe uses self-rising flour, milk and olive oil. Since I never have self-rising flour on hand, I decided to tweak the Better Homes and Gardens recipe.

To make 10-12 biscuits, the recipe called for ½ cup shortening. I tried subbing ½ cup olive oil. The biscuits were way too oily. I cut back on the olive oil, and eventually settled on ¼ cup which gave the best results.

Are these the world’s greatest “to die for” biscuits? No. I think you need to search for a recipe with copious amounts of butter and/or cream for that. But Super Quick and Easy Olive Oil Biscuits are very good indeed. My family has always eagerly gobbled them up whenever I have made them.

What do I love about them?

1. They are so quick, especially since I never bother to use a biscuit cutter. Over-handling the dough will produce tough biscuits, so I think it’s best just to cut the biscuits with a sharp knife.

2. I always have the ingredients on hand to make them at a moment’s notice. You don’t have to buy buttermilk. Or cream. You may have to add cream of tartar to your pantry, but once you have that you’re probably set.

3. Since they are made with a small amount of heart-healthy olive oil, I don’t feel so bad about slathering the biscuits with butter!

The next time you’re making a soup or stew that just begs to have a bit of bread for an accompaniment, give these Super Quick and Easy Olive Oil Biscuits a try. I don’t think they’ll disappoint. They were perfect with last night’s Chicken and Rice Soup!

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Yes, I couldn’t resist taking a bite out of this biscuit!

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Super Quick and Easy Olive Oil Biscuits

(Adapted from recipes in Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book and Rozanne Gold’s Cooking 1-2-3)

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Note about cream of tartar – It’s in the Better Homes and Gardens recipe and I’ve always used it. Joy of Cooking recipes for biscuits don’t call for it; they just use baking powder. Perhaps it isn’t necessary, which would make this recipe even simpler. 

Update, 1/12/13: In the interest of science, I made the biscuits again without the cream of tartar. They were just okay. The ones made with cream of tartar had a much better texture; they were “softer” and more tender.

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(print the recipe)

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Makes 6 small biscuits (Double the ingredients to make 10 – 12 biscuits)

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1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar (See note about cream of tartar above.)

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup milk (I have always used whole milk. It’s what we have in our refrigerator. I don’t know if it would work as well with reduced fat milk.)

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1. Preheat the oven to 450˚.

2. Stir the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt together in a medium bowl.

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 Dry ingredients stirred together, milk, and olive oil

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3. Pour the olive oil and milk into the dry ingredients and stir just until it comes together.

4. Put the dough on a lightly floured board and knead gently just 10 or 12 times.

5. Form the dough into a ball, and then flatten it so it’s about ½ inch thick.

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Flattened to 1/2-inch thick

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6. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 6 pieces.

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7. Transfer the biscuits to a baking sheet. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until golden. (I found it took just a bit longer in my toaster oven – about 14 minutes.)

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8. Serve warm with good butter.

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