I made delicious Thanksgiving biscuits from scratch with Ina Garten's recipe, and I couldn't believe how easy and quick it was
- I recently made chive biscuits from scratch using Ina Garten's recipe.
- The recipe takes less than 30 minutes and couldn't have been easier for a novice baker like myself.
When it comes to the holidays, there's no celebrity chef I turn to more than Ina Garten. She is, in my eyes, the queen of Thanksgiving cooking.
Whether it's a "grown up" mac and cheese or the perfect potato gratin, Garten has a recipe for all your holiday needs.
So when I decided to try making homemade biscuits for the first time — despite being a very amateur baker — I put my faith in the Barefoot Contessa.
Here's how it all went down.
Garten's chive biscuits only require a few ingredients.
To make eight of Garten's chive biscuits, you'll need:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg
½ cup chopped fresh chives (Garten says you can also swap these for fresh parsley)
¾ cup half-and-half
¼ pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
First, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and threw my dry ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer.
I added the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar into the bowl of my electric mixer, which was fitted with the paddle attachment.
Then I added the butter and began to mix on low speed.
Garten says you should mix the butter until it becomes the "size of peas."
With the mixer still on low, I added the half-and-half.
I stirred until everything was just mixed, per Garten's instructions.
Then I added the chopped chives.
Garten says to beat the mixture until it's just combined.
My dough was ready in mere minutes.
I'm not much of a baker and have never made dough before, so to see it transform in a few minutes was, honestly, pretty exciting for me. I felt like I was in the "Great British Bake-Off" tent.
I placed my dough on a well-floured board and began to lightly knead it.
Although I've seen people kneading dough on TV countless times, I've never actually done it myself. But I found some helpful tips on The Spruce Eats with a quick Google search.
If you're a baking novice like me, it's probably helpful to know why we even need to knead dough. Kneading helps develop the gluten in the dough, giving your biscuits (or bread) both structure and softness.
I used the heels of my hands to push the dough down, then outward. Then I folded the dough in half, toward myself, and used the heels of my hand to push it down and out again. I made sure to add flour when the dough felt sticky as I repeated the steps and continued to knead it.
I kneaded my dough into a rectangle, per Garten's instructions.
I attempted to knead the dough so it was about ¾-inch thick, although my kneading was a bit uneven and some biscuits came out a tad thinner. I'd made sure to keep the dough on the thicker side as it results in fluffier biscuits.
Then I cut out my biscuits.
Garten recommends using a 2 ½-inch round cutter for this step, but using the top of a mason jar also works well in a pinch.
Once my biscuits were shaped, I whipped up my egg wash.
I just mixed one egg with one tablespoon of water and voila, it was ready.
I brushed each biscuit with the egg wash before throwing my pan into the oven.
The egg wash helps give your biscuits a golden-brown color.
After 22 minutes, my biscuits were ready.
Garten recommends baking the biscuits for 20 to 22 minutes. You'll know they're done when the "tops are browned and the insides are firm," she said.
Garten's chive biscuits were extremely easy to make and impressed everyone at the dinner table — making them perfect for the holidays.
Garten's chive biscuits looked fantastic with their lovely golden hue, and the tops had a satisfying crisp that gave way to the buttery and fluffy middle.
There was a hint of saltiness in the biscuits that paired well with the mild garlic flavor of the chives. I paired these with Garten's chicken chili and they were a fantastic side, but I think Garten's biscuits would also be great in a breakfast sandwich or at Thanksgiving dinner.
What I loved most about Garten's recipe was that the biscuits were actually fun to make, even as a novice baker. This would be a great recipe to do with some family members on Thanksgiving day, especially kids who want to help in the kitchen.
Sure, store-bought is fine, but why not try homemade? It might just make you feel worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake.
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