It's in the Hand

• Biscuits, like other quick breads, need a light hand or they become tough and hard. When mixing up a batch of biscuits, combine the dry ingredients in the bowl first. Add the butter and cut it in or process it in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment just until the butter is incorporated into the dough. It should look crumbly, not like a paste. Add the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Roll out the dough so it's 3/4 to 1 inch thick.

Check the Ingredients

• The ingredients you use also play a role in how tender your biscuits are. Replace your baking powder every six months because stale baking powder won't work as well, causing biscuits to be hard and flat. Use ice cold butter, which forms steam pockets so the biscuits rise. Pastry flour or soft wheat flour have less protein than all-purpose flour so biscuits are more tender. Many Southern bakers swear by self-rising flour, which is also a soft wheat flour, giving tender results. If you use self-rising flour, omit the baking powder and salt from the recipe because self-rising flour already contains these ingredients. Finally, use a high-fat dairy product instead of skim milk. In baking, the higher the fat content in milk, the more tender the results. Whole milk is good, but half-and-half or cream are even better.

Roll It Out

• Another reason biscuits sometimes come out hard is that they were rolled too much. The more you manipulate the dough, the tougher it becomes. Roll or shape it into a square or round. Use a sharp biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits because dull cutters push down the sides so the biscuits don't rise as well. Gather up the scraps and roll them again just once. Subsequent rollings will result in tough biscuits. Another option is to slice the biscuit dough into square wedges with a pizza cutter instead of using a biscuit cutter. With this technique, you only roll the dough once. There's no waste and the biscuits stay light and fluffy.

Into the Oven

• Make sure your biscuits bake in a hot oven set at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This hot blast of heat causes the biscuits to rise and set rapidly on the outside. Preheat the oven for at least 15 to 20 minutes and place the biscuits on the middle baking rack. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown.