Perfect Homemade Biscuits

You know how I usually go out and find a recipe and then modify it? Well, this morning I went looking for a new biscuit recipe for breakfast, and found a recipe that already had so many variations that I had trouble finding one of my own to try.
I did, but it was work.
I found This recipe at https://www.momontimeout.com/perfect-biscuits-every-time-recipe/ and it has distinct advantages over either my buttermilk biscuit recipe from the now-defunct Meemo's Kitchen, or even baking mix biscuits. It doesn't take anything I don't usually have in my pantry or refrigerator, it's as fast to make as baking mix biscuits (nearly) and it is easily modified. The stock recipe comes out very soft, and rather flaky. I'll include some suggested changes at the end of the instructions.
Here's the recipe for Perfect Homemade Biscuits!

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (optional)
• 3/4 cup COLD butter
• 1 egg (optional)
• 1 cup whole milk (skim works too)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• The secret to excellent biscuits is COLD BUTTER. Really cold. Many times the biscuit dough gets worked so much that the butter softens before the biscuits even go in the oven. Try cutting the butter into small pieces and stick back in the fridge pulling out only when ready to incorporate into the dough.
• Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. 
• Use a pastry cutter to cut cold butter into flour mixture. Don't go too crazy here - you want to see small, pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the dough. 
• Add in the milk and egg and mix just until the ingredients are combined. The dough will be sticky but don't keep working it. You should be able to see the butter pieces in the dough.
• Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface. Sprinkle some flour on to the top of dough so it won't stick to your fingers and knead 10-15 times. If the dough is super sticky just sprinkle on some additional flour.
• Pat the dough out to 3/4 - 1 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or glass. I ended up with nine this time but depending on who is snacking on biscuit dough, I can get up to 12 biscuits. [I got 12 on my first batch, 14 on my second, and who snacks on raw biscuit dough?-Edly]
• Place the biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.
• For extra yumminess, brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter... [Your arteries will slam shut in delight!-Edly]

Modifications and notes:

Some of the ingredients are considered optional by the source.  They claim it is safe to leave out the cream of tartar, and that the egg is optional. They also say you can use buttermilk instead of whole milk, but you will have to use more because of how thick it is. UPDATE 12/20/2020: They're right about it taking more buttermilk. Today I made this recipe with the following modifications: 1 cup buttermilk instead of milk (I could have used a bit more.) 1 tablespoon of baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda instead of 4 teaspoons baking powder (1 tablespoon is 3 teaspoons, and buttermilk is slightly acidic, which activates the baking soda.) No cream of tartar (I couldn't find any.)

The first time I fixed them today (I made them for breakfast and dinner both) I made them exactly as outlined in the recipe above, only choosing not to brush the biscuits with additional butter after baking (there's so much butter in them already!) The second time I added about 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt to the one cup of skim milk I almost always use in my cooking. They came out a bit moister that way.

Either way, these are best eaten hot and straight from the oven. They are not nearly as good if allowed to cool.
After testing: You can make these biscuits ahead of time and freeze them before baking them, just like Pillsbury frozen biscuits. Place the already formed biscuits into a baking sheet and place it into the freezer for an hour or two, then put the frozen biscuits into a freezer bag and store them for up to several weeks and make them as you want them!

Baking Mix Blueberry Muffins

I tried to make blueberry muffins the way I remembered them from my childhood, but even using those recipes, they seemed dry, and not the way I expected. Modern recipes were too much like a yellow cupcake with blueberries in them. I eventually tried a recipe off of a box of biscuit and baking mix, and it was pretty much exactly what I wanted.
Of course I lost that recipe.
I later found one on Food.com that is probably identical. Being who I am, I've modified it a bit. Here's my version:

Baking Mix Blueberry Muffins
2 Cups Bisquick, Jiffy, or other biscuit and baking mix
1/3 Cup Sugar
2/3 Cup milk
1/4 Tsp vanilla (or 1 Tsp vanilla sugar added to sugar before measuring)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Egg
3/4 to 1-1/2 Cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 12 muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray, or line with paper baking cups, or line with parchment paper. Mix together all ingredients except blueberries until moistened. Batter will be lumpy. Fold in blueberries. Divide blueberries evenly into the muffin cups and bake 15-20 minutes until lightly browned around edges. Cool briefly and remove from muffin tins. Serve while warm.

Notes 2/2/2025: Today I tried a baking mix alternative with mixed success. I suspect you can replace the Bisquick with 2 cups flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/3 cup shortening cut in, as long as you increase the sugar in this recipe to 1/2 cup and milk to 3/4 cup.

Microwave Peanut Butter Cookies

Folks-
Every now and then I'll see a recipe in my feed that I have to try. About a month ago I saw one for "Deep Dish Single Serve Microwave Chocolate Chip Cookie." While my daughter and I agreed it was ok, it didn't hit a home run in my family. I decided to try modifying it into something we all liked, and after a week of tinkering, I finally had a Microwave Peanut Butter Cookie that is just as good as regular baked cookies, except you make them in small batches, and they take much less time, preparation, and no chilling the dough for several hours! Best of all, as long as you use mayo instead of egg or egg substitute, you can eat the dough raw (but I wouldn't store it for that.)

Microwave Peanut Butter Cookies

2 tsp butter melted

1-1/2 tbsp mayonnaise (or 1 egg yolk or 1/2 of an eggs worth of egg substitute)

1 tbsp peanut butter

2-1/2 tsp white sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp sugar and 3 drops vanilla extract)

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup flour

Mix together butter, mayonnaise, and sugars. Mix in flour and baking powder. Form into 3-5 small balls, 1-2 tbsp in size. Place on a microwave safe plate. Use a fork to make a checkerboard pattern on the cookies, if desired. Microwave for 45-60 seconds. Allow to cool for at least a minute before eating.