Biscuits are great because they can make many different meals that much better. It’s fine to enjoy them on their own as a treat, but they really shine when paired with specific meals.
Making the homemade variety will be a great way to add some charm to your dinner. If you’re new to the idea, you might just be getting used to making them.
Sometimes people who are new to certain recipes will make mistakes. Your biscuits might be turning out gummy for some reason, and you have no idea why it’s happening.
What might cause this issue, and is there a way to fix it?
Continue reading to learn more about making biscuits and what to do if they turn out a bit gummy.
1 – You’re Using Warm Butter
One of the most common reasons why people experience gummy biscuits is that they’re using warm butter. You want the biscuits to be flaky, but they might not turn out quite right if you use warm butter.
The butter won’t suspend in the batter properly if it’s warm. To get the best results, it’s necessary to use cold butter.
Cold butter will work a lot better when you blend it with the flour that you’re using. It’d be a lot better to use butter that is quite cold and just came out of the refrigerator.
Using warm butter or even room-temperature butter will work out differently. Everything will be a lot denser than you’d expect it to be, and the gummy texture will become an issue.
Needless to say, this isn’t the type of biscuit that most people desire. If your biscuits are coming out gummy, try using cold butter next time.
Another idea is to chill the bowl and the flour before you start mixing. It might be easier if you measure the flour, place it in the bowl, and then stick it in the refrigerator for a while.
Some people even go so far as to refrigerate the flour for one night before they are set to make the biscuits. This might not be completely necessary, but you can indeed get good results by chilling it.
Don’t let the butter melt or become squishy while you’re trying to blend the dough. If you see this happening, you might be able to counter it by placing the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes.
2 – Using the Wrong Type of Flour
Using the wrong type of flour can lead to inconsistent results, too. Some people just use whatever flour they happen to have in the pantry, but this isn’t a great idea.
It would be best to use whatever flour type is suggested in the recipe that you’re using. This ensures that you’ll get results that are as close as possible to what is intended.
Otherwise, you should know that it’s better to use lighter types of flour when making biscuits. You want to use flour that has a weaker protein structure so that things won’t turn out gummy or dense.
Lighter types of flour will work way better for biscuits overall. It might be good to use pastry flour or cake flour to make your them turn out well.
You can still use all-purpose flour if you want to, but the results might not be perfect. Some people choose to mix all-purpose flour with cake flour or pastry flour.
Mixing up cake flour with all-purpose flour in equal parts should allow you to create a pretty good biscuit flour. It might be simpler to just use cake flour or pastry flour, though.
3 – Try Mixing the Batter by Hand
Mixing the batter by hand might make it easier to get good results. It’s more common for people to use electric mixers these days, but mixing by hand is better for biscuits.
Why would this make such a difference? Using an electric mixer or some other type of machine mixer will heat the butter up too fast.
It creates way more friction than normal, and this means that your butter and your flour will get warm fast. It’s also too easy to mix things more than you’re supposed to when using these appliances.
If you want to get consistently great results, it’ll be better to mix the biscuits by hand. This will prevent you from having to eat gummy biscuits that just aren’t satisfying.
You also won’t have to worry about making the biscuits too chewy. Having the right touch when mixing the batter will allow you to get the perfect flaky biscuits that you want.
The batter will be mixed when everything is combined and it still looks a bit coarse. Avoid blending things too much if you don’t want them to turn out chewy.
Final Thoughts
It should be easy to enjoy biscuits to the fullest when you know how to make them right. If your biscuits have been turning out gummy as of late, you can turn things around by approaching the process a bit differently.
The first thing to know is that you should be using cold butter to get this done. Using warm butter is going to make things gummier, and it can wind up causing your biscuits to be very unsatisfying.
Some people go so far as to chill the flour that they’re using ahead of time. It’ll make it less likely that the flour will warm up during the mixing process.
Using the right flour will also make your life easier. It’d be much better to use a light flour that has a weaker protein structure.
Pastry flour and cake flour will work very well when you’re making biscuits. You can easily get what you need from the grocery store.
Remember to mix the biscuit batter by hand, too. Using electric mixers will create too much friction, and this will cause the butter and the flour to warm up.
Now that you know how to turn things around, it’ll be easier to make perfect biscuits. You’ll be able to enjoy having them at dinner very soon.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.