Light & Airy Angel Biscuits

When one of our favorite local seafood restaurants served “Angel Biscuits,” we couldn’t stop eating them. The soft and airy biscuits just melted in your mouth. The bread was called a “biscuit.” It looked like a biscuit but it tasted like a yeast “dinner roll.” What were they? Ever since that meal, I have been searching for a recipe which exemplfies these biscuits. And today, a recipe on the back of a bag of Sunflour brand of self-rising flour which I had just purchased jogged my memory of my long-time search. Mystery solved.  “Angel Biscuits” are “jazzed up” biscuits or a hybrid of a biscuit and dinner roll. The “biscuits” contains both yeast (from dinner rolls) and baking powder and soda (from biscuits).  With all that leavening power, the “biscuits” should be light and airy!  I’m about to find out and I am making my own “Angel Biscuits.” These homemade rolls are perfect for a holiday meal such as Easter. Enjoy!

Ralph and Kacoo’s Seafood Restaurant

I first sampled “Angel Biscuits” at one of our favorite local seafood restaurants, “Ralph and Kacoo’s.” The Baton Rouge location closed in 2019 but other locations in Louisiana and Texas continue. Ralph and Kacoo’s was an eclectic restaurant — the walls were filled with big game tophies– mounted birds, fowl and fish — which the owners had bagged on hunting trips around the world. Huge fish tanks lined the corridors. A stuffed LSU tiger mascot met you in the entrance. After a reality check of the sureal surroundings, I could relax and enjoy my meal. We loved to take out-of-town family there for seafood meals. The quality of the food and service were impeccable while the restaurant was owned by Ralph and Kacoo Olinde. The Olindes began their business in 1969, along False River about an hour northwest of Baton. Later, the Olindes relocated to Baton Rouge. It was a sad day when we realized that the huge restaurant — closed in 2019 — was not re-opening.

I have several fond memories of the restaurant — it is the first place were I ate blackened redfish. Their garlic salad for two — full of fresh garlic — was a memorable experience. Each table had complimentary “all you could eat” hush puppies — with lots of green onions — which I loved. (See my post on “hush puppies” for this recipe.) It was my first experience with “Angel Biscuits.” Ralph and Kacoo’s was one of the first restaurants to offer broiled fish and steamed vegetables as an alternative to huge fried seafood dinners which filled up the menus at seafood restaurants in South Louisiana. And always a dessert tray came to your table with the day’s featured desserts. No dessert menu — just the real, tempting desserts. Those were the days — just memories now.

Angel Biscuit Recipes 

“Angel Biscuits” are a unique hyrid of a yeast roll and a biscuit. They are much quicker to make than yeast rolls. The butter or shortening is cut into the dough, similar to a biscuit. The dough contains baking powder and soda which also reminds me of a biscuit. There is yeast in the dough like a dinner roll. However, most recipes for “Angel Biscuits” skip the kneading step. After the dough is formed, it is simply patted out on a pastry board (instead of rolling with a rolling pin). A biscuit cutter may be used to shape the rolls. After rising, the rolls are baked in a hot oven. Whew.

There are many recipe variations for “Angel Biscuits” in cookbooks and on the internet. After making many batches, I used the recipe on the back of the Sunflour Self-Rising Flour bag as my template. It is labeled as a “Dinner Roll” but has the characteristics of “Angel Biscuits.”

Above are the ingredients for my recipe — self-rising flour, milk, an egg, sugar, butter, yeast and water. Often these recipes contain buttermilk. Buttermilk tenderizes the biscuits but can sometimes give a sour taste. The Sunflour recipe contained an egg and a small amount of sugar — often omitted in “Angel Biscuit” recipes — but I added them to follow the recipe.

No self-rising flour? It is easy to substitute all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Sticky “Hybrid Biscuits”

To achieve those “light and airy” and porous hybrid biscuits, you don’t knead the dough at all since you don’t want to develop the gluten. The dough is very sticky. Add only as much flour as you need to keep the dough managable. To much flour makes a dense roll — hard as a brick — trust me.

I used RapidRise Instant yeast to make this bread. This yeast activates and works quickly. You don’t have time to sit around when making these biscuits. The biscuits rise quickly, but also “flop” quickly, so I learned to pay attention to my biscuit dough as it was rising.

Food Processor Recipe

Once again, I use my handy Cuisinart food processor to mix up the “Angel Biscuits.” It works for a small batch.

On one occasion, I doubled the recipe — it wouldn’t fit in the food processor. For a large batch of “Angel Biscuits”, I mixed up the hybrid biscuits by hand.

Making the Recipe

Here’s how I made my “Angel Biscuits.”

Dissolve one packet of yeast plus 1 tsp sugar in 1/4 cup warm water (about 110 – 120 degrees F) and let it bubble for a few minutes.

No thermometer? At 120 degrees F, you should be able to put a finger in the water without going “ouch” but the water should be mighty warm. Most household water heaters are set at 120 – 140 degrees, usually at the lower end of this scale. So, run the faucet run to get this hot water.

Mix the milk and egg in a small bowl and set aside.

Add the self-rising flour and remaining sugar to food processor bowl. Then cut in the butter chunks with “on” and “off” pulses using the sharp food processor blade. This step reminds me of making a biscuit.

Change the food processor blade to the kneading blade. Add both the foamy yeast dissolved in the water and the milk/egg mixture. Blend on continuous setting to combine all the ingredients. With the kneading blade, you may need to remove the lid to scrape down the flour from the sides of the bowl. The dough will be sticky. Knead with just a few pulses. Don’t over knead. Add 1 to 2 Tbsp flour if absolutely necessary, but try to resist the temptation to add too much extra flour.

Transfer to a well-floured pastry board. Gently pat out with your hands into a 8″ x 8″ square.

Either score the dough into 9 square pieces or use a 2-3/4″ to 3″ diameter biscuit cutter to cut out biscuit shapes. Do not twist the cutter. Cut straight up and down. Dip the cutter in flour to prevent sticking.

Transfer the biscuits to an oiled, deep sided baking pan, either a 8″ x 8″ square or a 8″ x 10″ rectanglar pan. This will make 9 to 12 biscuits.

Here are today’s biscuits. Not perfectly shaped, but as the biscuits rise, things even out.

Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Let the biscuits rise for about 40 minutes in a warm spot. I turn my oven on to 180 degrees to warm the oven and let the biscuits rise there.

Then bake at 400 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes until the biscuits are golden on top.

Remove from oven and spread melted butter on top. Our “Angel Biscuits” at Ralph and Kacoo’s had Parmesan cheese and fresh garlic spread on top, too. Yum.

Here are my “Angel Biscuits.” Sweet and rich — light and airy — a hybrid biscuit and dinner roll. Serve warm. They make a great homemade roll for a holiday meal.

They also make a great accompaniment for a soup.

I’ll never know why I looked at the back of the bag of the Sunflour self-rising flour today and read the recipe. Something clicked and brought me back to that dining experience at “Ralph and Kacoo’s” seafood restaurant and all those memories. I experimented with making “Angel Biscuits” several years ago and served them at Thanksgiving dinner. Some of these photos are from that meal. But, unfortunately, I misplaced the recipe and had to start over. I am pleased with today’s biscuits.

I clearly remember — although my “Ralph and Kacoo’s” dining experience was now several years ago — that the “Angel Biscuits” were served with mashed fresh garlic butter and Parmesan cheese spread top. Yum! Perhaps the chef was really digging his job that evening. The rolls were delicous. Enjoy my recipe (and add garlic to the butter if you like).

Reference:

My favorite “Hush Puppies” https://beyondgumbo.com/2021/02/28/favorite-hush-puppies/