?    There’s no law that says biscuits have to be round. Roll the dough into a rectangle and cut out square shapes so you don’t have to keep re-rolling it.

?    The sharp open ends of clean cans make great cutters for biscuits, scones and dumplings.

?    To re-freshen and heat biscuits, put them in a well-dampened paper bag, twist it closed and put in a 150?C oven for several minutes or until warm.

?    If you want soft-sided biscuits, bake them in a pan with sides and put the biscuits close together. If you want crispy biscuits, bake them on a biscuit tray and place them apart from each other.

?    Before cutting biscuit dough into shapes, dip cutters into flour. Lift cut outs with a long, thin spatula. There’s less chance of distortion.

?    To give a fruit flavour to your brownies, use flavoured mineral water instead of water in the mix.

?    If you run out of biscuit trays while baking, spoon the remaining biscuit dough on large trays of lightly greased aluminium foil. When a biscuit tray becomes free, rinse it with cold water to cool, shake off excess water and lay the foil with the biscuit dough right on the tray.

?    Always bake loaves on the middle rack in the oven and biscuits on the top rack.

?    If baking more than one pan at a time, place them at different angles on different racks to allow maximum circulation of heat. Alternate their placement on the racks halfway through the baking time.

?    Always cool biscuit trays between batches to keep unbaked biscuits from melting and thinning at the edges before the heat of the oven can set them.

?    Put left over dough or dough you want to freeze for another time into empty clean thin cans, such as those used for bake beans, then chill or freeze. When you are ready to bake, cut the bottom off the can and use it as a pusher to move the dough out as you slice the biscuits. This makes perfect round slices every time.

?    To keep biscuit dough from sticking to biscuit cutters, chill the dough thoroughly before you roll it out. Dip each biscuit cutter in oil before pressing into the dough and the biscuits will cut cleanly. This treatment is wonderful when using cutters with intricate designs or cutters made of plastic. You can also spray the cutters with cooking spray.

?    Biscuits will spread if your dough is too pliable by allowing butter to get too soft. If your biscuits are spreading too much, try refrigerating the dough for a couple of hours before baking.

?    Biscuit dough can be frozen up to three months in an airtight container or refrigerated three to four days.

?    Check biscuits at minimum baking time. Let biscuits cool completely before storing.

?    Store different types of biscuits in separate containers so they’ll keep their original flavour and texture.

?    For a quick glaze for sugar biscuits, beat an egg white until just frothy and brush over the unbaked biscuits. Sprinkle with sugar and bake.

?    When biscuit dough is soft and difficult to handle, place it between pieces of wax paper that have been floured. Roll to desired thickness, remove the top paper, and cut biscuits.

?    Nuts ground in a chopper or food processor can be substituted for all or part of the flour in most biscuit recipes. Or use very fine unseasoned breadcrumbs.

?    When you re-roll dough scraps, dust the pastry board with a mixture of half flour and half icing sugar. This makes the biscuits tenderer than if they were rolled on a surface dusted with flour only. The flour tends to make the dough thicker and heavier, while the dusting of sugar will help the biscuit to brown evenly.

?    To keep homemade biscuits just-baked fresh, put a slice of white bread in the jar or container.
?    If you flour a biscuit tray after greasing it, biscuits made from thin batters will be less likely to spread during baking.

?    Before making oatmeal biscuits, toast the oatmeal by spreading it on a tray and baking it in a preheated 150?C oven for eight to 10 minutes until it has coloured lightly. Cool oatmeal before folding it into the other ingredients.

?    For a just-baked taste for store-bought biscuits, wrap two to four biscuits in a paper towel. Microwave on HIGH for 30 – 45 seconds. Biscuits come out tasty.

?    If you are in a hurry, instead of chilling, simply drop dough from a spoon and bake as you would drop biscuits.

?    For square biscuits, take an empty baking paper or plastic wrap carton, line with foil and pack dough in firmly.

Then chill before slicing. For an extra touch, roll chilled dough in colored or cinnamon sugar, ground nuts or flaked coconut before slicing and baking. When slicing, use your sharpest knife. Give dough a quarter turn occasionally so the bottom doesn’t flatten.