Sunday mornings are for biscuit making. When I was a little girl, I spent many afternoons in the kitchen watching my mom make biscuits to go with our dinner. This recipe is part hers and some of mine that I tweaked a bit. Like my mom and grandmother, I never measure….. we just kind of add until it all looks right. Mom did write down her recipe with measurements eventually, so when I tweaked it, it took a while for me to be able to get it the way I was happy to show it off…… with measurements. So here they are…..
Here’s what you need:
*2Cups self rising flour plus more for dusting
*1/2 tsp salt
*1 Tbs lard or shortening
*2 Tbs butter (I use salted because that is what I always have on hand) plus more for brushing tops of the biscuits
*1 Cup buttermilk or more ( you can use whole milk or you can add 1 Tbs to the whole milk to make buttermilk)
Preheat oven to 450°.
Melt about 1 Tbs of butter and set aside.
Spray a round 8 inch cake pan with non stick spray. You can also use a baking sheet; set aside.
Cut the 2 Tbs of butter into small pieces.
Place flour into a large bowl; add salt, lard and butter.
With the back of a fork ( or a pastry cutter which I do not have) cut the butter and lard into the flour. Do this until the lard and butter is well mixed into the flour and there are no large lumps.
Slowly pour in the buttermilk, stirring to make sure it all comes together.
Continue stirring slowly until dough starts to pull away from the edges of the bowl .
The dough should not be too dry, in fact I leave it a little sticky to the touch, but not wet.
I’m lazy and by this time I’m hungry and craving biscuits, so I do not roll out my dough. Dust your hands with a little flour and scoop out some of the dough and shape in to rounds.
Do this pretty quickly because you do not want to warm up the butter in the dough or the biscuits do not seem to rise as well.
Place into prepared pan, sides touching ( this helps the biscuits to rise taller). Continue this step with the rest of the dough.
Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter.
Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes or until the tops turn are a little golden.
I know it’s hard, but let cool for a few minutes….. just enough time to pull out plates.
Serve with butter or your favorite jam.
A Foodie In The South 