The One About Biscuits

Almost every morning of my childhood, my mom made biscuits. She made them from the Pioneer Brand boxed mix and put a pat of Country Crock in each one straight out of the oven. Mom ran a daycare in our house during the week, and all the children knew to expect biscuits at Aunt Sue’s house (every. single. morning.). I’ve never been big on breakfast, so I would have a biscuit after school when they were room temp, but butter had melted all through the inside while they were still warm – a little nugget of perfection.

These days, I make biscuits on Saturday mornings whenever possible. I love them all year long, but there’s just something about a biscuit on a fall morning (especially if it has a crisp sausage patty inside). This morning is our first feels-like-fall Saturday, and I didn’t have to drive the Nutcracker practice carpool, so I made biscuits (though, I had no sausage and am still a little sad about it).

Biscuits are not difficult or scary. There is no crazy amount of skill required. You just have to be prepared for your hands to be covered in sticky dough for a few minutes – that absolutely will happen. They don’t event take very long to make once you have a method. So, now I share my method with you, and you can go forth and create your own biscuit traditions.

You will need:

3 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, grated
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1 1/2 – 2 cups whole buttermilk

The Process:

[wpvideo FE3vZtRz ]
Combine flour, butter, and shortening with fingers until there are no longer big clumps of shortening or butter. Make a well in the flour, then pour in about 1 cup of the buttermilk, stir, add the rest of the buttermilk (add more if needed – weather conditions and your flour will affect the amount of milk required). Stir until a shaggy dough has formed.
Lay a paper towel on your counter (use something fancier if you wish, I prefer to reduce cleanup), cover it with flour, and then dump the biscuit dough onto the paper towel. Dust the top of the dough with a little flour and then gently press the dough into a square. Fold the dough onto itself in thirds. Pat the dough back out into a square. Repeat the folding process three or four times (the video demonstrates this process).
Cut out biscuits. Set biscuits on the pan (I use a cast iron griddle) with the edges touching (this supposedly helps the rise). Fold the dough again, and cut out more biscuits – repeat process until all dough has been used.
Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden on top.

These biscuits sit out on my counter after they’re made. Inevitably, when I pass by them after a few hours, there may be a couple left if I’m lucky. Growing children – especially boys – can mow through a pan of biscuits! But, if we happen to have several left, I split them, top the halves with melted butter, coarse sugar, and a little cinnamon and then pop them in the oven to crisp up a little. We eat this bonus like cookies (or as shortbread with berries in the spring), and you should too.

Have fun,

Devin