Look Ma, No Bisquick! (Homemade Biscuits)

Warm from the oven - ready for
scrambled eggs and some
strawberry jam.

Two years into my reincarnation as a Southerner and I finally made my first batch of biscuits. 

From scratch.

This may not seem like a feat worth rejoicing, but those of you who know me well also know I don’t really bake. My mother didn’t bake all that often.  Neither did my father.  Thank goodness my brother married a wonderful woman who does – and I had to move 3,000 miles to get closer to her apple pies.  But now, by golly, I just may have found my inner Betty Crocker.

Miss Katie at
our Biscuit Class

Unlike the other recipes I blog, I didn’t create the one I’m sharing today. It came from the “Parent and Child Biscuits Class” I took with my niece Katie in June.  Needless to say, we had a blast.  I learned a lot.  

Today I walked an extra half hour (I now know what goes into a biscuit!) and then hit the kitchen to give it a go.  

The results were perfect!  Flaky and tender.  I can’t wait to make an herb variety with Katie for Thanksgiving dinner.  Until then, we’ve gonna have plenty of biscuits in the freezer, ready to heat up with coffee on a chilly Saturday morning.

Willard’s Biscuits (Courtesy of A Southern Season, Chapel Hill, NC)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups soft white flour (Southern Biscuit, LIly White or similar) – I only had all-purpose and it came out fine, but would have been even better with the special lower gluten flour.
• 1 heaping Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 12 Tablespoons cold shortening, cubed (they explained in our class that for biscuits use Crisco or lard (I don’t think I can do the latter), for scones use butter)
• I ½ cups cold buttermilk (This is worth keeping on hand.  It lasts forever and is a nice low fat alternative to cream when you want to thicken a sauce. Plus I actually like to drink it! Go figure.)

Method

•  Heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Sift dry ingredients
• With a pastry blender, cut in cold shortening until coarse with a few lumps.
• Stir in buttermilk with a spatula until a loose ball forms. Do not over-mix!!
• Quickly turn onto a floured board and knead 4 turns.
• Pat into a circle, ¾ inch thick and cut with a well-floured 2 1/2 sharp cutter.
• Place close but not touching on a parchment-lined sheet pan (I was out of parchment, so I just sprayed lightly with Pam Spray
• Bake for 15 minutes, turning half-way through baking.
• Brush with soft butter and serve immediately

Enjoy.