How-To Bake a Southern Biscuit

How-To Southern Style Biscuits

It is that time of year that those of us who love to cook and bake are found twirling about in our kitchens (or standing with a dishtowel over a shoulder -depending). Something about the first chill of the air makes me want to bake yummy things for anyone and everyone. And, you know, I won’t lie, some of it is the hyper-femininity of strutting in my kitchen, apron on, with flour on my elbows. I mean, it makes me feel sexy as hell. I adore baked goods (hat tip to my chunky behind), but I personally can’t stand the preservative taste that comes with most pre-baked items and even pre-boxed items. The older I get, the more my distaste for any kind of mystery ingredients that comes with pre-made/boxed items grows.

I have out-of-town company for the remainder of this week through the end of the weekend. My house has been busy. I was raised to treat houseguests to the sort of amenities you’d expect at a very nice hotel. And, I can’t seem to let this “house-must-be-stepford-perfect” thing go. This means that all bed linens have been stripped, baseboards have been scrubbed, plant leaves dusted, floors vacuumed, couch cover washed, throw cushions washed, kitchen completely deep-cleaned, scented plug-ins replaced, microwave scrubbed out, bathrooms made immaculate, new candles set out, front yard neatened, and finally, the house is full of baked goods. I do all of this because I want to visit with my friends while they are in town, not fuss over cooking and housework. Yet, at the same time, I do want to spoil them with edible homemade love.

Last night was spent pretty much in the kitchen, apron on, and hands deep in all sorts of goodies. Barbeque chicken was made, meat is marinating, enough pumpkin bars for an army were baked, and I whipped up a quick batch of my grandmother’s buttermilk biscuits. Because, you know, a good biscuit can cure just about everything.

I know a lot of you fab femmes have amazing biscuit recipes, but I thought this might be nice for those of you new to baking. So, just in time for fall baking time (and with enough time to perfect before Thanksgiving) here is my grandmother’s recipe for perfect biscuits.

You will need:

-2 cups of all-purpose flour

-¼ cup of shortening (room temp)

-3 Tblsp of butter (room temp)

-1 tsp of salt (not pictured)

-1 Tblsp of baking soda

-2 tsp of baking powder

-1-1 ½ cups of buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk put 1 Tblsp into 1 cup of milk and wait 5 mins. Voila! Buttermilk.)

-Something to roll out the dough (for a small batch like this I use a glass)

-Something to cut the dough (again I used the glass rim)

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Using a fork cut in the shortening and the butter. Hand-mix until the lumps are pea-sized. Pour small amounts of the buttermilk into the bowl and mix. Mix until the dough just begins to leave the sides of the bowl.

Remove the dough from the bowl. Knead 1-3 times. You don’t want to over-knead because it will make the dough tough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about ½-1” thickness. Cut out biscuits.

Place biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart. A greased cookie sheet will cause the bottoms of the biscuits to overcook and possibly burn. Melt some extra butter in the microwave. Brush on top of each biscuit.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

Remove and place in a bowl. Now you are ready to serve. My favorite way to eat a biscuit is with a lot of butter and some strawberry preserves. Yum. Enjoy!

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Tags: baking