Southern Biscuits Recipes

One of my favorite standby recipes is Buttermilk Roast Chicken. I almost always have buttermilk left over. I got sick of making buttermilk pancakes. It seems I eat a lot of pancakes. I needed a break. I have tried and tried so many different biscuit recipes but they always come out a little hard but I think that's because I'm really lazy and I like to use my food processor instead of my hands. But this recipe, the biscuits turned out really well and they browned really well too.

The trick to making biscuits is two things... Use fresh baking powder! Use baking powder as well.

This recipe originally called for using a mix between butter and shortening. I don't buy shortening. So it's okay to use double the butter. I know that there are a lot of health conscious people out there. When it comes to baking use butter instead of margarine... Just for baking!

What You Need

• 2 cups of flour (See Note)
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cold butter cut into cubes
• 1 cup chilled buttermilk

What To Do

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
3. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks kind of like crumbs. Do this as fast as possible so that the butter doesn't melt. This is what helps make your baked good fluffy.
4. Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the buttermilk and stir until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky. 
5. Turn dough onto a floured surface and dust the top of the dough with flour. 
6. Knead the dough five or six times. And press into 1-inch thick round. 
7. Cut out biscuits with a 2 inch biscuit cutter. If you don't have one, use a glass cup that has an approximately 2-inch diameter. 
8. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet so that they are touching each other.
9. Reform the dough, press into another 1-inch round, and cut out the next batch of biscuits. This batch won't rise as much as the first batch.
10. Bake until brown on top. 15-20 minutes.

Special Note: Don't scoop out the flour from your container with the measuring cup. Instead take a spoon and spoon the flour into the measuring cup. This allows more air into the flour and will help make your biscuits and baked good rise.

Special Note: Don't use self-rising flouring! Self-rising flour already is mixed with baking powder and salt. It's always best to stick with all-purpose flour. You can do a lot more with it! Also there are specific baking ratios that go into baking.