Southern Biscuits

This recipe guides you through making classic Southern biscuits. It involves combining dry ingredients with cold fats, adding buttermilk, gently folding the dough, cutting into rounds, and baking at high heat until golden and tall. The process yields a dozen light and flaky biscuits.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 1 people

Calories 3284.3 kcal

Equipment

1 Large Mixing Bowl
1 Measuring Cups and Spoons
1 2-inch Biscuit Cutter
1 Baking Sheet

Ingredients

Main

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup buttermilk chilled

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.
Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)
Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

Notes

Keep butter and shortening well-chilled; cold fat is essential for flaky layers. When cutting in the fats, work quickly using fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Avoid overmixing after adding buttermilk; stir just until combined, even if sticky. When cutting, press the cutter straight down without twisting to ensure clean edges for maximum rise. Placing biscuits close together on the baking sheet helps them steam and rise taller, resulting in softer sides. Brush baked biscuits with melted butter for extra richness and a softer top crust if desired.