Handmade Southern Biscuits
Nothing is more southern than biscuits. Biscuits are at every meal, it IS the main meal or the perfect side. There are many speciality biscuit shops that I easily walked to every Saturday morning and would cheerfully stand in the line the wrapped around the corner. There are even fast food chains dedicated to biscuits and they taste just as great as handmade.
Here is a simple biscuit recipe that I have always enjoyed. It takes more time kneading the dough then throwing everything together. The most IMPORTANT thing to remember is to use COLD BUTTER!!!! That is the key. I like to chop up my butter, put it back into the fridge till I’m ready to mix it with the dry ingredients. I use my hands to mix it, but you can always use a pastry cutter. I also use my hands to mix the egg and buttermilk, so yes your hands are going to get messy… but hey… that’s the fun with baking! If you really can’t stand that feeling on your hands then use a spatula.
Once you have the dough mixed together it’s going to be sticky, that’s what you want. Place dough onto a floured surface and blend together or knead into a ball. You can use a rolling pin or use your hands to smash the dough into 1 inch thickness.
Once you have the dough ready, cut the perfectly round biscuit with either a biscuit cutter or be like my grandma and use the the end of a glass cup. The juice cup for orange juice was the one she would always use. So you see you do not have to have a biscuit cutter, anything that cuts a round circle is perfect. Place biscuits onto a lined cookie sheet with parchment paper. Melt the extra butter and smoother all over. Place in oven and bake for 10-15 mins depending on your oven. My oven bakes hot and fast so I bake mine for 10 mins. Pull them out of the oven, then to get the perfect Golden Yellow Biscuit top…. add more butter and stick it back into the oven for another minute! I mean, who doesn’t LOVE a buttery biscuit?
Another fabulous way to eat biscuits to make a Biscuit Board. You know… like a charcuterie board… but biscuit style! I did just that for Good Things Utah, a local morning show here in Utah on ABC. Not only did I quickly make these biscuits but I also introduced the many ways and ideas that you can eat a biscuit. Ham, salami, bacon, cheese, honey mustard, jelly, apple~butter, cinnamon~butter was just the beginning. Let your brunch or party shine with a Biscuit Board.
I hope your taste buds are in heaven with this southern classic.
Handmade Southern Biscuits
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
- Pastry Cutter
- Biscuit Cutter (if you don't have one then use a glass cup)
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- ¾ cup COLD butter
- 1 egg
- 1 cup buttermilk (or whole milk)
- 2-3 tbsp extra butter to melt and spread over biscuits
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450° degrees.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Use a pastry cutter, or better yet, Your Hands.. to cut & mix cold butter into the dry ingredients. You want to see small pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the dough.
- Add in the milk and egg and mix with your hands, just until the ingredients are combined. The dough will be sticky but that's ok, do NOT keep working. it. You should be able to see the butter pieces in the dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface. Sprinkle some flour on top and knead. If the dough is super sticky just sprinkle some additional flour.
- Pat the dough into 3/4 – 1 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or my favorite, a juice glass. Depending on thickness you can make between 8-12 biscuits.
- Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Melt excess butter then brush onto biscuits, bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- After they are baked, brush on MORE butter!
- Enjoy!!
Nutrition values are estimates, for exact values consult a nutritionist.
