When Southerners send requests for daily bread, I am almost certain that daily biscuits are what they are truly asking for. Not biscuits that pop out from a cardboard tube or sleep in the frozen food section of the market, but biscuits that are light as air, hand-patted, and made with love. Slathered in butter and kissed with a homemade jam is a biscuit worth asking for.
Following a biscuit recipe is easy as pie, but there is an art to it that comes with diligence, practice, and patience. My older sister Prissy has always been the ruler of the rolling pin with her heavenly biscuits and pie crusts. She brings her dough together in a flash, sprinkles flour like it was fairy dust over her board and rolling pin, and with the lightest touch ever, she rolls the dough into submission and cuts through the tender pastry. Even though all my sisters are purists when it comes to homemade, Prissy prefers using Pioneer Baking Mix, Crisco shortening, and buttermilk. I was surprised that she even gave me the recipe, much less admit that a baking mix was involved. However, after watching her make biscuits time after time, I realized it was much more about technique than anything else. She feels the dough, knowing exactly what it needs more or less of, and handles the dough as little as possible. She brushes the biscuits with butter and bakes them in a very hot oven, and they are perfect every time, and there is rarely one left in the pan. Her recipe is a good base recipe to add other ingredients and achieve the same result.
All of these recipes are simple to follow, but remember to be kind to your dough, and let it become the best pan of biscuits ever. Crown your forehead with a dusting of flour, let your rolling pin be your scepter, and be the biscuit queen you were born to be. Happy fall, y’all!
CINNAMON – SUGAR BISCUITS
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cake flour
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
8 tablespoons cold butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon melted butter
Additional sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Using a pastry blender cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in buttermilk until mixture just comes together and is moist. Turn dough onto a floured board and knead until you can form a ball. Roll or pat to ½-inch thickness. Using a biscuit cutter, cut dough into rounds and place onto prepared baking sheet. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter and sprinkle with extra sugar and cinnamon. Bake biscuits for 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Remove pan from oven and serve.
Yield: 12-14 biscuits
CHEDDAR CHEESE & CHIVE BISCUITS
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1½ sticks butter
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1½ cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined. Add cheese, butter, and chives. Pulse a couple more times until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and pulse until combined. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board, and knead until dough just comes together. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough out to ¾ inch thick. Using a 2 inch biscuit cutter, cut biscuits and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until biscuits are puffed and golden, about 13 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.
Yield: 18 biscuits
PRISSY BISCUITS
3 cups Pioneer Biscuit Mix
3 heaping tablespoons Crisco vegetable shortening
1 cup whole milk
Flour for dusting
Melted butter for basting
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In large mixing bowl, add flour. Using a pastry cutter, cut shortening into flour until mixture resembles course meal. Slowly add milk, stirring gently until dough just comes together. Do not overmix. Turn dough on to a lightly floured board. Dust a rolling pin with flour, and roll dough out to desired thickness, about 1½ inches. Cut dough with a biscuit cutter, and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet with sides touching. Brush biscuits with melted butter and place pan in oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Yield: 18 biscuits
BLUEBERRY-BUTTERMILK BISCUITS WITH LEMON GLAZE
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 large egg, beaten
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine egg and buttermilk and gently stir into flour mixture until just moistened. Fold in blueberries. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead 4 or 5 times. Roll or pat dough to 1½-inch thickness and cut with a 2½-inch biscuit cutter. Place biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown. Remove from oven. Whisk together butter, confectioners’ sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Brush over warm biscuits.
Yield: 15-16 biscuits
Adapted from Come on In! Junior League of Jackson
PEPPERCORN BISCUITS
2 cups self-rising flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons coarsely ground mixed peppercorns
5 tablespoons butter (4 tablespoons cut into small cubes at room temperature and 1 tablespoon melted)
¼ cup cream cheese, at room temperature
¾ cup buttermilk
1½ teaspoons kosher salt for topping
1½ teaspoons ground mixed peppercorns for topping
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. In a large bowl, measure flour. Mix in two tablespoons of ground, mixed peppercorns. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, incorporate cubed butter and cream cheese until mixture resembles cottage cheese. It will be chunky with loose flour. Make a well in center. Pour in buttermilk and using your hands, mix flour into buttermilk. Dough will be wet and sticky. Sprinkle flour on top of dough. Run a spatula around inside of bowl, creating a separation between dough and bowl. Sprinkle a bit more flour in the crease. Flour a work surface very well. Dump dough onto floured surface. Flour top of bowl and rolling pin. Roll dough to ½-inch thickness handling dough as little as possible. Cut biscuits into 1½ -inch squares and place on a parchment-lined baking pan close enough together that they are touching. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and mixed peppercorn toppings. Place baking pan in oven and immediately reduce temperature to 450 degrees, Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until light brown on top, rotating pan once while baking. Remove pan from oven and serve warm.
Yield: 18 biscuits
PEPPERJACK CHEESE AND SPICY SAUSAGE BISCUITS
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1 scant teaspoon cayenne pepper
7 tablespoons chilled butter
1 cup shredded pepperjack cheese
1 cup spicy sausage, cooked and drained
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 tablespoon melted butter for brushing tops of biscuits
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, soda, sugar, and cayenne pepper in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Stir in cheese and butter. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut butter and cheese into flour mixture is until it is crumbly. Stir in sausage. Add buttermilk and blend until just combined. Turn dough onto a floured board and knead 3 to 4 times. Pat or roll dough into a circle about 2 inches thick. Cut out with a 2-inch biscuit cutter and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until nicely browned. Brush with melted butter and serve.
Yield: 12-14 biscuits
