There are a zillion buttermilk biscuit recipes out there, and more than half of them will tell you they are the "real deal" southern kind, but as God is my witness, not one of them will be as wonderful as this one! These are the ones that inspired generations to roll out of bed every morning and may well make the South rise again some day!
I got this recipe from my Mammy, who got it from her Mammy, who got it from hers all the way back to the morning after Eve left the garden! Only change I made was to figure out the actual measurements.
However, before you begin, you must understand that Mammy had four rules by which you had to promise to abide if you wanted to learn to make her biscuits. If you didn't promise to follow the rules, she wouldn't teach you her recipe. I am expecting each of you to promise to follow these rules as well.
MAMMY'S BISCUIT RULES
1. Use only Aluminum-free Baking Powder.
2. Use only REAL butter. NO margerine or shortening!
3. Use only cold butter.
4. Handle the dough as little as possible and NEVER roll it.
Follow Mammy's rules and I promise you folks will be begging you to make more!!
Ingredents
2 cups white Flour
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon Non-aluminum Baking Powder
2 Tablespoons of extra cold Real Butter cut into small bits or grated
3/4 cups of cold buttermilk
Parchment paper and cookie sheet
Preheat oven to 450 F.
Place parchment paper onto cookie sheet. I find the paper really makes a real difference, and keeps the bottoms golden and tender, but you can go without it if you really have to. Do not grease.
1. Put dry ingredents into bowl, perferably a ceramic bowl, and mix well.
2. Add in your cold butter and work it into the dry ingredents by smashing it between your thumbs and fingers and sliding. You want it to make it look a bit like sand. Each of those bits of butter is what is going to help left the biscuits, and if you use warm butter, or warm it too much in your hands, it changes the physical properties and makes it bind differently on a molecular level, seriously!
3. Add the buttermilk and mix in with a wooden spoon until it forms a nice lump in the middle of the bowl. Once it become a ball, knead it , but try not to do that too much as the warmth of your hands will disturb that butter chemistry!
4. Spinkle flour lightly onto pastry cloth or counter top.
5. Place dough on surface and pat out lightly with the palms of your hands until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Do NOT roll it. Handle it as little as possible as the dough will toughen if you work it too much.
6. Use a cup or glass to cut out your biscuits. Crowd together when you cut, as you don't want to have to put scraps back together to cut more, more than once.
7. Place biscuits on parchment covered pan. If you like softer biscuits, as I do, make the sides touch. If you like crispier biscuits, leave space between them.
8. Bake for 8 - 12 minutes, watching carefully. They should be just barely golden, not brown on the top, when they are done.
9. Serve them up hot with real butter, honey and/or jams.
This makes enough for two people, maybe three. You can double it for family size. They taste great the next day too.