Mom's Homemade Biscuits
(with a modern twist)

 

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus extra for folding biscuit dough

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter or shortening

2/3 to 3/4 cup milk

 

Turn oven on to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. (Mom would put her baking pan in the oven with a small amount as the oven heated up.

 

Mix dry ingredients together; then add butter or shortening. [Note: Mom used lard. Reggie uses frozen, grated butter. I use butter but have also used butter-flavored Crisco shortening.] Stir butter or shortening into flour (it will look like pea-sized lumps), then add milk and stir gently just until mixed. Dough will be soft.

 

Turn dough onto flour-coated wax paper and pat to a 1 1/2 inch thick rectangle, then fold in half and repeat process six times. Pat to about 1/2 inch thick, then cut with a jar or biscuit cutter.

 

Remove baking sheet from oven. Take each biscuit from wax paper, tap to remove excess flour. Brush both sides with melted butter or shortening and place on baking pan. Repeat until done. Put in oven and bake at 425 F degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, or until nicely browned. Number of biscuits varies, depending on size of biscuit cutter.

 

As a footnote, anyone whoever watched Mom bake biscuits (or cornbread) knows that Mom put the baking pan in the oven with a small amount of shortening on it to melt. She heated the oven and pan while she was mixing her biscuit dough, allowing the pan to get hot. This helped create a nice crust on her biscuits.

 

Occasionally, Mom forgot the pan in the oven. I've seen her pull the pan out of the oven, thick with gray smoke, when she forgot it. She never caught the house on fire, but it was a good idea to keep salt or baking soda nearby, because she did catch the oven on fire a time or two!