Description
This recipe makes the classic Texas biscuit.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup shortening or lard, chilled (see Note, below)
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender, and add the buttermilk, blending quickly, just until dry ingredients are moistened. A sticky dough will result.
- Turn the dough out on a floured board. Flour your hands and knead the dough 3 or 4 times. Important: Do not overhandle the dough.
- Roll or pat to a 3/4-inch thickness, and cut with a biscuit cutter. Repeat with the scraps of dough. For soft-sided biscuits, place close together on a lightly greased baking sheet or in a lightly greased cast iron skillet (vegetable cooking spray works just fine). For biscuits that are crusty all around, place about an inch apart on a lightly greased baking sheet.
- Bake at 425°F for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown.
Notes
Note that biscuits baked on a baking sheet will rise higher and brown more evenly than those baked in a pan with sides.
Also, lard makes wonderful biscuits and pastries. And it may interest you to know that it contains less saturated fat than butter.
