On losing, letting go of little sisters, and warm biscuits:
We never talked about this. ย I didn’t know how to bring it up. ย The 2009 Bloggies. ย Remember? ย Best New Blog? ย So… I sorta…. kinda…. mostly… didn’t win. ย The thing is, I really really wanted to win. ย I did. ย I played it cool though. ย On the outside, I pretended to not care either way. ย That was a big fat lie. ย But the thing about losing… it’s pretty cool actually… it makes me want to be better. ย It also makes me unbelievably grateful for all of your smiling faces. ย Fact.
I found myself in a frenzy this morning. ย My little sister left for a many month long European adventure. ย The thought of her being so far away that I can’t easily call her at two in the morning to scream our favorite Mariah Carey song at her sent me into panic mode. ย I calmed myself, safe in the knowledge that my sister deserved some life changing adventures and I am due many presents from far away lands upon her return.
Biscuits. ย If I were to hand you a warm biscuit with raspberry jam would you: a) ย throw it on the ground and shove me on the floorย or b) thank me kindly, gobble the biscuit and give me a giant hug? ย If your answer involved shoving me on the floor… well, that’s kinda funny, but throwing biscuits on the floor is just plain rude. ย Don’t do it.
These Buttermilk Biscuits… well, they must be blessed by the heavens. ย I don’t think there’s any other way to explain just how good they are. ย They’re best right out of the oven, steaming hot, doused with butter and jam.
My dad has been making this recipe for Buttermilk Biscuits for our family for, exactly, ever. ย Incidentally, my sister has been swiping them of the table for as long as I can remember. ย They’re simple family goodness.
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Dadโs Buttermilk Biscuits
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minues
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: about 9 biscuits 1x
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup shortening, cold and cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, cold
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. ย Cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. ย In another bowl, combine egg and milk and beat lightly with a fork. ย Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough.
- Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 15 times. ย Roll or pat out into a 1-inch thickness. ย Cut into 2-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or cut into 2×2-inch squares. ย Reshape and roll dough to create more biscuits with excess scraps. ย ย Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes. ย Serve immediately.
98 Responses
Joy these looks so good. I agree that it would be rude to throw a biscuit on the floor and push you down too of course. :~) Your blog is definitely a winner in my books no matter the year!!
JOY! You have found your new calling: psychic baker!!!
Guess what I blogged about on Thursday calling it my Joy-the-Baker moment? Scones (or biscuits, different terminology, the same wonderful warm goodness for breakfast). I wholeheartedly approve and I would most definitely give you a huge hug if you’d offer me one of these. Also: your square ones look prettier than my round ones so I’ll be trying out the more geometric variety soon.
Oh and stupid me just saw the date on this post. Hahahhaa. Brilliant.
Still: pretty fun to come on this post now.
Oh I could sure go for a biscuit right about now, with jam of course :)
Made these and LOVED them- thanks so much for the great recipe and wonderful instructions! Light, flaky, tender, melt in your mouth, etc! :) I used one cup whole wheat pastry flour with great results.
I’m a little late to comment on this recipe (okay, a few years late) but I just wanted to tell you how excited I am to try this biscuit recipe especially after reading the comments. Is it weird that I’m excited to make biscuits?
Anyway, I love love love your podcast (you and Tracy are hilarious!) and your photography/writing skills rock.
I made these a few days ago, with vegan substitutes and they were AMAZING! Can’t stop, won’t stop eating them. YOLO.
I just made these this past weekend and my goodness, not only were they easy to make but SO DELICIOUS!
thank you for posting your dad’s recipe.
holy moly. These are AMAZING. I went on a Joy The Baker binge tonight and made these, added some cheddar and chives to half the batch, made a lentil soup inspired by yours, AND I made the choco choco chip banana bread AND the avocado edemame grapefruit salad. All in all, I win for dinner.
But these biscuits. OMG these biscuits. They are perfect. The are so flakey and good! I have a small recommendation…roll them out thin, then fold them in and press them together, you get a great pull apart flakyness!
Thanks for a stellar recipe. I will be making these over and over and over.
Just made these and they were the most amazing biscuits we’ve ever eaten! (And being raised in Nola, I have eaten a LOT of biscuits!) Thanks so much for sharing such an awesome family recipe :)
I’m so happy to hear that Brooke!
Thank you! I can finally make a biscuit. It’s been 58 years in the coming but I have baked several of the biscuit recipes on your site and I think I’ve got it.
I just made these for New Year’s Brunch and they were THE BOMB. I am going to feel awesome about myself all day. :) Happy new year!
Delicious! Made them with all butter as we didn’t have shortening on hand, and still turned out great.