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.
Print
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
Delicious! Made them with all butter as we didn’t have shortening on hand, and still turned out great.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
I made these a few days ago, with vegan substitutes and they were AMAZING! Can’t stop, won’t stop eating them. YOLO.
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.
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.
Oh I could sure go for a biscuit right about now, with jam of course :)
Oh and stupid me just saw the date on this post. Hahahhaa. Brilliant.
Still: pretty fun to come on this post now.
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.
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!!