Like the good southern girl that I am, one of the first things I learned to make was buttermilk biscuits. For almost every Sunday dinner of my childhood my grandmother, Big Quin, made biscuits and I was right there at her elbow helping out. Every time I make biscuits, I feel like I’m right back there in Big Quin’s kitchen. She learned to make biscuits from Alberta, my great-grandmother’s cook, who taught Big Quin all of my grandfather’s favorite dishes after they were married. This is one of those recipes that was passed down by word of mouth. For your convenience, I have written it down and converted the ‘handful’ of shortening into a more specific unit of measure.
Skip to substitutions, serving suggestions or detailed instructions with pictures.
BQ's Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 c. flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- light 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 c. shortening
- 1 c. buttermilk
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350˚. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
- Step 2 Sift or whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Step 3 Mix in the shortening until it is incorporated evenly into the dry ingredients and there are no large lumps.
- Step 4 Add 3/4 of the buttermilk and mix in. If you still see a lot of dry flour, add more buttermilk. Once it is all moist and sticky, you’ve added enough. DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH.
- Step 5 Roll dough on to floured surface. Pat to form into a disk that is about 1/2″ thick. If you are cutting large biscuits you may want to make them slightly thicker.
- Step 6 Cut biscuits using 2″ cutter for small biscuits or 2 3/4″ cutter for larger biscuits. Flour the bottom of the cutter to prevent the biscuits sticking to it. Place biscuits on cookie sheet.
- Step 7 Bake until the biscuits are golden brown on the bottom – 14-16 min for small biscuits, 15-18 min for larger biscuits.
- Step 8 Serve warm.
Substitutions
- Buttermilk: No buttermilk? No problem. See these substitutions from AllRecipes. I prefer the 1 Tbsp lemon juice + enough milk to make 1 cup method (stir these together, let sit 10 min before using for the milk to ‘sour’).
Serving Suggestions
- Hot out of the oven with butter and your favorite jelly OR apple butter
- For breakfast
- With egg and cheese; bacon or sausage, egg & cheese
- With sausage and gravy
- Biscuit toast: cut in two, top with butter and toast till golden brown and top with jelly
- Biscuit cheese toast: cut in two, top with cheddar or pimento cheese and toast until cheese melts
- For dessert as the base for Peach or Strawberry Shortcake
Detailed Instructions
Step 1-2. Prep ingredients and work station. Sift dry ingredients together. If you don’t have a sifter then use a wire whisk to whisk the dry ingredients together until they are well blended and don’t have any lumps.
Step 3. Mix in the shortening with your hand. Keep mushing it up until it resembles ‘a course meal’, which in old southern cookbook talk means all the shortening is incorporated evenly into the dry ingredients and there are no large lumps.
Step 4. This is the tricky part: how much buttermilk you actually need varies so you have to add the buttermilk gradually. I start by adding 3/4 c. and mix it in by hand. If you see dry flour, add more buttermilk. Once it is all moist and sticky, you’ve added enough. DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH. If you do, your biscuits will be tough. Do the minimum amount of mixing to get the dough to come together.
Step 5. Roll dough on to floured surface and pat to form a disk. Again – do not overwork the dough. No kneading is necessary. For small (2″) biscuits, make the a disk about 1/2″ thick. If you are cutting large biscuits you may want to make them a little thicker.
Step 6. Cut biscuits using 2″ cutter for small biscuits or 2 3/4″ cutter for larger biscuits. Flour the bottom of the cutter to prevent the biscuits sticking to it. Place biscuits on cookie sheet. After you cut the first round of biscuits, reshape the remaining dough into a small disk and cut the rest of the dough into biscuits and place them on the cookie sheet.
<Step 7. Bake the biscuits at 350˚ until golden brown on the bottom. Size matters. If you use a bigger biscuit cutter and/or make your biscuits fatter, they will take longer to cook. 2″ biscuits will be done in 14-16 min, 2 1/2″ – 2 3/4″ biscuits will take 15-18 min – longer if they are really fat.
Step 8. Serve warm. See serving suggestions.
You make the best biscuits. Great post.
These biscuits are as delicious with country ham as they are with strawberries and whip cream. Love!
Wow this is amazing. Makes me want to travel! Makes me miss family and friends. You know Traci’s family must have been a pure joy to be a part of. It’s so sad when the glue that holds it together passes. Her grandparents really left behind great memories and traditions. I bet Big Quin would be so proud❤️