Momma Daisy’s Buttermilk Biscuits
Pat: Momma Daisy served these biscuits every Sunday with homemade preserves, scrambled eggs, and bacon. There would also be sorghum molasses, for drizzling over the warm buttered biscuits, whenever she could get some from her uncles in the country. Momma Daisy made everything from scratch back in those days, because it was the most economical way, there weren’t a lot of prepared mixes, and that’s simply how things were done. These biscuits were always mixed by hand, and my mother, Lorine, remembers seeing Momma Daisy work and work and work that dough with her very capable fingers. Some biscuit recipes scare you away from overmixing the dough, but in this recipe that’s how the flaky layers are created. Momma Daisy always used lard for these biscuits, but these days my momma uses a combination of butter and vegetable shortening—feel free to use either. The latter is better for you, but the former creates the fluffiest biscuits around.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 10 biscuits and 1 ¿hoecake¿
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease two baking sheets with butter.
Step 2
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the lard or shortening and butter, and use your fingers to work the fat into the dry mixture until it is crumbly. Add the buttermilk, and use your fingers or a fork to work the liquid into the flour-and-fat mixture. After you’ve added all the buttermilk, you should be able to form the dough into a moist ball. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface, and pat it into a 9- to 10-inch round. Use a rolling pin to roll out the round 1 inch thick (adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking). Using lightly floured 3-inch biscuit cutters, cut the dough into rounds, and transfer them to a buttered baking sheet.
Step 3
Collect the dough scraps and form them into a ball; roll out a second time, and cut the dough into biscuits. Collect the remaining scraps and pat them into a large round or “hoecake.”
Step 4
Bake the biscuits for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are golden brown (the hoecake might take a few minutes longer).
