I am a good cook. I can bake. I can follow a recipe. I cannot make a decent biscuit…a “from scratch” biscuit. I think I have in the past but for some reason, since being in the south, my biscuits are lousy.
The first batch which was a “Sour cream cornmeal biscuit” – I liked those!…but the cornmeal was gritty and a decided “Not again!” from Bill.
So – to the internet and a “southern buttermilk biscuit recipe” – Hockey Pucks!!
Back to the internet and a discussion on flour. I learned that “self-rising” flour includes baking powder and salt as opposed to all-purpose flour which does not. I never paid that much attention to which kind of flour I bought. Additionally, a big deal was made of “soft southern wheat flours” for biscuits…specifically a brand called “White Lily”.
Ha!
Armed with this knowledge and a bag of White Lily’s self-rising “soft southern wheat” AND the recipe from the back of the flour package – another batch to the oven.
How could these fail???
Flat…and not “light”… And one batch, I turned off the oven, but thought the biscuits needed just a bit more time – forgot them – they were burned hockey pucks!
Martha White Flour – another self-rising, soft southern wheat flour…another recipe off the back of the flour bag
Another batch of flat biscuits… HELP!!!
LOL….Just buy the ones in the store…thats what I do!!! You tried and thats all that matters!
jen-jen is right!!! I highly recommend Mary B’s Buttermilk biscuits in the frozen section. You can’t go wrong and my friend Bill will love them. Your friend Houston
I make fabulous from-scratch biscuits with White Lily, which was for over 100 years milled in my hometown of Knoxville. I’m surprised that your biscuits didn’t work, even using both W.L. flour and their recipe. Write to me if you want and I’ll help if I can.
Curse of those of us who grew up Yankee!! I can make darn near anything else, but those!!! You might want to make sure your oven is calibrated properly. I’ve had that happen…
Try this – never failed me yet!
2 Cup sifted flour
1/4 tsp soda
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
5 tbsp Crisco shortening
3/4 Cup buttermilk
Sift dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Cut in the shortening until mixture is fine crumbly texture. Add buttermilk and mix well. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate until cool. Roll out on floured pastry cloth to ½ inch thickness. Cut out biscuits and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes.
Also, the biscuits should almost touch the biscuit next to it when you put them on the cookie sheet. They will brown up nicely.