4 c Flour
2 tb Baking powder
1 ts Baking soda
1 ts Salt
2 ts Sugar
2/3 c Butter; softened
1 1/2 c Buttermilk; see note
1/4 c Butter; melted
Sift flour with baking powder, soda, salt, and sugar. Cut in
2/3 cup of butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add
buttermilk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.
NOTE regarding buttermilk: If you are using commercial, cultured
buttermilk, use the ingredients as specified. Commercial buttermilk
is a "sour milk" product and has enough acid to activate the baking
soda. If you're using the buttermilk left over after you make your
own sweet cream butter you MUST sour it first by adding 1 tb of
white or cider vinegar to the measured buttermilk and allowing it
to stand for a few minutes. If you don't do this, the biscuits will
not rise as well or as lightly because there will not be enough
acid in the dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 or 5
times. [When you turn the dough out onto the board it will be
slightly elastic and somewhat layered. Knead it simply and quickly
by merely folding the dough in half and pressing it out with the
hands. Keep your hands cool as you work with the dough and don't
fold more than the number of times called for in the recipe.
Overworking the biscuits will make them tough.]
Roll dough to 1/2" thickness; cut with a 2-1/2" biscuit cutter.
Place biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet [or on a sheet
lined with baking parchment (preferred)]. Brush tops with the
melted butter and bake at 450°F/230°C for 8 minutes or until golden
brown.
When cutting biscuits, never twist the cutter; that will seal the
edges and prevent proper rising. If the cutter is not cutting all
the way, consider a new cutter. [Use a sharp cutter, not a glass
tumbler. The rounded edges of a tumbler also press the biscuit's
edges closed and won't allow proper rising. No biscuit cutter? Try
cookie cutters for interesting shapes. My daughter *loves*
heart-shaped biscuits.]
From "Traditions" by Houston A&M University Mother's Club.
Shared by Wesley Pitts 11/7/93 [Revisions by Dave Sacerdote, 02/97,
set off in brackets.]
