Southern Biscuits

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Show: Good EatsEpisode: The Dough Also Rises

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (217)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(217)

Cook Time:
20 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
1 dozen

Times:

Prep: 20 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 20 min
Total:: 40 min

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Ingredients

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

MA MAE'S BISCUITS
Advice courtesy Mae Skelton

I don't have much use for recipes but the one you get on a bag of White Lily(r) self-rising flour is hard to beat. And it's a lot easier than the one my crazy grandson dreamed up.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Southern Biscuits
sarah los angeles, CA 11-09-2009
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Freeze? Make ahead?
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

A few people have mentioned freezing the dough. Can anyone tell me how I might be able to make these ahead of time? I want to... try for Thanksgiving but with a new baby I am pressed for time! Thanks! SarahRead more
recipe Southern Biscuits
O. Las Vegas, NV 11-08-2009
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Top Notch Biscuits
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

If not the best, these were as good as the best biscuits I've ever had. Making biscuits is always messy though, but worth... it.Read more
recipe Southern Biscuits
Edward Tampa, FL 11-07-2009
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good Bisquits
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

YUM YUM
recipe Southern Biscuits
Brenda Uncertain, TX 11-07-2009
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Best I ever made!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I'm 67 and have been married 49 years. In all that time, I've only made biscuits once that I was happy about, and it was... from an old Farm Journal "Cooking for Company" cookbook, but it was too troublesome and not near as good as this recipe from Alton, which is super easy. I only made 5 biscuits and used the rest of the dough on a concoction I put together using frozen cherries, Splenda, lemon juice, salt and a little butter, water and flour to thicken, then I divided and baked in 4 blue-speckled enamel camping cups. They were also yummy. I printed this recipe and will always use in future.Read more
recipe Southern Biscuits
Ruth Troutdale, OR 11-07-2009
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Great recipe to buid on
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

My husband, who is NOT the pastry chef in our home, just made his version of these biscuits for "Fall Into Gravy," an annual... event at church. The event is for men, so I didn't get to compare with other biscuits ; but I did get a biscuit hot from the oven. It was the best biscuit I've ever eaten. It had a light crunch on the outside, was flaky, fluffy and light. I could've eaten the whole pan, if he hadn't literally walked out the door with it. He changed it up by using half bread flour and half all-purpose flour; and all butter. He froze the butter ahead of time, grated it in the food processor, and that, my dears, was a fabulous idea! He brushed the biscuits lightly with butter, which made a really beautiful crusty top.Read more
recipe Southern Biscuits
angie chatsworth, GA 11-03-2009
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best i've ever made
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

My husband , and I made these the other day with some pork tenderloin . They are by far the best biscuits I've ever made .... Light , Flaky , and moist . I've tried the white lily recipe . It's good , but this recipe is awesome .Read more