I made sure all of my ingredients were ice-cold when I started mixing, which is a good tip in general, but did not fix my problem. I tried different fat sources, including butter and lard, which made small differences in flavor and texture but still resulted in a shape and density better suited for a hockey rink than a plate. I worried about buttermilk quality, so I bought an expensive bottle at the farmers’ market, which did nothing. In subsequent attempts, I tried everything I could think of to get it right. What kind of southerner can’t make biscuits? Not to be dramatic, but my failure destabilized my identity a little bit. The result: biscuits that were just as terrible as all the other ones in New York. Confident that I could pull it off, I marched right out and bought the ingredients. I’m not an accomplished baker, but I cook frequently, and this was the kind of recipe that had long been used by people without a lot of money, advanced kitchen tools, or fancy ingredients. I asked my mom to email me the recipe, and it was three ingredients (self-rising flour, shortening, and buttermilk), mashed together with a fork. I did not anticipate the hurdles of chemistry and the American food-distribution system that stood in my way.
The more bad biscuits I ordered in New York, the clearer it became that there was only one way out of this problem if I ever wanted to have a decent Sunday breakfast again: I had to make the biscuits for myself. The recipe she used had been on my dad’s side of the family for at least three generations. Even my mom, a reluctant-at-best cook, made them every week without batting an eyelash. I didn’t even realize biscuits could be bad, given how abundant good ones were in the South. With every dense, dry, flat, scone-adjacent clump of carbohydrates, I became more distressed.
#Southern biscuit flour series
I arrived in the city in 2011, just in time for southern food to get trendy outside its region, and for three years, I bit into a series of artisanal hockey pucks, all advertised on menus as authentic southern buttermilk biscuits. Then I moved to New York, never to see a light, fluffy biscuit again. When you want fresh biscuits, simply place them frozen on the cookie sheet and bake at 450☏ for about 20 minutes.For 25 years in Georgia, I watched my mom make the same batch of six light, fluffy biscuits for breakfast almost every Sunday.Note 2: You can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month.Rolling with a rolling pin is a guaranteed way to overstimulate the gluten, resulting in a tougher biscuit.You also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly.I have found that a food processor produces superior biscuits, because the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of overmixing.The dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.Note: The key to real biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in the handling of the dough.Bake for about 10-12 minutes- the biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.If you like"crusty" sides, put them about 1 inch apart- these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you like soft sides, put them touching each other.You can gently knead the scraps together and make a few more, but they will not be anywhere near as good as the first ones.Fold the dough about 5 times, gently press the dough down to a 1 inch thick. Gently, gently PAT (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick.Turn the dough out onto a floured board.If it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk.
Add the buttermilk and mix JUST until combined.
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