Mamaw Deaton's Biscuits

Submitted by: ANNE DEATON

Their Food Story:

I never had a biscuit until I was an Appalachian Volunteer. I simply was in heaven biting into my first biscuit covered with homemade blackberry jam that I had helped make in a huge iron kettle heated over a wood fire out back of the house I lived in for a summer with a local family 'up a holla' as they say in Wolfe County, Ky. Then, a few years later, as luck would have it, I married an Appalachian and this Brooklyn girl learned to make biscuits from the sweetest mother-in-law on earth. While today, I make sheets of biscuits when the family comes and I no longer need to measure anything, the recipe I'm giving is just for two because that's all I make at least once a week for Brady and me. They freeze perfectly and thaw out in about 20 seconds in the microwave. Enjoy!

Mamaw Deaton’s Biscuits

2-3 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup good all purpose flour (like King Arthur's)

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/6 cup plus a tad more of Crisco shortening (Crisco is best)

• 1 and 1/4 cups buttermilk

• Biscuit cutter
  

Instructions:

Fully Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease thin aluminum cookie sheet.

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until mixture forms some "peas." (it doesn't have to be entirely "peas," like in a pie crust, but it needs to be very well mixed and have a pea texture to some degree). Using large fork, stir in milk. Keep stirring until a well-mixed very soft dough is formed. Spread a good amount of flour on your countertop, Scrape dough onto it. Sprinkle more flour over the top of dough and flour your hands.

Now fold the dough over just a few times putting more flour on your hands if needed. Pat dough out in a round to about 1/2 inches.

Using a biscuit cutter (I use an 8ou can that was leftover from tomato sauce -- it makes a perfect size) and cut from the edge of the round all around the circle before going to the middle. Then fold scrapes together for your last biscuit.

Tip: Make sure all your ingredients are fresh. I bake enough that my flour is always fresh. Even stale shortening will ruin a biscuit. If you don't have buttermilk, you can use regular milk.
Bake for 12 minutes or until browned nicely on top but not too brown.

Serve with hot apple butter, honey, jellies and jams. Bacon and eggs and fried apples on the side!

These biscuits also work well for petite ham and mustard sandwiches.