Nanny's Biscuits

I've apparently intrigued a good many people by proclaiming my prowess in biscuit making. So I'm really nervous that these won't live up to your expecations, but nevertheless, because I care about you, I am sharing my Nanny's biscuit recipe, and my technique with you. I hope they are delectable.

ingredients

2 C Flour*
2 T baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1/4 C shortening
About 1 C buttermilk**
*I use 1 C spelt flour, as I like to use as many whole grains as possible. Spelt is whole grain but the results are almost identical to white flour, with a nuttier taste. Especially for something like biscuits, it's a much better option than whole wheat. If, for some reason, I don't have spelt, I just use all white flour. The other C of flour is usually self-rising. The only reason I do this is that my mother says my grandmother's recipe was actually for self-rising flour. But when she died, the recipe that was taped to the inside of her cabinet door was this one, which is for regular flour. So I just decided to make half the flour, self-rising. Got it?

**I would say you are almost always going to need closer to 1 1/4 C of buttermilk. More on why, later.

First, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. I also either grease my pizza stone or use a silpat on a cookie sheet (that depends on which oven I'm using, too).

Sift first 4 ingredients together. I use a whisk, cause I'm lazy.ada+whisk=happy kid

Cut in the shortening. I use a pastry blender cause I'm not coordinated enough to do the two-knives thing. When you're done, the dough should resemble coarse crumbs, like in the picture.i believe in the power of the pastry cutter

Make a well, and add 1C of the buttermilk. Stir with a fork until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Here is where you have to judge how much more buttermilk to use. Now, my mother says the secret to Nanny's biscuits is that they were very, very wet. Plus, you have to remember that you are about to add more flour in order to roll them out. So, the wetter, the better.wetter is better.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. I use a pastry cloth and find it to be indispensible. You use less flour, which means wetter biscuits, which, as I said above, is key. I am so afraid of messing with the wetness, that I hardly roll mine at all. So they don't have that perfectly perfect biscuit look, but they taste great).

Roll the biscuits out to about 3/4 inch thickness. This recipe only makes about 10 biscuits, so they're pretty thick. Better Homes and Gardens had a biscuit article with Scott Peacock (he's the chef at a killer restaurant near my house, which is owned partly by one of the Indigo Girls. Are you impressed yet?) this month, and he apparently pokes his with a fork before cutting them. I figure, can't hurt, so I did that in this morning's batch. pokey

Cut them out with a biscuit cutter or a glass. Don't twist them. Place them close together touching, preferably) on your baking sheet.
Bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes. I like mine practically raw, so usually 9 minutes is plenty for me.
Remove from oven. Slather with butter. Eat. Roll eyes in ecstasy.

okay, i'm even making myself hungry now... nom nom nom