Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups white all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar (granulated white or brown)
6 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)
1-1/4 cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, and sugar.
Slice cold butter into skinny pieces and add to flour mixture, along with the vegetable shortening.
Mix the shortenings into the flour mixture until rather large crumbs are formed. (Biscuits are best when the butter/shortening is very cold, so you don’t want to “fool around” very long when making them!)
Then add the buttermilk, and mix gently. The mixture will be gloppy.
Dust your work surface with flour and place the biscuit mixture on it. Knead the dough by folding it onto itself a few times. It helps to turn it various ways while doing this. Again, the less you “fool with” the dough the better (more tender) the biscuits will be; dough that has been overworked will result in hard, dense biscuits – only fit for a dog (a bad dog).
When the dough is mixed together well, gently pat it so that it is about one inch thick. Then cut it into desired biscuit shapes. You can do this with a biscuit cutter or a sharp knife.
Place cut out biscuits onto a cookie sheet (non-greased), and bake at 450 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. When you remove them from the oven, you can lightly brush the tops with melted butter – or not, whatever you prefer.
Note: All ovens heat differently, so when the biscuits are lightly browned, you can remove one from the oven and break it in half. The inside should “not” be gummy; it should be rather dry and crumbly – if it’s not, bake a couple more minutes.
