Quest for the Perfect Biscuit - Farm Girl Style

Old-fashioned, time-tested recipes with their humble ingredients and prosaic instructions fascinate the folksy side of my personality.  When autumn breezes begin to blow, my culinary interests retreat inside to the coziness of my farm kitchen and the nurture of comfort food.  The foods most comforting to my soul come steaming-hot from my oven and involve flour and butter and sugar (and unapologetically add volume to my waist and other body parts).

I have a baking passion and lately I've been perfecting my biscuit recipe....



2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons cold lard, cut into small cubes (yes, you read it right>>lard!!)
4 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into small cubes
3/4     cup of cold buttermilk


Preheat oven to 400 F.  Spray a 9in round baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. 





Combine dry  ingredients with a wire whisk.

Cut in lard and butter with a pastry cutter until mix looks like coarse crumbs....don't get too excited here, it's better to undermix at this point.  You will still see a few pieces of butter and lard--don't
worry about it. 





Pour buttermilk in all at once and mix in quickly and lightly with a fork just until the dry ingredients are all pretty much incorporated...again, don't overmix, you will still see some unincorporated flour...it's ok.




Gently gather dough into a soft ball and transfer to a well-floured surface.  With floured hands, gently pat the dough down to about an inch thick. 

Knead the dough as follows:  fold in half and gently pat out 10 times, sprinkling a little flour as needed- this produces a flaky texture. 


 

 

After the 10th knead, pat out the dough into an inch thick circle (3/4 inch to an inch, whatever) and cut the biscuits out with a 3in biscuit cutter.

Place in the prepared baking dish so that the biscuits touch each other.  Bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until tops are golden brown.  Remove from oven and brush the tops with melted butter.

Yield:  about 8, give or take