Alton's Buttermilk Biscuits

We did not grow up eating buttermilk biscuits...the first time I tasted one I was hooked. So easy to make...they rise up like flaky little pillows. Perfect for a lazy Sunday breakfast...perfect anytime. I always feel that I do not make them enough. This time I made them there were only two of us. They froze nicely...we enjoyed each and every one.

I always bake my biscuits in a very old black iron skillet....one of the first things I ever bought after we
moved to San Francisco. I found it at the Sausalito flea market...it was $2.00 in 1979. I have treasured it ever since. That old pan has seen a lot of love since then and carries with it all the love it received before it found me.

I have never met a biscuit I did not like...but this one has been my favorite for quite some time. I love that it does not have a ton of fat in it. I have made them with all butter, but prefer them with shortening and butter. I use Spectrum brand Organic shortening for these. If you really do not want to use shortening, you can use all butter. This is Alton Brown's Grandmother's biscuit recipe. I always make a little indentation on the top of my biscuits with my thumb...this is supposed to make them rise evenly, mine were a little lopsided this time because they rose so high. I saw Alton's Grandma do it, so I have done it ever since.
Southern Biscuits
recipe courtesy Alton Brown
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup chilled buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.)
Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.
Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)
Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.
Enjoy warm from the oven with butter and jam...yum.