These biscuits are cooked the old-fashioned way, by hand, in South Georgia, as my family has done for many years. These biscuits are made totally by hand, not by rolling and cutting, unlike typical recipes. Once you have the method down, you can whip them up in a flash, and you will notice that they have a far superior texture and appearance than rolled biscuits.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 12 mins |
| Total Time: | 22 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 dozen |
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 cup whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or by rubbing between your fingers until the lumps are smaller than peas. Pour in the milk all at once, and stir with a large spoon until dough is evenly moist. It should be sticky.
- Flour your hands, and knead the dough lightly for 3 or 4 turns, adding just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands. Let the dough rest for a minute or two.
- With well-floured hands, pinch off pieces of dough (about 12) and pat lightly into balls. Don’t over work the dough. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. With floured knuckles, press each ball down to about 1/2 inch thickness.
- Bake for 11 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until browned on the bottom. Serve hot with butter.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 183 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 21 g |
| Cholesterol | 2 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 286 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I’m the original poster of this recipe and am glad so many people like it but have a couple of comments. First, the photo Allrecipies has attached isn’t mine and is nothing like the way your biscuits should look. They are drop biscuits and and will be dry and crumbly. Texture is important. You must work the dough a little by rolling them with the palms of your hands, then form the biscuits by pressing them out with your knuckles. Also,many people committed that they use self rising flour. So do I if it’s available, but in most places it isn’t. That’s why I posted the recipe. The sole purpose of posting was to explain the technique, not the exact ingredients. Once you master the technique, you can literally make a batch of great biscuits in about 5 minutes, plus baking time, and will amaze all of your foodie friends. You’ll probably need to make them several times before you master the technique but it’s worth the effort. The only other tips I can offer are that you need to let the dough rest for a few minutes and that you want the dough to be as moist and sticky as you can handle. Be sure to flour your hands. If you can pinch off the dough and roll it in your hands without flouring them, the dough is too dry.
I used unsalted butter and a little more salt and they were kind of bland. I’ll add more salt next time or use salted butter. I used a spoon and only 2 cups of flour. That’s the way I always did it I just couldn’t remember the ratios it has been a while since I made them.
I was trying to find a recipe like the one my mom always made, and this is basically it except she used self rising flour and omitted the baking powder/salt. I’m new to making biscuits and still have some practicing to do lol bc mine were not as pretty as my moms. They weren’t horrible looking though. The two things I did different was 1) I used some expired milk (I was always taught that make great baking) and 2) I ended up having to come them about 3 min longer They were absolutely delicious though!
For being quick, easy and simple to make this is a great biscuit!
I loved them and will make them again also perfect when rolled out and used for dumplings !!
Great recipe!! This is especially nice when you have a time where your counter-space is limited. Especially during the Holidays and there are several people in the kitchen. Small tip reminder to less experienced cooks –when subbing Kosher or Sea Salt for regular table salt make sure to cut salt by half!
I’ve never rolled and cut biscuits, have always done it like this. Quick, easy, always turns out great. As others have suggested you can tweak them any number of ways.
Pretty good for a quick biscuit with not too complicated ingredients (stuff I had on hand). I added a little oregano to the dough for some extra flavor. Next time I may add a little more salt & spices.
This recipe is a staple of mine. It is super simple, without a lot of ingredients or equipment needed. Throw it together in less than a half hour to compliment any dinner or breakfast. I live in Colorado, so I played around with the timer settings and temperature to get it to work in high altitude. I set the temperature at 425F and baked them for 14 minutes to get them golden brown. My family loved it. Photo added.
very crumbly, cornbread-like texture. no flavor at all. The search continues.
My only complaint is that they didn’t rise at all during baking. Very good dipped in soup and slathered with jelly in the morning 🙂
Either I didn’t do something right or ? These biscuits did not rise or look like the picture. Seemed very greasy from the shortening. I used butter flaver crisco
I liked the method-no pastry blender or roller needed! They cooked up great and tasted great, too. The only thing I changed was to use skim milk instead of whole because that’s what I needed to use up-probably they’d taste even better with real milk 🙂 I love how quick and easy this was-will definitely make again.
This is the easiest tidiest biscuit recipe I’ve ever used and I love them. I ended up eating way too many 😉 and everyone I shared them with agreed. I ate them with a spicy stew with butter and then had them for dessert later with butter and blackberry preserves. Both ways, amazing! Thanks!
This is officially my new favorite home-made biscuit recipe. Thanks for sharing.
We loved these biscuits. I used my food processor to mix and then kneaded lightly. Because of altitude and humidity I used only 3/4 cup of milk and it all went together perfectly and easily.
These were easy to make and everyone enjoyed them.
This is an awesome recipe. Very quick and easy to do. Follow the directions and your good. Have used this recipe 3 times this week already, love them biscuits.
Great recipe, I used butter for the shortening and melted it, which is my sneaky trick for scones. Will try a version with dates, and a cheese and raisin one too.
These were okay, but I prefer a self-rising flour recipe. They were a bit crumbly and too hard on top.
very good starting recipe. I am going to add some Cream of Tartar to the recipe next time to see if I can get some flaky texture to this biscuit.