Typical Biscuits

From Betty Crocker New Picture Cook Book circa 1961

"The daily bread of earlier days in the South."

Typical Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/4 c shortening
3/4 c milk

Southern Ingredients:
2 c flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
6 T shortening
2/3 c milk

Directions:
Heat oven to 450F.  Measure flour by dip-level-pour method or by sifting.  Mix dry ingredients well in bowl.  Cut in shortening with pastry blender until mixture looks like "meal".  Stir in almost all the milk.  If dough does not seem pliable, add enough to make it soft, puffy dough easy to roll out.  (Too much milk makes dough stick, not enough makes biscuits dry.)  Round up on lighly floured cloth-covered board.  Kneed lightly 20-25 times.  Handle lightly.

Roll dough or pat out (with floured hand) to about 1/2" thick (1/4" for southern biscuits).  Cut close together with floured biscuit ccutter.  For speed, cut in squares with knife.  Fit leftover bits together.  (Do not reknead.)  Pat out dough, roll smooth and cut as desired.  Place close together for biscuits with soft sides, an inch apart for biscuits with crusty sides, on ungreased baking sheet.  Place in middle of oven.  Bake 10 - 12 minutes.  Serve piping hot.  Makes 20 - 1 3/4" biscuits (1" high). 

Alternatives:
Drop Biscuits
Make biscuits above except increase milk to 1 cup.  Drop from spoon on greased pan or into greased muffin cups.

Buttermilk biscuits
Make biscuits above except, in place of milk, use buttermilk.  Use only 2 t baking powder and add 1/4 t soda.

Bacon biscuits
Make biscuits above except add 1/3 c drained cooked bacon bits (about 4 strips) to flour and shortening mixture.

Herb biscuits
Make biscuits above except add 1/4 t dry mustard, 1/2 t crumbled dry sage and 1 1/4 t caraway seeds to flour mixture.