Idella’s Crisp Biscuits
Excerpted from "Cross Creek Cookery" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings: I told a tale in Cross Creek that sounds like one of Irvin Cobb’s yarns, of a Northerner who visited the South and never got to taste a hot Southern biscuit. He was a great talker, and as the maid passed the biscuits he would take one, butter it, put it down, and launch into conversation. Reaching for his biscuit, his hostess would say, “Oh, no! You must have a hot one.” She would ring for the maid and the biscuits, the guest would take one, butter it, put it down, give forth, only to have his biscuit snatched from him as he was ready for it. As the tale goes, he left the South without experiencing one of its greatest delights.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons Crisco or butter
- ¾ cup milk
Instructions
- Mix as usual, using a fork throughout.
- Roll out once, to a thickness of ¼ inch. Cut in very small rounds, 1 inch in diameter.
- Bake 12–15 minutes in a very hot oven.
Video
Notes
Editor's notes: Gone are the days when the direction to “mix as usual” would suffice because everyone knew how to make biscuits! Here’s a little more guidance, if you need it: I whisked together the dry ingredients, then cut in the shortening until the mixture contained pea-sized balls throughout, then added in the milk until combined. I used the well-greased rim of a champagne flute (1½ inches in diameter) to cut out the biscuits. I interpreted a “very hot oven” as 450°F, and they took about 10–12 minutes to reach a light golden brown. This recipes makes 4 dozen small biscuits. Smear them with butter or strawberry jam, and they are delicious! ~RS