Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

aunt tour's made-from-scratch biscuits

(10 ratings)
Recipe by
Susan Feliciano
Oak Ridge, TN

My Aunt Tour, who was my father's oldest sister, was born in 1909 and lived to be 101. I used to love to watch her cook when I was young. She took the place of my grandmother who died when I was very small. Tour turned out huge "groaning boards" of food for every holiday, and when we were visiting her, she had biscuits every morning. This recipe is as close as I can get to what she used to do - measurements and all, but I have put modern measurements to help us all out.

(10 ratings)
yield 9 -10 biscuits
prep time 10 Min
cook time 10 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For aunt tour's made-from-scratch biscuits

  • 2 lg
    scoops self-rising flour (2 1/4 cups)
  • 2 lg
    spoonfuls shortening or lard (1/3 cup)
  • some
    whole milk or half & half (2/3 to 3/4 cup)
  • (my aunt actually would just pour the cream in until it looked right to her, enough to make a soft dough.)
  • a pinch
    or two of flour for rolling out (about 3 tablespoons)
  • and
    use a pastry cloth or wooden board for best results

How To Make aunt tour's made-from-scratch biscuits

  • 1
    Preheat oven to 450°. Make sure the oven reaches and stays at that temperature.
  • 2
    Place flour in a large bowl, and cut in shortening with a pastry cutter until it looks like fine crumbs. Add all but 1-2 tablespoons of half & half and stir the mixture until it forms a ball. My aunt did this with her hand, but you can also use a spatula or fork.
  • 3
    Add the remaining cream if necessary to get a very soft dough. You don't want it heavy. It should have the consistency of very soft Play-Doh. Here is what it looks like in the bowl.
  • 4
    Dust remaining flour onto a pastry cloth and just barely knead dough a time or two, rolling out to a generous 1/2" thickness. Lightly flour hands if necessary to prevent sticking.
  • 5
    Cut biscuits with 2 1/2" cutter and place on baking stone or ungreased cake pan, sides almost touching. Gently re-roll any scraps of dough to make more biscuits. If desired, brush tops with a little cream or melted butter to help them brown.
  • 6
    Bake biscuits 11 - 13 minutes at 450°F. Remove from oven and cover with a clean towel for 4-5 minutes to let them steam.

Categories & Tags for Aunt Tour's Made-From-Scratch Biscuits:

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT