New (& Improved!) Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy

My biscuit bone got itchy and I decided it was time to roll up my sleeves and start rolling some dough! I was aiming for the perfect blend between pillowy and with lots of layers (peelable, if possible), full of savory flavor, crunchy tops and bottoms with soft centers, and a great chew. Going through my ingredient list to start my initial research, I started running through possible changes—the buttermilk and leavener ratio felt solid. Change the salt and sugar balance? Nope. What about the fat? Switch back to shortening? Pass.

I kept going but just went back to the top of my ingredient list. Then I saw the answer staring me down: flour. At the beginning of quarantine I was stocking up on my baking products, and the only flour I could find was bread flour. So, I made a few rounds of biscuits with bread flour and loved the flaky, peelable layers that it brought. But, I missed the pillowy and tender chew that I got from the all-purpose flour. What’s the difference between the two flours, you might ask? In a word: protein. That’s right, protein. I’ll explain. Bread flour is a higher protein type of flour, meaning it is going to result in a more elastic and stretchier dough—and give the ability to have more layers, due to all of the protein structures that bind together! All-purpose flour, however, has a lower level of protein, meaning that the dough will be less stretchy and more pillowy. Blend the two, I thought? A match made in carb heaven.

I now pronounce you the perfect pillowy, layered biscuit. But, the perfect biscuit needs the perfect gravy, so I decided to make up some gravy while my biscuits were in the oven. Honey, let me tell you, you could slather this gravy on an old leather boot and it would be tasty. Recipes for both are below!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup bread flour

• 2 teaspoons sugar (this won’t make them sweet, but will aid in browning)

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, simply measure out a cup of milk and add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and let stand for 10 minutes. Congratulations! You just made buttermilk!)

• 1 stick of frozen butter, grated on the largest holes of a box grater. I catch mine on parchment paper to make it easy to add!

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt, until well incorporated.

2. Pour grated stick of butter into dry ingredients and mix together. Break down into smaller, pea-sized pieces with fingers, until flour takes on a crumbly texture.

3.  Make a well in the center for the flour mixture and pour in buttermilk and bring together with a spatula until dough begins to come together. If mixture seems dry and does not pull away from sides of bowl, add a touch more of buttermilk, a tablespoon at a time, and mix.

4. Use a spatula to wipe down sides of bowl while working to combine, mixing until just combined. Once brought together, turn out onto a floured surface. It is going to look shabby and not smooth (don’t panic!).

5. Knead gently, about 5-7 times, until dough has a smooth consistency.

6. Then begin the folding portion: flour your rolling pin, and then begin rolling out your dough into a rectangle (short side towards you and the long sides on the left and right). Then, take bottom side of dough, and fold the dough in half. Bringing the bottom edge and the top meet. Next turn the dough, to the right once, so that the fold now faces to the right. Then roll out again (to about half an inch), and then fold in half and turn back to the left, so that the fold comes back to the top. Complete this folding process 3 more times—you are building layers into your biscuits.

7. For your final roll out, make a rectangle about 9 inches long and 7 inches wide, about 1/2 an inch thick. Taking a sharp knife, clean up the sides to make neat, straight lines. Mark three rows of 4 biscuits, totaling 12 biscuits and cut with knife.

8. Place on a baking sheet or cast iron skillet, pre-greased with Crisco or butter, with sides touching.

   **Remember, biscuits are friendly and LOVE neighbors! Place them next to a neighbor or two on your baking sheet to help them rise.

9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Brush tops with melted butter immediately out of the oven.

While your biscuits are baking, make something to put on them! Keep scrolling for sausage gravy…

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pork sausage

• 2 cups milk

• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 tablespoon butter

• Salt and pepper to taste

Method;

1. In a skillet on medium-high heat, add a drizzle of oil to the pan to help with heat conduction.

2. Add sausage to the pan and break down into smaller pieces and cook until no longer pink.

3. Stir in butter and allow to melt.

4. Add flour to the skillet and mix in until flour is absorbed and no longer smells like raw flour.

5. Reduce heat to low and add milk.

6. Stirring frequently, until starting to resemble thick consistency. Add seasonings and salt and pepper to taste.

7. Once gravy is thick and lovely, serve immediately! (Preferably over a hot biscuit!)

Gluten Free Biscuits

As we close out September, a month that already holds some of my favorite dates (including my birthday!), who knew September was also National Biscuit Month? As if I needed more reasons to celebrate in September? Gluten free biscuits proved to be a tough feat and required countless recipe tests, including testing out different gluten free flours. The fluffy texture can be difficult to achieve; highly processed flour tends to be thirsty, so it is very easy for the dough to turn out too wet or too dry. In addition to those hurdles, getting the leavener to rice flour ratio correct will make you act like a pastor from the pulpit—praying over your biscuit dough out loud that it will be delivered! And let’s not even talk about the lack of browning issue. However, the Good Lord saw fit to give gluten free flour one fabulous redemptive quality: no gluten. Wait—what…duh, Savannah, they don’t have gluten. Let us not forget what causes biscuit makers ‘round world go red in the face—that’s right: gluten development. But allay your fears, because you do not have to worry about overworking this dough. Unlike your standard all-purpose flour when liquid is added, gluten does not develop its typical strands, because there is none to develop. My friends these were worth the wait and the countless testing because I am a big believer in biscuits for all! Recipe is below and now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to go take a nap…

Biscuits to all and to all a good nap… Oh no, I’ve conflated Christmas and carbs again! Zzzz…Zzzz…..Zzzzz…

Ingredients:

 - 4 cups King Arthur Gluten Free Flour (plus one cup for dusting and flouring biscuit cutter)

- 1 teaspoon salt (I use Diamond Kosher)

- 1 teaspoon of sugar

- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda

-1 stick of cubed/cold european butter

• Plus additional 6 tablespoons of melted butter (3 tbs for greasing the pan and 3 tbs for brushing the tops once cooked)

-2 cups of buttermilk (Don’t have buttermilk, don’t be sour ;) … you can make it as fast as you can say “I’m out of buttermilk”… measure out as much milk as you need and then add in one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice per cup. Let sit for 10 minutes and you are good to go!)

Yields:

 12-14 Biscuits

Method

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.

2. Using a pastry blender or your hands, cut cubed, cold butter into dough. Breaking up into pea size pieces and a crumbling texture.

3.  Make a well in the center for the flour mixture and pour in buttermilk. I always add in the first cup and a half of buttermilk, and then add the remaining 1/2 as needed.

4. Use a spatula to wipe down sides of bowl while working to combine. Once brought together, turn out onto a floured surface.

5. Knead gently, about 5-7 times, until dough has a smooth consistency.

6. Then begin the folding portion: flour your rolling pin, and then begin rolling our your dough into a rectangle about 6 in. wide and 12 in. long and about half an inch thick, take bottom side of dough, and fold the dough in half. The bottom edge and the top meet. Turn the dough, to the right once, then roll out again (to about half an inch), and then fold in half and turn back to the left. Complete this folding process 5 times—you are building layers into your biscuits.

7. Flour your cutter and punch out 7-8 biscuits with 2¾ inch biscuit cutter (second to largest in set). Combine and roll scraps and cut out remaining biscuits. **Do not twist the cutter when you push down, this will pinch the seams shut that you just worked so hard to create. Keep the motion up and down, and flour your cutter between each cut.

8. Pour 3 tablespoons of melted butter into a skillet, and then place your biscuits. The melted butter will help the bottoms crisp and brown on the bottom.

   **Remember, biscuits are friendly and LOVE neighbors! So make sure they are touching!

9. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Brush tops with remaining melted butter immediately out of the oven.

Cowboy Cheddar Biscuits

Fact: I have always had a soft spot for the cowboy life. I often joke with my husband and that it is just a matter of time before I decide I want to move to a ranch and say enough with the city’s hustle and bustle. His response is always a sarcastic, “Well I will come visit you and your second husband and your new steers…”

The handsome hats, the horseback riding, and getting to spend all day with animals in the great outdoors… I will concede that I probably have a very romanticized view of “home on the range”. And while my grandfather would probably classify me as a city slicker, as I have seen cattle be branded, but have never done it myself, I still would like to (naively) believe that I could live and love that cowboy (ahem… cowgirl) life. Hey, my family operates a large cattle feedyard, I’d like to think I could make it more than a day “working” the cattle, with the real cowboys, as the farming and ranching life is in my blood. As opposed to my normal raiding of candy closet in my grandfather’s office and checking the water troughs in the old FJ Cruiser. Although I do not get to spend as much time as I would like exploring this side of my personality, I love reading and researching the old cowboy ways: from the old cattle drives to Kansas, what they used to eat while making camp, and what the various cowboy hat brims mean. I prefer the cattleman’s crease, how about you?

While researching traditional cowboy food when I was preparing for the non-traditional portion of the biscuit competition last year, I came up with this recipe while standing in the spice aisle. I wanted to pay homage to the foods that cowboys used to eat on cattle drives and work them into a biscuit. Here is what I came up with and affectionally named, “Cowboy Cheddar Biscuits.” Ironically, my husband loves them.

P.S. My favorite movie is Giant. Figures, right?

Ingredients:

Ranch Dressing Seasoning:                                                 

• 1 tablespoon chives

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 2 teaspoons dried parsley

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon dill

• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Biscuit Ingredients:

• 4 cups White Lily Self-Rising Flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup of butter flavored Crisco (1/2 a stick)

  • Plus additional 1 tablespoon for greasing baking surface

• 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk

• 3 tablespoons European butter melted, for brushing at the end

• 2 cups grated Habanero cheddar cheese (this recipe used Cabot)

• 1 cup chopped bacon

• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Yields:

 12 Biscuits

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees

2. Mix together ranch dressing seasoning and set to the side.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, cayenne, and ranch seasoning mixture. Once mixed together, take Crisco and break into smaller pieces and add to flour mixture. Using a pastry blender or your hands, cut Crisco into dough. Breaking up into pea size pieces and a crumbling texture. Add cheese and bacon to mixture and combine.

4. Make a well in the center for the flour mixture and pour in 1 cup of buttermilk. Add in the rest of the buttermilk, a tablespoon at a time, until a shaggy dough has formed. Once brought together, turn out onto a floured surface.

5. Knead gently, about 5-7 times, until dough has a smooth consistency.

6. Then begin the folding portion: flour your rolling pin, and then begin rolling our your dough into a rectangle about 6 in. wide and 9 in. long and about half an inch thick, take bottom side of dough, and fold the dough in half. The bottom edge and the top meet. Turn the dough, to the right once, then roll out again (to about half an inch), and then fold in half and turn back to the left. Complete this folding process 5 times—you are building layers into your biscuits.Then flour the top of dough and rolling pin, and roll out to ½ inch thick. Cut out 7-8 biscuits with 2¾ inch biscuit cutter (second to largest in set). Combine and roll out scraps and cut out remaining biscuits.

7. Place on a baking sheet or cast iron skillet, pre-greased with Crisco or butter, with sides almost touching.

8. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Brush tops with melted butter.

Mimi's Biscuits

I’ve probably started and stopped this post five times. To be writing about and referencing my grandmother in the past tense is something that I always knew would be hard. My grandmother didn’t pass away young, so to speak, she had turned 81 just three days before she died, but her passing away was not something my family was expecting. Though she passed in February of 2018, the grief still stays just below the surface, ready to pop up when you least expect it. As a therapist when I work with clients experiencing grief, I have always explained using the image of the beach. Some days the waters are calm and you can enjoy the surf and the sand. Other days, find high ground because the waves might swallow you whole.

To make a long story short, my grandmother arrived in Houston on her birthday, which was a Thursday, and her bypass surgery was scheduled for bright and early Monday morning.

A hard-headed and feisty woman, my family has always remarked that, “Mimi always gets her way.” Her venture to Houston and last days proved to be no exception. In the middle of the night on Sunday, she went into cardiac arrest, the hospital’s chaplin appeared, and next thing we knew she was gone. Our family now listless without our anchor.

She kept remarking that she did not want to have the surgery and that she would be so appreciative if one of her grandchildren would sneak her out of the hospital for some iced tea and envueltos. To the air ambulance crew that flew her from McAllen to Houston, when they flew over her country club, she offered them to take a pit stop for some margaritas. She did not want to have the surgery, and true to form, she got her way.

Losing someone is always hard, but it’s initial shock that accompanies the unexpected grief that feels like the toughest hurdle. Each of member of my family has grieved differently; for some it’s a quiet, internal battle, others find comfort externalizing and talking it out, but it seems two things that has brought comfort to all: her stories and her food.

My grandmother loved life and lived (and dressed!) out loud, something that she has passed on to her daughter (my mother), her granddaughters, and great-granddaughters. While we are all trying to reconcile what it means for her to be gone, as a family and individually, she was far too big of a piece to not figure out how to carry her with us.

Enter: her stories and her recipes. Recently, my mom, sister and I have been cataloging and curating a cookbook with all of her recipes, which has ranged from “Jezebel Dip” to biscuits to the Waldorf’s Red Velvet Cake. When I found her biscuit recipe, I was amazed at the simplicity, and of course, they were delicious—as all simple recipes seem to be. I really should start another page on here with her sayings/expressions/quips of wisdom because these biscuits personified, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

I shall call it “Mimi was right about everything…”

Recipe:

-2 cups of self rising flour

-2 sticks of cold butter

-8 oz sour cream

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, add in two cups of flour.

3. Cut each stick of butter in half, length-ways, and then each half into 1/2 in. pieces.

4. Add those sticks of butter to the flour, and cut in using a pastry blender, or your hands. Breaking butter into pea-size pieces. The flour will start to feel and look like wet sand.

5. Add in 8 oz of sour cream (remember you need an acid to activate the self rising part of the flour) and mix in with a spatula until flour as pulled away from the sides of the bowl and a shaggy dough has formed.

6. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface, and knead softly (about 3-4 times) until you have a smooth consistency.

7. Press out dough into rectangular shape (about 6-7 inches long and 4 inches wide), about an inch thick, and then fold the dough on to itself—folding it in half length-wise, and turn it a quarter to the right. Press it back out to the rectangular shape, folding left side to the right again, and turn a quarter again. Repeat this process 2-3 times, you are building layers into your biscuit dough.

8. Flour a two inch biscuit cutter and cut out as many biscuits as you can. Re-roll scraps and repeat until you get 12.

9. Place in greased muffin tins and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Biscuits, they're what's for dinner (& dessert!)

Ah, September is here! It is month that is brimming with events and special occasions. This week I turn 29 and celebrate a co-worker’s (and favorite taste-tester’s!) pregnancy with a baby shower. The rest of the month is filled with celebrations for my sister’s birthday and pregnancy (I get to be an aunt come December!), both of my garden clubs’ obligations kick off, as well as a deep-dive into the charity luncheon I am a part of planning and in charge of selling tickets for! Also kicking off this fall, I also have the honor of serving as chairman for my sorority’s young alumnae group and my mom, sister, and I are the chairmen-elect for a large fundraiser that our sorority’s alumnae group puts on every year come fall. That is on top of having a full-time therapy case load for my real job. Plus, I also get to keep writing and creating content for my happy, tiny, corner of the internet: this website. Oh and I have a cute husband and a dog who occasionally get petted, too.

I LOVE fall! It is always busy and jam-packed and I would not have it any other way. Here’s a fun fact: just by saying “yes!” to going out of town for a friend’s wedding weekend in October, we had to say “no” to: two concerts, Billy Joel and Kasey Musgraves, in addition to missing the Red River Biscuit Showdown at the State Fair. Yes, I am sadly not competing this year. But while I may not be in biscuit two-a-days this fall like I was a year ago, I am officially naming September as Biscuit Month around here. In sharing my love of the biscuit, today I am sharing three ways to have an biscuit (besides with jam & butter!). I am also going to share my Cowboy Cheddar Biscuit and a gluten-free version in the coming weeks!

I share my obligations because sometimes you do not have time for a creative moment in the kitchen. As a therapist, I love walking people through the exercise of: when you say yes to something, you say no to something else. Sometimes, eating and cooking need to be an afterthought. It’s on those days that when I make something in the morning, like a biscuit, I might need it to support the rest of the meals heading out of the kitchen that day. Lucky for me, biscuits are a utility player and a delicious one at that! I give you le biscuit, three ways!

Biscuit 1: The Lunch Bunch—lunch is my hardest meal to plan. Sometimes I really just want it to be second breakfast and will have yogurt with fruit, other times that I want something heavy, like a burger, I would try to make the calorie splurge mid-day so I had a chance to burn some of it off. But if you have a plate of biscuits, you have a sandwich! Simply top with the meat of your choosing (a baked ham or roasted turkey work great) and add a little mustard. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds—lunch is done!

Biscuit 2: Yes, the Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich—but is anyone else a fan of breakfast for dinner? How quickly does it come together when all you have to do is poach or fry an egg and make some bacon, maybe add a little avocado? Dinner done.

Biscuit 3: Strawberry Shortcake with Balsamic: Because these biscuits were made more savory than sweet, all you have to do is add some sugar to your strawberries (macerate) to add a bit of sweetness. Whip up (pun intended) some whipped cream and top with a little balsamic and dessert is done!

One pan of biscuits truly can get you through a whole day of meals!

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits Part Two

Now that we have the story out of the way, let’s get down to business of biscuit making. Biscuits are the perfect test for any person who loves being covered in flour. Like a toddler, they cannot be rushed and like a teen, they can have a mind of their own. My friends, I give you my version of the perfect Buttermilk Biscuit:

Ingredients:

 - 4 cups White Lily Self-Rising Flour

- 1 teaspoon salt (I use Diamond Kosher)

-1 teaspoon of sugar

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda (yes you’re using self rising but these give a little extra lift!)

-1/2 cup of butter flavored Crisco (1/2 a stick)

• Plus additional 1/8 of a cup for greasing baking surface

-1 1/2 cups of buttermilk (Don’t have buttermilk, don’t be sour ;) … you can make it as fast as you can say “I’m out of buttermilk”… measure out as much milk as you need and then add in one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice per cup. Let sit for 10 minutes and you are good to go!)

-3 tablespoons European Butter melted, for brushing at the end

Yields:

 12 Biscuits

Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt. Once mixed together, take Crisco and break into smaller pieces and add to flour mixture.

2. Using a pastry blender or your hands, cut Crisco into dough. Breaking up into pea size pieces and a crumbling texture.

3.  Make a well in the center for the flour mixture and pour in buttermilk. I always add in my cup measurement first and then add in my last 1/4 as I need it. If mixture seems dry and does not pull away from sides of bowl, add a touch more of buttermilk, a tablespoon at a time.

4. Use a spatula to wipe down sides of bowl while working to combine. Once brought together, turn out onto a floured surface.

5. Knead gently, about 5-7 times, until dough has a smooth consistency.

6. Then begin the folding portion: flour your rolling pin, and then begin rolling our your dough into a rectangle about 6 in. wide and 9 in. long and about half an inch thick, take bottom side of dough, and fold the dough in half. The bottom edge and the top meet. Turn the dough, to the right once, then roll out again (to about half an inch), and then fold in half and turn back to the left. Complete this folding process 5 times—you are building layers into your biscuits.

7. Cut out 7-8 biscuits with 2¾ inch biscuit cutter (second to largest in set). Combine and roll scraps and cut out remaining biscuits. **Do not twist the cutter when you push down, this will pinch the seams shut that you just worked so hard to create. Keep the motion up and down, and flour your cutter between each.

8. Place on a baking sheet or cast iron skillet, pre-greased with Crisco or butter, with sides touching. **Remember, biscuits are friendly and LOVE neighbors!

9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Brush tops with melted butter immediately out of the oven.

Click through the pictures below for a step by step of how to make a biscuit

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits Part One

I really feel like these do not need an introduction, but perhaps my fascination with these little dough pucks does. When I set out to write this post I realized how, as good Southern recipe goes, this begins with a story. So I broke this post into two parts. The first is the story, the second will be the recipe and the method.

When in graduate school and still living with my parents (shout out to that back home baller life), my father kept remarking how making the perfect biscuit eluded him. Given his more than proficient cooking skills, especially for Southern staples he grew up on, I decided to try my hand at making a batch one day on a whim. I wondered how hard it could truly be. Truth be told, I was probably avoiding writing a paper for my psychopathology class. After doing some quick recipe research, preheating my oven, and about 30 minutes after remarking that he always underworked his dough, I presented him with a pan of freshly made biscuits. Between me, my mom and dad, all 12 biscuits were devoured in the span of 2 hours. My dad and I continued to pursue the perfect biscuit: recipe and technique. Both of us have a bit of competitive edge; therefore, it was only a matter of time before this became a ride on the trash talk express, and that, my friends, is where this story takes a departure into interesting.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLEEEEEEEEE…

In this corner: standing at 5 foot, 4 inches tall, the butter-enthusiast herself, Savannah “like the city” Eidson (this was pre-marriage, I’ll use my maiden name)…

In this corner: standing at 6 foot, 4 inches tall, the Crisco crusher himself, purveyor of the 5 P’s, former offensive guard for America’s team, Jim “better get two of those” Eidson…

So now that you have a sense of the height difference between me and my dad, you can probably guess that there is a slight difference between our hand sizes and when I say slight I mean significant. Base of my palm to the tip of my third finger is just under six inches. I cannot throw a regulation size football properly. Read: my hands are tiny. My father’s hand measurement is closer to 8 inches. His hands are GIANT, which was wonderful for the many pass-protection drills, but not so much for biscuit making. Why you ask? Because there is a significant difference between the amount of force my dad and I create when we work a dough. But we have the opposite problem, he is worried that his large hands are going to overwork the dough and he underworks it. I’m worried my delicate digits are going to underwork the dough, so I overwork it (#psychology).

In addition to our size differences, we were also on different teams of fat. My dad believed Crisco was the finer choice, as it is what he grew up with in Alabama, and thought it resulted in a crisper biscuit top.

I was team butter all the way. I thought it made a more flavorful, hydrated dough, as it imparted more steam into the dough when baked.

Like all good rivalries, we decided to have a biscuit-off around Thanksgiving and it was a draw (can you say fixed?). I was feeling a bit unsatisfied with the results and then stumbled upon the best news ever. The great State Fair of Texas held a biscuit-off every year called the “Red River Biscuit Showdown” that is held during the Red River Shootout football game. This was my chance. I would tell my dad that we were taking this to the field (errr…actually the Fair) but you catch my drift. It would be a showdown of sorts, and instead of it being between OU and Texas, it would be between me and my dad. Or so I thought.

It turns out that participants for the biscuit competition are drawn randomly, which you have to first apply for, and only 14 are chosen. As it is a live cooking demonstration, they can only accommodate based on the number of ovens they have. Dreams. Dashed. We decided it was unlikely that both of us would be chosen. So I applied for the competition, we called a truce between the fats, and I happened to be selected (can you say beginner’s luck?). My dad and I spent July (when you are notified of your selection) through October perfecting my biscuits. My former opponent was now my biggest ally and taste taster. Things I figured out during my biscuit practice drills:

1. Biscuits cannot be rushed. If you are nervous or anxious, two things happen: your body temperature rises and your muscles tense. Anytime I’ve made biscuits in a pinch for time, they have always turned out tough and have not browned properly.

2. You need to keep things cold. In addition to keeping your psyche on ice, your utensils, bowls, and any other biscuit paraphernalia need to be chilled too.

3. Crisco is more forgiving than butter. Crisco is shelf stable, meaning it does not need to be refrigerated, and in a competition that is very helpful.

4. If you want to use butter, freeze the sticks whole first. Shout out to Southern Living for this tip. You can get a grater and literally grate frozen butter over your flour to cut it in. Genius.

5. Flour makes a difference. Yes, your standard all-purpose flour is great for a Saturday morning biscuit at home. But want to take it to the next level? Use a self rising flour. Before the competition, I ordered 20 pounds of White Lily Self Rising Flour. Why so specific? Because White Lily is made from a softer type of wheat that results in a more tender flour, ergo a more tender biscuit.

6. If you are going to use butter, make it European—oui oui. It has a higher milk fat content, and will make the inside more fluffy. You’re already eating a biscuit, this is not the time to try and make them a diet food.

7. Oven temperature is crucial. At the Fair, my oven panel went out because the circuit was shorted (thank you to ESPN College Game Day) and I had to be moved to another oven. My oven never quite got hot enough and my biscuits did not brown properly.

8. Unlike the saying “good fences make good neighbors” biscuits LOVE neighbors. The closer, the better. It helps them rise up.

9. If you use self rising flour, or any baking soda on its own, you must use an acid to cause a reaction. Most of time this is buttermilk.

10. Use your cooking utensils instead of your hands as much as possible. Cut in your fat with a pastry cutter, mix your milk in with a wooden spoon or spatula.

P.S. If you made it to the very end of this post. BRAVO! Thank you for sharing my love and pursuit of the perfect biscuit. 

Got my game face on at the Red River Biscuit Showdown at the State Fair of Texas! As you can see there are stands in the back and family members and fellow biscuit enthusiasts can sit and enjoy the competition. I had over 20 people show up in support, but all of them are standing on the barriers. Hence all the empty seats!

A few of the 20! Shout out to the Crain family for stopping by to cheer me on!