Not My Mamaw's Semi-Homemade Biscuits

My Mamaw made the best biscuits I have ever tasted.  They were huge and buttery and so flaky.  I remember she always had a huge wooden bowl under the sink that she kept flour in.  It was always covered and she would pull it out and add lard, and I never knew what else, but when she made biscuits, I swear people would come from miles around. 

Mamaw has passed on now, and I still have that wooden bowl, but I never could make a good biscuit.  Oh, I tried and I tried.  In fact I spent about a month where I made biscuits at least once or twice a week.  Finally, my granddaughter, Kaitlyn said, "Grandma just give up and buy some biscuits."  (Kids!) 

Well, I didn't give up and resorted to the next best thing.  I finally got the recipe down that I like, even if it does use Jiffy Baking Mix.  So, here is my Semi-Homemade Biscuit recipe.  They aren't my Mamaw's biscuits, not even close, but they are pretty good!


Not My Mamaw's Semi-Homemade Biscuits

3 cups of Jiffy Baking Mix
1/4 cup of real butter, cut into small chunks
Approximately 1/4 to 1/2 cup of evaporated milk (more or less)
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. Sour Cream (sometimes I substitute Miracle Whip here)

Place Baking Mix into a large bowl.  With a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the baking mix until it is crumbly and all butter is cut in.  Add sour cream, pepper and salt.  Start adding evaporated milk, slowly until it forms a soft dough.  It will be a little sticky, so don't add too much of the milk.

Turn out onto a floured surface.  Cover your hands with flour so that the dough doesn't stick to your hands and pat down until the dough is smooth and about 1" thick.  Do not over-knead the dough or it will make tough biscuits.  Using a biscuit cutter, or a glass dipped in flour, cut out biscuits.  Should make about 6 to 8 biscuits depending on the size of your cutter.

Lightly coat a baking sheet with real butter.  Place biscuits on the sheet and turn them over once so that the butter is on both sides.  Place into a preheated 400 degree oven for about 15 to 18 minutes or until tops of biscuits are lightly browned.

When I remove the biscuits, I put a little more butter on the top while they are still warm.  We can't ever have enough butter on a biscuit, right?

NOTE:  If you want to turn this recipe into garlic cheddar biscuits, just add 1 cup of shredded cheddar and 2 Tbsp. minced garlic into the flour before you add the evaporated milk.  Then when they come out of the oven, sprinkle them with a little parmesan cheese.


PS:  My husband loves my biscuits, which really makes me feel good since I struggled so long to make them.  Grandma's got this, Kaitlyn!