The Art of Making Country Hand Biscuits

Today, I'm excited to share with you my recipe for making country hand biscuits, a classic Southern staple that's sure to become a favorite in your household. To get started, I'll be using two cups of all-purpose flour as the foundation of our biscuit dough. This is where the magic begins, and I want to emphasize the importance of using high-quality ingredients.

Next, I'm adding a tablespoon of baking powder and a quarter teaspoon of salt to help these biscuits rise to new heights. The baking powder is what gives our biscuits their signature flaky texture, while the salt enhances the flavor and helps balance out the sweetness of the butter and buttermilk. Now, let's talk about the butter – I've got four tablespoons of cold, diced butter that will add those little pockets of goodness to our dough.

My grandmother would often call this "cutting in the shortenings," a term that's been passed down through generations of Southern cooks. You can use either two butter knives or your fingers, but the key is to get the butter to cut up into small pieces and mix it in with the flour. I want to stress the importance of not overworking this dough – we don't want our biscuits to become tough and dense.

Now that our dough is ready, let's move on to shaping our biscuits. I've got a pretty small biscuit maker cookie cutter that I'll use to cut out my dough. When making biscuits, it's essential to go straight down and pull straight out – if you get stuck, don't worry! Just add a little flour to the area and continue. Once we have our shapes, we can place them on a clean kitchen counter and gently flatten them out to about a half an inch thick.

While our dough is resting, I'll prepare my skillet by preheating it in the oven at 450 degrees. This will give us a crispy bottom and a beautifully browned biscuit. Now, let's talk about buttermilk – three quarters of a cup will be just right for our recipe. My grandmother would often use her hands to mix in the buttermilk, getting in there and really working it into the dough.

Once we've got all our ingredients mixed together, it's time to shape our biscuits and place them in the hot skillet. I'll gently touch down each biscuit, making sure they're touching just a little bit – this will help them rise up like the women in country music, you know? We need to get these back into the oven for about 10 minutes, but don't worry; we'll be enjoying some delicious pimento cheese while we wait.

Speaking of which, I made some banana cheese ahead of time using finely grated white cheddar, pimentos, mayo, and chopped scallions. It's a classic Southern combination that pairs perfectly with our country hand biscuits. And the best part? These biscuits are incredibly easy to make and will become a staple in your household.

As we wait for our biscuits to finish baking, I want to share with you my passion for cooking and making people feel at home. There's something special about sharing a meal with loved ones and creating memories around the dinner table. And that's exactly what these country hand biscuits are all about – warmth, comfort, and a sense of community.

Finally, let's talk about the moment of truth – taking our freshly baked biscuits out of the oven and enjoying them with some delicious pimento cheese. I'll take my shoes off, get comfortable, and invite you to join me in this culinary experience. We'll savor every bite, relishing in the flavors and textures that come together in perfect harmony. Welcome to my home, and let's dig in!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: entoday i'm actually gonna put the country ham inside the biscuit all right so the ham is chopped up and now i'm gonna get to work on the biscuits i'm gonna use two cups of all-purpose flour and then a tablespoon of baking powder a quarter teaspoon of salt that's what's going to help these biscuits rise whisk that together now i'm going to grab some very cold butter out of the fridge so i've got four tablespoons of butter that i've just diced up into small dice these cold pieces of butter will just add these little pockets of goodness so my mom would take two butter knives and she would just call this cutting in the shortenings my grandmother would do this too you can also use your fingers but you really just want the butter to cut up into small pieces and mix in with the flour now we're going to add in the buttermilk three quarters of a cup of buttermilk my grandmother would use her hands you're just eventually gonna have to get your hands dirty that's just the rule because there's just no other way i'm going in all right i don't want to overwork this dough so i'm going to get some flour out on my clean kitchen counter and i'm going to pat this out into a circle and i'm just going to flatten it out to about a half an inch thick i have a pretty small biscuit maker cookie cutter and when you're making biscuits you want to go straight down and pull straight out just straight in straight out if you get a little stuck you can always put a little bit of flour on now that i've made the mess that grandma would have made i'm going to wash my hands and then we're going to get these biscuits into the oven so i have a skillet in the oven that has been preheating at 450 degrees and i put these biscuits in the very hot skillet what that's going to do is give us a really crispy bottom brown biscuit won't take that very long to melt and then i'm going to gently place these biscuits in here they're touching just a little bit which will help them kind of all work together as a team to rise up like the women in country music i'm just saying and these just need to go back into the oven for about 10 minutes don't forget you've had this skillet in the oven so it's really hot i do have biscuits for you country hand biscuits and they're cute they're also really hot so i'm gonna let them cool for just a minute i've never seen biscuits in a skillet before you haven't i haven't i'm gonna take one out and see oh yeah so yeah nice and crispy on the bottom and then i made some um pimento cheese ahead of time you just add in some finely grated white cheddar pimentos mayo and chopped scallions in a large bowl and you mix it all up and that's banana cheese i have little plates for us so cute and then it's got it yeah all right so i opened up the biscuit a little bit and then stick it inside i mean they don't fall apart they do and country ham usually goes on a biscuit but i actually put it in the biscuit dough so the salty ham yeah the salty mm-hmm i take my shoes off i'm like that's good that's good that i want you to feel at home once you feel making myself at home cheers cheers welcome to my house thank you oh my god that works real goodtoday i'm actually gonna put the country ham inside the biscuit all right so the ham is chopped up and now i'm gonna get to work on the biscuits i'm gonna use two cups of all-purpose flour and then a tablespoon of baking powder a quarter teaspoon of salt that's what's going to help these biscuits rise whisk that together now i'm going to grab some very cold butter out of the fridge so i've got four tablespoons of butter that i've just diced up into small dice these cold pieces of butter will just add these little pockets of goodness so my mom would take two butter knives and she would just call this cutting in the shortenings my grandmother would do this too you can also use your fingers but you really just want the butter to cut up into small pieces and mix in with the flour now we're going to add in the buttermilk three quarters of a cup of buttermilk my grandmother would use her hands you're just eventually gonna have to get your hands dirty that's just the rule because there's just no other way i'm going in all right i don't want to overwork this dough so i'm going to get some flour out on my clean kitchen counter and i'm going to pat this out into a circle and i'm just going to flatten it out to about a half an inch thick i have a pretty small biscuit maker cookie cutter and when you're making biscuits you want to go straight down and pull straight out just straight in straight out if you get a little stuck you can always put a little bit of flour on now that i've made the mess that grandma would have made i'm going to wash my hands and then we're going to get these biscuits into the oven so i have a skillet in the oven that has been preheating at 450 degrees and i put these biscuits in the very hot skillet what that's going to do is give us a really crispy bottom brown biscuit won't take that very long to melt and then i'm going to gently place these biscuits in here they're touching just a little bit which will help them kind of all work together as a team to rise up like the women in country music i'm just saying and these just need to go back into the oven for about 10 minutes don't forget you've had this skillet in the oven so it's really hot i do have biscuits for you country hand biscuits and they're cute they're also really hot so i'm gonna let them cool for just a minute i've never seen biscuits in a skillet before you haven't i haven't i'm gonna take one out and see oh yeah so yeah nice and crispy on the bottom and then i made some um pimento cheese ahead of time you just add in some finely grated white cheddar pimentos mayo and chopped scallions in a large bowl and you mix it all up and that's banana cheese i have little plates for us so cute and then it's got it yeah all right so i opened up the biscuit a little bit and then stick it inside i mean they don't fall apart they do and country ham usually goes on a biscuit but i actually put it in the biscuit dough so the salty ham yeah the salty mm-hmm i take my shoes off i'm like that's good that's good that i want you to feel at home once you feel making myself at home cheers cheers welcome to my house thank you oh my god that works real good\n"