Use Up Milk for Homemade Southern Biscuits

Homemade Southern Biscuits made with excess milk

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Using Up Milk

Hands down, homemade Southern biscuits are my number one go-to when I've got milk to use up quickly. Soft, flakey and scrumptious every time! In the South, where I learned to cook, they call the ever present biscuit, "the 4th utensil", as it regularly assists in pushing tasty portions onto the fork, before feeding the face. Got lots of milk to use up? Add some sausage gravy to the meal plan and you've got an absolutely delicious comforting dish, for any time of day.

DIY Buttermilk

My beloved mom-in-law (Mimi) has made homemade biscuits for millennia! (She was a scratch cook for a family of eight, on a very tight budget.) Mimi making homemade biscuits with our kids is a favorite memory for all us. She taught me to put a splash of vinegar in the bottom of the measuring cup before you measure the milk. This makes “buttermilk” in minutes. Thanks mom! This has saved me from ever having to purchase buttermilk for biscuits, or any other baked good, like pancakes, waffles or muffins. Incidentally, Mimi was also the one who taught me how to make sausage gravy to pour over top of these fabulous biscuits. Yum!

My 1st, and Only, Biscuit Recipe

The recipe I first made biscuits from was way back in the late '90's in my first cookbook by Betty Crocker. And it’s the one I still use today. We love 'em. In fact, the cookbook's plastic binding has broken from overuse, so I keep it in a binder on my kitchen bookshelf. The often used biscuit page was tucked right inside the front cover pocket, for quick reference.

The well loved Biscuit recipe, tucked conveniently in the front pocket of the binder, from my 1st cookbook, Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook

Butter is Better

I, of course, have altered the recipe to make it fit our family's preference; reducing the sugar, of course, as I always do. And more importantly, swapping the shortening for butter! Again, like in our Homemade Pie Crust, we don't use hydrogenated oil (sources of trans fats) laden shortening. In short: shortening=bad, butter=good! We've fully conformed.

Homemade Southern Biscuits cooling before they’ve devoured!

I can already taste them, so let's get started.

Southern Biscuit Recipe

This is instructions for a single batch, but I almost always double it. Cook Once, Eat Twice, y'all!

SUPPLIES

• Clear liquid measuring glass

• Large bowl

• Measuring cups and spoons

• Butcher knife (or cheese shredder)

• Pastry mat or board

• Biscuit cutter (or regular size canning ring)

• Baking sheet

• Silicone baking mat or parchment paper

Start with making the "buttermilk":

In a clear measuring glass, pour:

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Then enough milk to = 3/4 cup

Set this magical combo aside for a few minutes so it can thicken. In the meantime, let's get the dry ingredients going.

I use my faithful Kitchenaid Mixer for this, but feel free to mix with a pastry cutter, knife and fork, wooden spoon, or just mix by hand if you're the tactile type. Kids love helping with this, like ours did with Mimi, so strap on those aprons and recruit some little hands to help.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

INGREDIENTS

In a large bowl measure and stir:

2 cups flour, plus extra for board

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sea salt (we love Redmond Real!)

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 stick cold butter (I use salted), diced in small cubes, or shred it with a cheese grater to speed the mixing process.

Add butter bits to flour mixture and combine on low speed until pea size crumbs. Then pour in the thickened "buttermilk". Stir just til combined, and a bit gooey.

FORMING BISCUITS

Turn dough onto floured surface (I love my pastry mat, but a board or countertop is just fine.) Pat and push dough together until about 1inch thick. (Some folks pat the dough to 1/2 inch, but we like 'em thick!) Cut with floured round cutter, or canning lid will suffice, if you don't have an actual biscuit cutter. I've collected a few vintage ones from estate sales and such over the years, in several sizes, depending on my mood when biscuit making, though 2 1/2 inches is standard size. Also, some use a drinking glass to cut biscuits, but avoid this practice, as it seals the edges and reduces the biscuits' potential rise. Sad and bad.

(pic of biscuit w/ jam)

Place biscuit dough rounds onto silicone mat, or parchment, lined baking sheet, just touching, to help them rise up instead of out. Bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Devour warm, slathered with apple butter, or other homemade jams. If you have leftover biscuits, enjoy them topped with a fried egg for breakfast tomorrow morning.

I hope you and yours enjoy this oh, so comforting meal staple for many years to come! Blessings y'all!

Warmly, Heidi

Jesus replied, "I Am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me

will never go hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty."

John 6:35