Nearly Instant Biscuits

I found this recipe on the Hillbilly Housewife website. (There are many wonderful recipes on this website...check it out.) These biscuits make a frugal and tasty alternative to canned biscuits...and even those store-bought frozen ones, without sacrificing convenience. I made some this morning. I cooked some and have a pan in the freezer.

Nearly Instant Biscuits


6 cups self-rising flour (or 6 cups plain flour, plus 3 tablespoons baking powder & 1 Tablespoon salt)
1 cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk (or regular milk with 2 tablespoons vinegar added - let sit for about 10 minutes)

In a large mixing bowl, measure in the self rising flour (or flour, baking powder and salt). Add the firmly packed shortening and mash it into the flour with your fingers or a fork. Do not over-mix. The shortening should be casually combined with the flour, and small chunks the size of dried beans should remain. This is what makes the biscuits flaky.

Now stir in the buttermilk. Stir it up until you have a nice soft dough. Knead the dough about 10 or 12 times. No more, no less. This activates the gluten in the flour just enough to make good biscuits.

Roll the dough out into a nice thick slab (use a rolling pin or any sturdy jar or glass). Cut the dough into biscuit shapes. Use a clean can or glass rim, if you don't have a biscuit cutter. Tuna cans are just the right size for big breakfast biscuits. Continue rolling and cutting until all the dough is used up.

Lay waxed paper on a cookie sheet. Arrange the shaped biscuit dough on the waxed paper. Freeze overnight. The next morning the biscuits can be gathered up and stashed in plastic freezer bag.

When you want to cook them, just take out the specific number you want and place them on a lightly oiled cookie sheet or pizza pan. Bake in a preheated 450° oven until lightly browned (check after about 10-15 minutes).

These biscuits are better tasting, and much cheaper than canned whack-'em-on-the-counter-biscuits. The whole recipe makes between 30 and 35 medium sized biscuits, or about 20 big breakfast size biscuits (grand-sized).