Angel Biscuits

Teresa shared this recipe in our newsletter 3 years ago. Bryn loves them, but I get side-tracked with old newsletters when I go looking for the recipe. We think they taste a lot like KFC biscuits. I also forget how to make them, so Teresa, please edit this post with your suggestions: e.g. how many biscuits do you usually make with one recipe, do you do this in a mixer or by hand, is it a pretty soft dough, do you have the biscuits touching it other in the pan, is the buttermilk cold or warm when you add it to the flour mixture, do you quadruple the yeast when you quadruple the recipe, what level of sugar do you like.

2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2-4 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup buttermilk
butter, melted

Dissolve the yeast in warm water, set aside. Mix the dry ingredients in the order given. Cut the shortening in as you would usually do for pie dough. Stir in the buttermilk and the yeast mixture. Blend thoroughly and the dough is ready to refrigerate or roll into biscuits.

When you are ready to make biscuits turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead lightly as for regular biscuits. Roll out 1/2" to 3/4" and cut as you would for regular biscuits, placing in a greased pan. DO NOT overwork the dough.

Form biscuits (6 giant or 8 regular) and let rise in pan until very fluffy (30-60 minutes) Before baking, brush tops with lots of melted butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Teresa's Notes from the newsletter: These turn out great but DO NOT over knead. If the dough is cold you will need to let it sit a little longer to rise. I 4x the recipe because I buy buttermilk in a quart container. After cooking the biscuits, I let them cool then freeze them in ziploc containers. They re-heat great in the microwave for a nice, hot (and quick) addition to breakfast.