Biscuits are a staple on any southern table. Whether for breakfast, lunch, or supper… biscuits make any meal complete. Much thanks to Kathy Lackey for sharing this recipe.
While this recipe calls for a biscuit cutter, I grew up watching my mom form each biscuit by hand and placing them in the pan that way. Just start with ball of dough and shape it out just as you would a hamburger patty. They’ll certainly be a lot less perfect than the biscuit cutter version, but I think it adds character.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup lard or shortening
- 2/3 cup milk
Directions
- Preheat oven 450 degrees. Make sure the rack is in the center.
- In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in lard until it resembles small peas.
- Stirring with a fork, gently add milk to make a soft dough. With floured hands knead dough gently 4 times in bowl.
- Put dough on lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough to about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick.
- Cut with a floured 2″ cutter. Place the cut-out biscuits about 1″ apart on ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake on a large ungreased baking sheet, until biscuits are golden brown, about 12 minutes.
- Serve biscuits piping hot.
Good Ol’ Lard Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup lard or shortening
- 2/3 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven 450°F. Make sure the rack is in the center.
- In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in lard until it resembles small peas.
- Stirring with a fork, gently add milk to make a soft dough. With floured hands knead dough gently 4 times in bowl.
- Put dough on lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough to about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick.
- Cut with a floured 2″ cutter. Place the cut-out biscuits about 1″ apart on ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake on a large ungreased baking sheet, until biscuits are golden brown, about 12 minutes.
- Serve biscuits piping hot.
Making This Recipe?Tag me on Instagram: @SouthernBite using the hashtag #SouthernBite, so I can see how it turned out!
Jodie Mantooth says
Wow, just made these and I was instantly taken back to my grandmother’s breakfast table 25 yrs ago! YUM!!
Sharon R. says
I love buttermilk biscuits. Could I substitute buttermilk in place of regular milk or would that totally mess it up?
Stacey says
No, I think using the buttermilk would be just fine. 🙂
Susan says
Stacey, I’ve been using lard for my biscuits for ever, but was always complaining about the biscuits being crumbly. At the same time, I’ve been using a recipe that calls for shortening or butter–1/4 cup. I decided my biscuits were crumbly because there wasn’t enough lard in them, so I google it just to make sure, and this was my first stop. I’ll make sure I’m putting 1/3 cup in rather than 1/4. They’re in the oven now, and I can’t wait to slap some butter on one! 🙂
And I form my biscuits by hand–my aunt, grandmother and mama always made them that way. <3
Stacey says
I hope they turned out great!!
Gina F. says
I’ve been on a mission the past few weeks to make the perfect biscuit. I have many flops and so-so biscuits until last night with this recipe. They tasted wonderful. I’m sad that I didn’t double the recipe, next time I will for sure. Thank you.
Stacey says
Wonderful! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe!
Jorge says
Can I make this biscuit dough ahead of time and refrigerate overnight?
Stacey says
I wouldn’t recommend that.
Steve says
What about for a couple hours.? I have a ham going right now
Stacey says
Sure! Sounds great!
Nichole says
How many biscuits does this make?
Stacey says
Depending on the size of the cutter between 8 and 10.
phil says
these are in the oven baking at the moment. i’ll leave another comment if they’re delicious. i just wanted to say that these are so much easier than biscuits made with butter. for some reason, barely any kneading is required with this recipe. i suspect science is at play…
Stacey says
I hope you’ll enjoy them!
shannon Smith says
I just made this recipe. I followed the directions but mine came out flat! Any idea as to what I did wrong?
Stacey says
Hi Shannon! Are you sure that your baking powder is fresh? If it is, what did you use to cut the biscuits out?
steve b says
I love this recipe. I also have eaten light, flakey but layered biscuits. Can this recipe be adapted to that end by rolling out the dough much thinner and folding it over several times before either cutting or forming dough balls?
Stacey says
More folding generally leads to more layers, the problem is that you can overwork the dough.
Nancy Smith says
They will turn out tough
Kacey says
I made these tonight, made them a little too thin thinking they would rise too big. Maybe I shouldn’t of used confect on my oven, they didn’t get golden brown, just the edges. Could I brush a small amount of butter next time on top to make them brown up? They are delicious though!
Stacey says
Over working the dough and not cutting the straight up and down (twisting the cutter) can cause them not to raise. Also, folding the dough over several times will increase the layers. I do like to brush mine with a little melted butter to get them to brown up nicely!
Ray W says
My Mom always used cakepans and melted a bit of Crisco (or lard) in the pans instead of a baking sheet. Touching sides helped them rise I guess. What do you think about that option? Hers were also made with buttermilk.
Nancy W says
I’m confused–your directions say add salt AND PEPPER. I didn’t see pepper in your ingredient list. Do you really use pepper and if so, how much?
Stacey says
No pepper. Not sure where that came from. This recipe is from a reader, but I’m pretty sure there’s no pepper in these.
Katrina says
Everyone in the south knows you bake biscuits in a cast iron skillet. Love this recipe. It’s just like my Grandmother used to make except for the skillet.
Stacey says
🙂 We do use a skillet at our house, too!
Kim says
Do you oil the skillet?
Stacey says
You can if it’s not well seasoned.
don says
ive seen some people add a tablesppon or two of sugar,,will that work in your recipe too
Stacey says
It will certainly work to add a bit of sugar, if that’s what you like.
connie Morsher says
i use sugar for the strawberry shortcake recipe.
Brenda says
I made these last night they have a awesome flavor but seem to be a little dry any suggestions? I used the tallow I rendered.
Stacey says
Dryness can be caused by too much flour or not enough fat. So many things, including how you measure flour and in what type of vessel your measuring can affect the flour amounts. I always spoon flour into a DRY measure measuring cup and level it off with the back of a butter knife.
Debra Elliott says
If I substitute buttermilk instead of reg milk. Same results?
Melissa Haydon says
Buttermilk will work perfectly for this recipe.
Perry Skates says
I made these biscuits tonight…..This is a good recipe, they almost tasted as good as my Grandmothers were lang ago. I used Buttermilk, and followed your directions perfectly.
Stacey says
So glad they turned out well for you, Perry!
Martha says
I just made them with all ingredients that I just bough at the store, substituted buttermilk, and they came out flat. I cut them straight down, patted instead of rolled, and only kneaded four times.
Bob says
This is the same as my mothers recipe you can not knead the dough its just mixed together if you knead or over mix the baking powder will not work because the c02 that makes the biscuits rise escapes during the process. mix all dry ingredients together well add milk and melted lard stir a few times to mix it together and drop biscuits in a cast iron skillet bake for about 15 minutes
LarryC says
Hi – I’ve tried so many recipes over the years: the biscuits always come out flat! I don’t hv a cookie cutter tho I do use a plastic tumbler to make the rounds. Perhaps they’re too large across (3″) or…the plastic tumbler smooshes/seals the outside of the biscuit dough? Thanks for any advice…heading out to Fred Meyer’s now for the lard, etc. My chicken soup never fails, tho! But…missing the biscuits.
Stacey says
There are a variety of things that can affect the rise of the biscuits. I would definitely go for a smaller, thicker biscuit and make sure to use a sharp edge when cutting them.
Kellie Parish says
use a glass.
Emma says
Hi I would like to try to make these biscuits, however I have trouble with milk. I was wondering if I could substitute water for milk in this recipe?
Stacey says
I’m just not sure about the taste, Emma. I know they’ll work, just not sure how they’ll taste.
Shaun says
Reduce to 3/4 of a tsp of salt, add 1 tablespoon of salted butter. 🙂
Melinda Kohn says
I used this recipe to make the dough for pigs in the blanket. FABULOUS!!!! thank you so much for this easy quick recipe using lard!!!
Stacey says
So glad it turned out well for you, Melinda!
Gloria says
I’m 76 and bought into the “lard is bad for you” crap years ago because it’s an animal product, but trendy olive oil and coconut oil are worse because they have more saturated fat than lard. We need to face facts: manufactured food is just not good for us–that’s really where all the saturated and trans fats (the “bad fats”) are located for the most part.
My mother, aunt, and grandmother all made biscuits from scratch using both lard and buttermilk and never measured anything and they were always perfect–high and delicious! I don’t remember them using any more than a small ball, maybe a rounded tablespoon, of lard, and later Crisco which became all purpose in the 1960s. but was awful itself–full of saturated fat, trans fats and so on. They also never precisely “mixed” the dry ingredients and worked all of them at once with their hands, then the buttermilk, turning the dough out onto a floured table and shaping each to place in a round cake pan, allowing them to touch.
BTW, buttermilk is what’s left after the butter is made at dairies, so it’s lowfat unless butter is added back in, which is seldom.
You can find self-rising flour in the south which already contains baking powder–just make sure it’s fresh, too. Easy on the butter, though! It has more saturated fat than lard. https://tendergrass.com/lard-vs-coconut-oil/
Johanna says
Oh my gosh, these are amazing! My first time making biscuits with lard, and the best biscuits I’ve ever made. They rose beautifully in the oven, and they were flaky and fluffy and just delicious. Thank you!
Stacey says
I am SO excited to hear that you enjoyed these biscuits!
James Egnor says
And only White Lily self-rising flour. Period.
Stacey says
I agree!! 🙂
SS says
I made these and they tasted like dry piles of raw flour. They definitely needed sugar or some spices added to them. Husband asked me not to make them again. 🙁
Candice Goodyear says
Oh my, this recipe is the best I have found just like my grandmother’s biscuits minus the fact she used a wood burning stove and a cast iron dutch oven and hers rose a little higher. Going to use this recipe from now on. They were so flaky and yummy.
Debbie says
Great biscuits. Reminded me of my aunties. I use self rising flour, lard and milk. They tasted fantastic. Just did not rise very much. Will definitely make them again.
Stacey says
Glad you enjoyed them!
Mary OBrien says
If you use buttermilk you need to adjust/ reduce the baking powder to .50 tsp and replace that portion by adding .50 tsp of baking soda.
The acidity in the buttermilk reduces the effectiveness of the phosphate and will also leave a bitter aftertaste.
Also, make sure to use a double acting baking powder & best that it does not contain aluminum (SALP).
Stacey says
Look at you getting all food-sciency! Thanks for the tips.