Makes 16 biscuits (2½-inch)
Hands-on: 20–30 minutes
Bake: 13–17 minutes at 425°F

This bag is the dry mix. You add the fat and the buttermilk.

​

You will need

• 1 lb bag Frisky Biscuit Mix

• 8 oz cold fat, your choice:

  • 8 oz cold leaf lard (about 1 cup), or

  • 2 sticks (8 oz) cold unsalted butter, cubed, or

  • 4 oz lard + 4 oz butter

• 1½ to 1¾ cups cold buttermilk — start with 1½ cups

• Extra mix or all-purpose flour, for dusting

• Melted lard or butter, for brushing (optional)

Use a 2½-inch cutter and a parchment-lined baking sheet.

 

Before you start

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Keep the lard or butter cold. If it gets soft, the biscuits lose flake. If the kitchen is warm, cube the fat and put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Lard gives you more flake and a classic biscuit crumb. Butter gives you more flavor and a deeper golden top. Half and half gives you both.

 

Make the biscuits

1. Empty the full 1 lb bag into a bowl. Whisk once to loosen the mix.

2. Add the cold lard and/or butter. Cut it in until the mix looks like coarse crumbs, with some pea- to marble-sized pieces of fat still showing. Work quickly.

3. Pour in 1½ cups cold buttermilk. Stir just until a soft, shaggy dough forms. If it still looks dry and won’t come together, add more buttermilk 1 tablespoon at a time. Stop as soon as it holds. Don’t overmix.

4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Pat it into a rectangle about ¾ inch thick. Fold it in thirds once or twice, then pat it back to ¾ inch. That’s what gives you layers.

5. Cut straight down with the cutter. Don’t twist — twisting seals the edges and they won’t rise as high. Set the rounds 1–2 inches apart on the pan. Press the scraps together gently and cut again. You should get 16.

6. Brush the tops with melted lard or butter if you like.

7. Bake 13–17 minutes, until they’re risen and golden. Rotate the pan if your oven browns unevenly. Brush them again when they come out if you want a little shine.

8. Cool for a few minutes on a rack. Serve warm.

 

A few things that matter

• If the mix starts to look greasy or smeared, the fat got too warm. Chill the bowl for 10 minutes, then add the buttermilk.

• Shaggy dough is what you want. Wet dough spreads instead of rising.

• For 16 biscuits from this bag, keep the dough at ¾ inch and use a 2½-inch cutter. Thicker dough or a bigger cutter will give you fewer, larger biscuits.

• Don’t add extra baking powder, baking soda, or salt. That’s already in the mix.

• Salted butter is fine if that’s what you have. The biscuits will just run a little saltier.