Buttermilk Angel Biscuits
Monday, January 2, 2012 at 11:54AM 
Happy new year, everyone! Yes, people, I have returned from my self-imposed blogging exile just in time to catch you when you're probably still in the throes of your post-holiday food coma and not the least bit interested in cooking, eating or planning the next meal. Great. But someday soon I promise you will return to the kitchen, and when you do, you will thank me for insisting that you make these ethereal little biscuits.
But before I tell you about them, how have you been? I really have missed you these past couple of months. Remember how I told you in my last post that I was going to spend my little hiatus getting my camera and computer equipment cleaned and researching new recipes and stuff like that? Nah. Didn't do any of that. I had such great intentions, but mostly what I did was barely manage to keep up with my crazy life and all the holiday shopping, cooking and partying. So now I need a vacation. But so do you, right?
Seeing as how neither of us is going to get one, I thought it might be nice to just cook you something super delicious. These little angel biscuits are so dang good that if you’ve been avoiding your kitchen since the holidays, these should send you running back there like your hair’s on fire. I mean it. These are the lightest, airiest, fluffiest and easiest biscuits ever. OK, the box of Bisquick is way easier, but no way are they this fluffy. I heart fluffy biscuits.
There have been several recipes for angel biscuits floating around the past few months and I really meant to make them during the holidays. I won’t bore you with all the reasons I never got around to it, but I must say they made a pretty great post-holiday treat.
And when I say they’re easy, I really do mean it. I know because I made them 3 times in one afternoon. If that seems excessive, it’s just that evidently I needed to practice being stupid. I forgot to put the baking soda in the first batch (I must tell you about these later); I accidentally set the oven to convection on the second batch and they got a might too toasty; and then (thank goodness) the third batch was just right.
About those first biscuits that didn’t get the baking soda… they were so good. They didn’t rise much, so no fluffiness, but they came out like a heavy, sort of doughy dinner roll, but kind’ve flat, and I honestly could have eaten 5 or 11 of them. So if you forget the baking soda, do not despair.
Happy New Year! I wish you lots of good eats in 2012 starting with Buttermilk Angel Biscuits! And as if they weren’t enough to jump start the year, it seems that angel biscuit sliders are pretty dang amazing too…
Here's the recipe...
BUTTERMILK ANGEL BISCUITS
click here for printable recipe
Recipe adapated from Favorite Recipes Press via Relish magazine
I made a few changes from the original recipe to make it even easier. If you have a food processor, you can throw these together in no time. The original recipe said it would make 18 to 24 biscuits, but that really depends on how thick you cut them. If you like your biscuits tall (which I do), roll the dough out to about an inch thick and you will get about 12 biscuits. If you want more than that, just roll the dough out a little thinner. These are good no matter how big they are.
Ingredients
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablesppons sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup shortening, cut into pieces
Instructions
1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.2. *To the bowl of a food processor, add the dry ingredients and pulse a few times to mix3. Add the shortening and pulse a few more times until it forms little pebbles in the flour.4. Add the buttermilk and yeast mixture and pulse until it forms a sort of sticky ball. 5. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead two or three times, just to form a ball and roll out to about ¾ to an inch thick.6. Using a 2-inch cutter, cut out the biscuits and place them in a greased pan.7. While the oven preheats, let the biscuits rise slightly (about 20 minutes). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 400F. Eat while warm.
*If you don’t have a food processor, no worries. Just mix your dry ingredients in a large bowl and “cut in” the shortening using a pastry cutter or two knives. I used the two-knife method to cut shortening and butter into my pie crusts for years before I had a food processor. Just angle the knives towards each other like scissors, sort of chopping through the flour until the shortening is the size of little pebbles and then continue with the recipe, adding in the buttermilk, etc.
Reader Comments (20)
Patrice, this looks wonderful - although the online recipe doesn't list buttermilk (it's on the printable version). I love your site.
Thanks for letting me know about that, Deb - got it fixed. Enjoy the biscuits!
So glad to see you're back to blogging! I'm looking forward to reading about your food adventures in the new year :)
Thank you, Emiglia!
These look incredible! Great post. And welcome back. We missed you.
Been looking for a good biscuit recipe. Think I just found one. Thanks.
Thank you, Sandra. It's nice to be back! And hope you enjoy the biscuits, Frankie. Thanks for stopping in!
Wahoo!! You're back!! And with a winner to start the year off. Thanks, Patti. Here's to delicious dining in 2012!!
Thanks, Judi!! Yes... here's to eating well this year!!
Welcome back! What delicious looking biscuits. I am definitely going to have to give these a try. They look so light and fluffy. Yum!
Thanks so much, Tanya. It's nice to be back. Enjoy the biscuits!! They're wonderful.
Happy New Year and welcome back! These biscuits are definitely going on the to- do list. They look amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Elaine. Enjoy!
Welcome back!
Thank you, Theresa. So nice to hear from you.
These biscuits look so delicious. Thank you for sharing. Will try it and tell how it was.
THANK YOU for this recipe! So fantastic! They preheated well, too. Just discovered your site--great job!
Thank you, Andrea. So glad you liked the biscuits... they've become favorites around here too.
Angel Biscuits - I knew I used to make these, a little yeast in a rolled biscuit make them so unique. I searched my recipes and finally found it on a handwritten card, which means it's old, probably from the 1980s. My recipe is almost exactly the same as yours, just a little more baking powder and less sugar. I made them last night for strawberry shortcake, and had them today for breakfast with honey. Heavenly!
What I'd like to add for your readers is that you can freeze these before baking. My old notes say "after you roll them out, can freeze at this point - thaw at room temperature 20 minutes before baking." This was a great convenience for me back in the day when the kids were little and I was working.
Thanks for reminding me about this great recipe!
Thanks so much, Patty! I love the idea of being able to freeze them before baking them off. These are the best biscuits ever and now even easier to make!