Mama’s Fluffy Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

I’ve often wondered if my mother learned to cook biscuits before she knew how to walk.

Mom is the oldest of 4 children. Her mom had serious heart problems, and from an early age, mom was responsible for helping out around the house. One of her chores was making biscuits. Her grandmother taught her the technique.

Over the years, she studied the art. Once, a lady brought mom biscuits, and mom was intrigued by the fluffiness. She asked the lady how she got them so fluffy, and the lady spilled her secret: White Lily Self-Rising Flour. Since then, mom uses this flour for her biscuits. As a matter of fact, when all of the family comes to town, she buys a new bag of flour. It must be fresh!

I’ve been eating my mother’s biscuits all of my life. They are savory clouds of biscuit heaven. Pour on some gravy, and you have yourself supper. Slap on some butter and jam, and you have yourself a desert! Personally, I like to scavenge the crumbs off the pan after the biscuits are gone.

SOUTHERN COOKS DON’T MEASURE

Southern cooks are notorious for “eyeballing” the measurements. (It is frustrating when you are trying to learn.) “Eyeballing” is equivalent to “that looks about right,” or, “it needs a touch more,” or, “you add this much till it looks like this.” For southern cooks, making a dish is more of an art than a science.

“This is a good batch of biscuits!” or “These biscuits aren’t that good,” mom will say as we are all stuffing our mouths. We cannot tell the difference. They are all divine. Only the artist knows the secret to perfection, and only the artist knows whether their art measures up.

With this being said, I cannot give you exact measurements. Instead, I have made a video of the artist creating a masterpiece.