Angel Biscuits

YUMM!  Fluffy, flaky, buttermilk, angel biscuits!  I found this recipe stashed with Sis's. It's not written in her own hand, but many of her recipes aren't. She worked at the telephone company for a number of years, and there are countless recipes that were shared among co-workers.  In fact, one of the most famous cookbooks sold in Mississippi is Bell's Best. There are a few volumes of it, but I have what I believe to be a predecessor to this book. If you don't know the book I'm talking about, you can click  here to read about it or purchase a copy from the Telephone Pioneers Chapter of MS. Sissy was a member all of my lifetime. The older book I'm referring to is the one pictured below. South Central Belle's Recipes, from the Traffic Women of Jackson, Miss.

This book was compiled in 1970! 

I am currently looking through it for recipes submitted by Sissy. I found one on the same page where there was an old A&P receipt from 1979. 

Cheese Rolls! More to come on that. 

 Like most Southerners, I adore a good biscuit. It's the foundation of breakfast. I made a few of these trying different things and they still need a little tweaking, so I will probably update this recipe at some point in the future. For now, I'll give you the original and some minor adjustments.  I love the letterhead for the Southern Bell employment office!

Angel Biscuit Ingredients:

5 cups flour

2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup fat (Crisco)

1 tsp. baking soda

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt (I used 2)

1 cake yeast (2 envelopes)

 Yes, this recipe actually says 1 cup FAT. That cracks me up. I guess it does sound better than LARD! I also have NEVER ever seen a cake of yeast. I had to google that one. Generation gap, much. Anyway, It's my guess that we might be able to use self rising flour here, much like the Hot Rize corn meal mix instead of corn meal, powder, soda, and salt, but I love the smell of bread with yeast.

According to the recipe, you need to dissolve the yeast. (Follow package directions.) Then cream the buttermilk, fat, and yeast. Combine dry ingredients and add to liquid. Mix well.


Roll dough onto floured surface to 1" thick.
Cut, dip in butter, stack or leave single, and bake in preheated oven.


Since there was no temperature listed, I turned to google again. Most biscuit recipes call for 15-20 minutes at 400F, and that worked fine for me. In fact I tried a lower temperature, but the biscuits didn't rise as well. Hotter is better. 

 
This recipe made 28 biscuits. I baked them all because I was experimenting, but I'm sure you can freeze them to use when you need them. Granny Beck does that all the time.

 A very special thanks to my mom for making sure I got this vintage biscuit cutter.  Soon, I'll be blogging recipes from that side of the family, too. This simple little guy really gets the job done, and it's the perfect thickness, too.

These biscuits have a slightly sweet taste, but are still fantastic under gravy, syrup, or jelly, and they are strong enough to make a biscuit sandwich with sausage or bacon and eggs. I'm going to make Swedish meatballs tonight and put some of the sauce on one.  I'll switch back to wheat toast on Monday morning. : ) Sissy would approve.