Biscuits Before the World Woke Up
Ashley Evans
There’s something sacred about biscuit-making.
The kind you do slow, barefoot, before the house wakes up.
No mixer. No measuring cups clanking. Just flour on the counter, cold butter under your fingers, and buttermilk poured by instinct. These biscuits were never meant to be fancy—they were meant to be faithful. Showing up on hard mornings, Sunday dinners, and every table where love needed filling in.
My grandmother used to say you could tell a lot about a person by their biscuits—how gentle they were with the dough, whether they rushed, whether they trusted their hands more than the recipe. These are the kind that rise proud and soft, split open with steam, and carry the quiet comfort of generations.
They don’t ask for much.
Just a hot oven, a patient hand, and someone to share them with.
Because in the South, biscuits aren’t just bread—
they’re how we say you’re home.
Old-Fashioned Southern Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour (White Lily if you have it)
1/4 cup cold lard or cold butter (or a mix of both, like the old folks did)
3/4 cup whole buttermilk (cold)
A little extra flour for dusting
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 450°F.
Pour flour into a wide bowl. Cut in the cold lard or butter using your fingers until it looks like coarse crumbs—don’t rush this part.
Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk. Gently stir just until the dough comes together. It should be soft and a little shaggy.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Fold it over itself 3–4 times—no kneading.
Pat dough to about 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits straight down with a floured cutter (no twisting).
Place biscuits close together in a greased cast-iron skillet or pan.
Bake 12–15 minutes, until tall, golden, and smelling like home.
Serve hot with butter, sorghum, or a spoonful of jam.