The Best Sourdough Biscuits

Week one hundred. I've been writing this blog for one hundred weeks. Almost two years. One hundred Mondays of soup beans, one hundred weeks of stories, one hundred chances to say something about food and life and the mountains and the people who come from the mountains and carry the mountains with them wherever they go.

One hundred weeks and I still can't make Betty's biscuits. They're close. They're always close. But there's something — some variable I can't isolate — that keeps mine at ninety-five percent of Betty's. I've tried everything: colder hands, colder butter, less mixing, more mixing, different brands of flour. I called Betty last week and asked her, again, what I'm missing. She said "You're trying too hard. Biscuits know when you're trying." This is either the most profound thing anyone has ever said about baking or the most unhelpful. Possibly both.

For week one hundred, I want to revisit the biscuits. The recipe hasn't changed: two cups self-rising flour, pinch of salt, third cup of lard, buttermilk. But the philosophy has changed. I'm not going to try so hard. I'm going to let the dough be what it wants to be. I'm going to pat it, not force it. I'm going to trust the ingredients the way Betty trusts the ingredients — with the confidence of a woman who's made twenty-three thousand batches and doesn't need to worry anymore.

I made biscuits on Sunday morning. Hands cold from the faucet. Lard cold from the fridge. Buttermilk cold from the carton. I cut the lard into the flour fast, working with my fingertips, not my palms. I added the buttermilk and stirred three times with a fork. Three. Not ten. Three. I turned out the dough and patted it — gently, the way you'd pat a sleeping dog — to an inch thick. Cut with the biscuit cutter. Straight down, no twisting (twisting seals the edges and prevents the rise). Into the oven at 450.

They rose. They rose taller than they ever have. Golden on top, flaky inside, with layers that peeled apart like pages of a book. I ate one with sorghum and one with butter and one plain, standing at the counter, and they were — they were ninety-eight percent. Not one hundred. Not Betty's. But ninety-eight. And the two percent that's missing might just be sixty years of practice, or the altitude in Evarts, or the particular calibration of Betty's oven, or magic. I'll take ninety-eight percent. I'll take it and be grateful and keep trying because the trying is the point. The trying is the recipe.

One hundred weeks. Thank you for reading. The biscuits are rising. The soup is on. The mountain is still there. Keep going.

So here it is — the recipe for week one hundred. It’s not Betty’s recipe, because Betty’s recipe lives in Betty’s hands and Betty’s oven and sixty years of muscle memory I haven’t earned yet. But this sourdough biscuit recipe is what I’ve been turning to when I want biscuits with a little more character, a little tang from the starter that reminds me fermentation is just another form of patience. Cold lard, gentle hands, and faith that the dough knows what it’s doing — that’s the whole philosophy, whether you’re at ninety-eight percent or one hundred.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 8 biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup active sourdough starter (unfed/discard works too)
1/2 cup cold buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter, for brushing tops

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Set your oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
Cut in the butter. Add the cold cubed butter to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips — not your palms — work the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Keep it cold and work fast.
Add the wet ingredients. Make a well in the center. Add the sourdough starter and cold buttermilk. Stir with a fork just until the dough comes together — three or four turns, no more. It should look shaggy and slightly rough. Do not overmix.
Fold the dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat it into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Fold it in thirds like a letter. Pat it out again to 1 inch thick. Repeat this fold one more time for extra flaky layers.
Cut the biscuits. Pat the dough to a final 1-inch thickness. Cut with a 2-1/2 inch biscuit cutter, pressing straight down — no twisting, as twisting seals the edges and prevents the rise. Gather scraps gently and cut remaining biscuits.
Bake. Place biscuits on the prepared baking sheet with sides just touching. Bake at 450°F for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are tall and golden brown.
Brush and serve. Remove from the oven and immediately brush the tops with melted butter. Serve warm with sorghum, butter, jam, or just plain — standing at the counter, the way biscuits were meant to be eaten.

Nutrition (per serving)

The Best Sourdough Biscuits — One Hundred Weeks of Rising