The Scoop
Angel Biscuits bring comfort to a college dorm with a bit of kitchen magic and a nostalgic touch.
The first time I made Angel Biscuits was inspired by a rainy day spent in my old college dorm with my roommate. We were both craving a bit of comfort amid the chaos of exams, and biscuits felt like the perfect choice. I remembered how my grandmother would let the yeast bloom gently in warm water, a step that always seemed like kitchen magic to me. This time, I added buttermilk, watching it swirl into the yeast, a moment of alchemy that promised something special.
Back then, our dorm cookware was limited, but we made do by using a clean wine bottle as a rolling pin—a rookie move, but it worked! We cut the dough with the only round thing we could find: an upside-down water glass. As we placed the biscuits on a makeshift baking sheet (a cookie sheet borrowed from down the hall), anticipation hummed in the air. Our little dorm room filled with the comforting aroma of biscuits rising, and the golden brown tops, brushed with melted butter, felt like a reward well worth the effort.
A practical tip from those days? Always let your biscuits rest under a clean kitchen towel after shaping them. This gives the dough time to rise and develop flavor. Though those Angel Biscuits may have been a bit uneven in shape, they were perfect in every other way. That day taught me that a bit of improvisation, a dash of nostalgia, and a heap of love make even the simplest recipe extraordinary.
Ingredients
- 2 (0.25-ounce) packages active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water, about 110 degrees F-115 degrees F
- 2 cups warm buttermilk, about 110 degrees F-115 degrees F
- 5-5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring a work surface
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup shortening
- butter, melted, to taste
Directions
- Lightly grease 2-3 baking sheets.
- In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes.
- Stir the warm buttermilk into the yeast mixture.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, the sugar, the salt, the baking powder, and the baking soda.
- Cut the shortening into the flour mixture using a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Stir the yeast mixture into the flour mixture.
- Lightly flour a worksurface and turn the dough out onto it.
- Knead the dough lightly 3-4 times, then roll it out to 1/2-inch thickness.
- Cut the dough with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter.
- Place the biscuits 2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Cover the biscuits with clean kitchen towels and let them rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Bake the biscuits until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.
- Lightly brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter.
- Serve the biscuits warm.
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