I had never been a huge biscuit person until recently. These are melt-in-your-mouth, flaky, buttery, savory and pure deliciousness.
They are amazing with apple butter, jam, sausage patties, or for an epic breakfast sandwich. They come together quickly and are simple to make. Enjoy!
Cast Iron Lard Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoon) sea salt
6 tablespoons lard or leaf lard
2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing, Kerrygold is our favorite!
1 cup buttermilk*
*You can sub buttermilk with milk & lemon juice. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup and then add milk until you have a total of 1 cup. Let stand for 5 minutes before mixing in.
Step-by Step Instructions:
Place an oven rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 450°F.
Grease a cast iron skillet or round cake pan with a bit of lard or butter. I usually add a tablespoon and use a paper towel to cover the bottom of the pan.
Add your dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl & whisk together. Keep the lard and buttermilk in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Add the cold lard to the mixing bowl and cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or fork & knife. Continue cutting the lard into the flour until it resembles course crumbs.
Add the cold buttermilk into the bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until just until combined, just a few stirs. The dough will be pretty wet and sticky.
Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust flour over the top of the dough and flour your hands. Bring the dough into a round disc.
Pat the dough out with your hands (not a rolling pin) until it is about 1-inch thick. Using a bench knife or spatula, fold the dough in half and then turn it 90 degrees. Pat out and fold again for a total of 6 times. Don’t skip this! It created layers and adds flakiness to your biscuits.
Press the dough out to about 1-inch thick. Dip the top of a 2.5 inch diameter drinking glass (small mason jars work great) into flour to keep dough from sticking. Use your glass and press down thru the dough to cut out your biscuits without twisting. You should be able to get about 5-6 biscuits the first time. Gently pat the scraps together to 1 inch thickness to cut out 2-3 more for a total of 8 biscuits.
Place the biscuits into your cast iron skillet with the edges touching.
Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Do not open the oven door for at least the first half of baking time. Brush biscuits with melted butter and serve with jam, apple butter, sausage patties, or egg & cheese. Enjoy!
If you’re having sausage biscuits:
While the biscuits are cooking, I take a pound of our thawed breakfast/country sausage, squeeze it gently out of the tube onto a cutting board and sliced into 6-7 equal discs. Then form into patties adding a slight indentation with your thumbs about 1 inch in diameter in the center of each patty since the sausage rises in the center as it cooks.
Once the biscuits are done, remove onto a plate, and cook your sausage patties in the same skillet over medium high heat until slightly golden on each side, about 3-4 minutes per side.
Let us know if you try these, you will love them :) Snag your lard and sausage from our farm here!