Country Biscuits
1 Tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, lard, Crisco or butter (I use butter)
1 cup of milk (cream) or buttermilk
if using buttermilk add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda)
Optional. Add a little sugar if you prefer sweet rather than savory.
Mix the flour with the baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter/shortening until it resembles coarse meal. Stir milk or cream in to flour mixture. Mix quickly with fork just until dough starts to come together. Tip out on to lightly floured surface. (Will look shaggy) Using hands gently pat mixture to flatten. Now fold dough like an envelop. Turn and fold again. Do this at least three to four times. The dough is now ready to roll out. This whole step should only take 30 to 45 seconds. Do not over-handle. (Folding forms layers which makes for a very flakey biscuit).
Pat out to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick on a lightly floured board. Cut with biscuit cutters and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Brush biscuits with a little milk or cream and bake for approximately 12 to 15 minutes at 450°F.
If making cheese biscuits add the mustard and cayenne to the dry ingredients and add the cheese after the shortening has been cut into the flour.
Tip: An easy way to cut the butter into the flour is to use a box grater. The large side of the grater makes the perfect size pieces of butter.
Options:
You can use any favourite cheese. Gorgonzola and other blue cheeses are wonderful with the addition of black pepper. Cheddar cheese is good with chives or green onions. Sometimes I add dry mustard and cayenne pepper. Or bacon or ham.
NOTE: If you like the tops to stay soft, dip the biscuits, top side down into melted butter.
thibeaultstable.com 
That looks like a divine Sunday breakfast! I may give homemade biscuits another go. My first batch were white hockey pucks!
That is my recipe exactly; I have never done the folding thing though. I like the layer looks so will do that very soon.I always learn something here. Thank you.
Connie, the secret to biscuits and scones is to not over handle the dough. Once you have mastered biscuits you will make them all the time. ~Ann
Ann, I made them this morning and was delight to see the change!
Gld, Thank you letting me know. Folding does make a difference. I use the same method when making pastry dough too.~Ann
I'm sorry, but I don't really understand the flattening, turning and folding steps. Do you flatten into a rectangle or a square? What does \”fold like an envelope\” mean? Do you mean flip over or one quarter turn?
Add the liquid, stir quickly using a fork and then tip the mixture out on to a floured surface. Use your hands to push the mixture together, and \”fold like an envelope\”. This basically means to fold into thirds. Fold the top of the dough half way down and fold the bottom up over this fold. Give a quarter turn and push the dough out again into a rectangle and fold. Repeat this at least four times. By then your dough will be ready to cut into biscuits. If you don't want to use your hands you can use a rolling pin. Either works. If you do a Google Image Search for \”Picture showing how to fold into thirds for biscuits\”, you will find a number of examples. Hope this helps. ~Ann
Thank you so much! I want to try making them this weekend. 🙂
I made These twice today and they never came out layered or high as yours did…they taste delicious though and I consider Myself a great baker lol not sure what I am doing wrong.