2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar or sugar substitute (Splenda, Stevia, etc).
4 tsp baking powder
1 stick (8 Tbsp) very cold butter butter
3/4 - 1 cup milk
I grew up in Texas, and every family in the Deep South has a biscuit recipe, usually one that's never written down. My grandmother had one. This is NOT her recipe, but I think she'd be proud of it. She'd especially like the bottoms of the biscuits, which basically fry in butter.
Preheat the oven to 425.
Mix the first 4 ingredients (the dry ingredients) into a medium mixing bowl.
Take a pastry cutter or a fork or what I use -- a box cheese grater-- and cut about 1/2 of the butter into the dry ingredients. If using a grater, use the "medium holes." If using a pastry cutter or fork, cut them together until it resembles corn meal and you can't see any large pieces of butter. Now, cut the rest of the butter into the mixture, leaving pieces the size of large peas. If using a grater, use the "slicer" side.
Add the milk and stir to combine. You want a somewhat sticky, but not overly wet, dough.
Flour a work surface, and turn the dough out onto the surface. Pat it out until roughly a rectangle. Fold it over onto itself in thirds, as if you were folding a letter.Now, take your rolling pin and roll it out into another rectangle about 1/2-3/4 inches thick. Fold over onto itself in thirds again. Roll out. Fold over. Roll out. You want to fold over a total of 3 or 4 times, adding flour as necessary. Roll out one final time to 1/2 - 3/4 inches thick.
Take your 2-inch biscuit cuter (usually the largest in a set), and cut out biscuits. Pat the scraps together and fold the dough in half. Roll it out again and cut more biscuits. Continue until you run out of dough. You can also put scraps on the top of biscuits you've already cut as a decoration, if you wish.
