Doc Bear's Old Fashioned Lard Biscuits

Traditional Southern-style biscuits made with lard for authentic flavor and flakiness. Features detailed technique for creating layers and proper handling to achieve perfect biscuit texture.

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1.25 tsp kosher salt
  • 0.25 tsp baking soda
  • 6 Tbsp very cold lard
  • 1 Cup very cold buttermilk

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 450°F (230 C).
  2. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt in a large bowl and whisk until well combined.
  3. Add the very cold lard into the dry ingredients and cut it into the flour, using a pastry cutter or a fork, until it is coarse granules.
  4. Add the cold buttermilk into the bowl and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. This should only take a few turns. The dough will be wet and sticky.
  5. IMPORTANT: do NOT use a rolling pin for the next few steps
  6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands gently pat out the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick.
  7. Fold dough in half and turn 90 degrees. Pat it out and fold it again. Do this process about 6 times to create layers in the dough. This will create the desired flakiness in the baked biscuits.
  8. Finally, gently pat the dough out to 1" thick. Using a 2 ½ to 3-inch round cutter, cut biscuits and place into a cakepan or springform pan (sheet pan, optional) with biscuits close together
  9. 2 ½ "cutter will get about 8 biscuits or 6 biscuits for 3" cutter
  10. Gently pat the scraps together to cut out the rest of your biscuits.
  11. OPTIONAL: you can brush the tops with melted butter or buttermilk
  12. Bake at 450°F for 12-15 minutes until golden. Biscuits smaller than 2 ½ will take less time to cook.
  13. Try not to open the oven door during the first half of baking time. Steam in the oven will help provide additional rise in the biscuits.