I don't remember where I found this recipe, but it was titled Dixie Biscuits, so I'm betting one of my Southern cookbooks. I have a friend in need at the moment, so I just needed a place to type it all out. I'll actually make some this weekend, so I can include photos. I will include the overall recipe, and my added notes along the way.
Dixie Biscuits!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. (I use a large round baking pan that I inherited, but you can use a cookie sheet. Just put them in a circle on the cookie sheet so the sides are all touching and they grow into each other. Spray the pan with cooking spray.)
3 1/4 c flour (any kind will do, but once I tried whole wheat and it was not great)
5 tsp baking powder (Yes, teaspoons. Yes, you could use 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons. Same.)
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c butter
1 egg, beaten
1 c milk
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix lightly. Cut the butter in tablespoon lumps and add to flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until it's coarse and crumbly. Measure 1 cup milk into one of those 2 cup liquid measuring cups, then add the egg and scramble together. Pour this into the flour butter mixture and mix together until it becomes one big lump. It should start to lose it's stickiness and be combined. Sprinkle an extra tablespoon of flour on if needed to achieve this. On a plastic pastry sheet or large cutting board, sprinkle the surface with another tablespoon or two of flour and drop the dough ball out onto this surface. You do not want the dough to stick to the surface. Do not knead the dough so much as form a round ball that stays together, and is no longer sticky, and press the center lightly with your hand to push it flat. Roll it out to about a 1.5" to 2" thickness, which is not super thin. Use a 2" round biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits. Do NOT twist the biscuit cutter when cutting out biscuits. Just push straight down, and pull straight up. If your surface is floured well enough, the biscuit should stick in the cutter when you pull it up. Place the biscuits in a circle pan with the sides touching, or on any baking pan in a circle, with the sides touching. Bake at 400 degrees for 16-18 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. I like to check them at 16 minutes.
This dough can also be used for cinnamon rolls. Follow all above instructions except be VERY sure the surface is well dusted with flour, and roll out as thin as you can get it without breaking holes. You will want to roll it in a rectangular fashion, about the shape of a regular cookie pan laid lengthwise in front of you. If the dough sticks to the surface, it will create holes as you roll it, so the surface needs a lot of flour dusted on it. Sprinkle the top with a generous dose of cinnamon, and then a generous dose of dark brown sugar. Roll the wide end gently, starting at the top, beginning at one side and working back and forth, rolling towards you. Use a sharp knife to slice the rolls and lay them the same way as the biscuits, either in a circular pan with sides touching, or in a circle on a cookie pan, with sides touching. Use the same cooking instructions as above.
