Homemade Butter Biscuits {aka Big Momo’s Biscuits}
This little girl used to help her great-grandmother on her Mermentau farm.
This little girl used to think that all big white houses with columns were Louisiana Plantations.
And on this farm, with this great-garndmother, this little girl learned to drink “coffee milk” and eat “butter biscuits”.
I’ve told the story before but growing up I had a “Lil Momo” and a “Big Momo”. They were named based on their stature and neither one seemed to really mind being called “big” or “lil”.
This is my Big Momo.
She is responsible for teaching me to drink “coffee milk” which was really milk, sugar and just enough of a splash of coffee to make me feel like I was apart of the adult conversations held around her kitchen table.
She is also responsible for teaching me to dip my biscuit ever so slightly into my coffee milk. Gently enough to moisten the biscuit but without pressure to allow it to crumble into the drink.
When I asked for her biscuit recipe, there wasn’t one.
And as fond as my memories are of drinking coffee milk and eating butter biscuits I seem to be the only one who shared those moments with her.
After a few attempts at recreating her biscuit recipe, this one seems to do the trick.
They’re dry and dense. Not flaky.
Perfect for dipping.
And they remind me of sitting at the table with my feet not touching the floor pretending to be one of the grown ups.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup shortening
- ¾ cup milk
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
- Turn out the dough onto a heavily floured surface, let sit for a couple of minutes then knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a floured biscuit cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.
And yes, I totally realize that today is Tuesday and I’m supposed to post cookbook sneak peeks on Monday.
But yesterday involved a meeting with the closet installer and a melt down in Sherwin Williams.
Let the record state that choosing a creamy white paint for kitchen cabinets is 10 times harder than it was choosing the cover of my cookbook.
The end.
I have a St. Patrick’s Day adult beverage coming up for you next.
It’s a goodie.
My MaMa T used to make me “coffee milk” too and she would make me what I called “pa pa zu” (pain perdu) to eat for breakfast with it. She did it for the same reason, so I would feel all special and grown up with her and my mom while they had coffee and chatted at the kitchen table. 🙂
and I’m glad I’m not the only one who had an interesting name for her grandmother. I called my other grandma “MaMa Boots” because she wore rubber boots a lot. 🙂
Oh, I love it!!! Thanks for sharing your “coffee milk” story- made my night!
I so need a biscuit recipe and this looks perfect! It also looks like it’ll be dangerous as I will want to eat every last one!
I tend to think all tried and true recipes are dangerous, but my philosophy is this: if you don’t eat the biscuits with gravy every time then you’re balancing it out. 🙂
I love love love this story! Definitely going to have to make these biscuits:)
I knew you could probably relate, or would appreciate! I’m trying them with ham & cheese bits this week- I’ll keep you posted!