The key with these is to get a flour that’s made with soft winter wheat, if possible. You can make them with all-purpose flour, but they won’t be as fluffy and high. Because flour is typically produced and sold regionally in the US, we actually mail-order a Southern brand of flour in order to achieve the perfect biscuits. Typically, pastry flour will be ground from the right kind of wheat.
The other key to success with biscuits is to not over-mix the dough. Kneading and mixing stretches the proteins in the flour — which is great if you’re making bread, but it makes delicate items tough.
Preheat oven to 250.
Use a pastry cutter or two knives to blend together just until pea-sized chunks remain:
450 ml pastry flour
15 ml baking powder
2 ml salt
60 ml vegetable shortening or lard
With a fork, gently blend in:
175 ml milk or buttermilk
When it’s blended just enough to form a cohesive ball of dough, dust your work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Knead enough that you can roll or pat it out to about 1-2 cm in thickness.
Use a biscuit cutter or the rim of a 6-7 cm diameter glass to cut out biscuits and place on an ungreased baking sheet, arranged so that their edges just touch. Shape dough scraps into a ball and pat out again to make the remaining dough into biscuits, repeating until the dough is all used.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. Brush with melted butter, if desired, and serve with lots of butter and good jam or honey, or with gravy.