This recipe is sore of a cross between biscuits and rolls....but I think more forgiving than biscuits.
Sorry I don't remember who originally posted this.

I like to make them in the mornings for a breakfast roll too.
I usually double the recipe using only 1/3 cup sugar in the doubled recipe.
If you keep the dough for a week, punch it down every day or so.
They are a great roll.
Buttermilk Refrigerator Rolls
1 Package dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup melted butter
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
2 cups buttermilk
Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large mixing bowl. Let sit 5 minutes. Stir in butter
Combine dry ingredients; add to yeast mixture along with buttermilk.
Stir well. Turn dough out on a floured surface, knead gently a few times and shape into a ball. Place in greased bowl, cover, and refrigerate until needed. Keeps for one week.
Break off a soft ball sized lump of dough and roll into a circle about 1/4" thick. Cut into pie shaped wedges and roll up from the wider edge into crescent shapes. You do not have to let them rise again.
Bake on greased baking sheet at 400 for 8-10 minutes
I'm glad you liked the rolls Emily. I'm about to make 300 of them for an upcoming event. I should have mentioned that the dough is very sticky after stirring. I scrape it onto my board and very gently knead in another 1/2 to 1 cup more flour. Just firm enough to handle. The flour is coating the outside of the gluten ball. Later, when punched down, I use enough flour to roll them out..it's actually more of a streching the ball into a flattish round. I try not to disturb the gluten sack. I do roll a bit, however.
I'm not explaining it very well, but bread doughs can be managed by using flour on the outside and not incorporating it into the dough itself. This makes a lighter roll.
Linda C

There are the ones I use.

Love them...actually my husband tells me roll them out flatter, because they rise and fall over a bit..LOL

I've made them ahead too...

Here is a link that might be useful: Big Daddy Biscuits

KFC Buttermilk Biscuits

1/2 c. butter
2-1/2 T. sugar
1 beaten egg
3/4 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. Club Soda
1 t. salt
5 c. Bisquick

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Combine all ingredients and knead dough until smooth (Knead about 10-20 times.)
3. Flour hands. Pat dough to 3/4-inch thickness on waxed paper and cut with biscuit cutter.
4. Bake on greased baking sheet for 12 minutes.
Makes 18 biscuits.

Grainlady Notes:

1. I make these with my homemade wholegrain version of "Bisquick" that has freshly-milled spelt in it. Spelt has less gluten than wheat, which makes it a good choice for any kind of quick bread where you need less gluten.

2. When using a traditional recipe for biscuits, use a Southern all-purpose flour - White Lily or Martha White all-purpose - instead of a National Brand (Pillsbury, Gold Medal) all-purpose flour. Southern all-purpose flours have less gluten in them than National Brand all-purpose flour.

All quick breads and pastries have one goal - don't develop too much gluten or they get tough, so starting with a flour that has less gluten in it to begin with is a good thing (as Martha Stewart would say).

3. Avoid over-mixing all quick breads (which includes biscuits). Mixing and kneading biscuits a lot will develop too much gluten which makes them tough. Mix biscuits only until most of the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the wet ingredients. A bit of flour left unmixed is OKAY. It will get incorporated when you knead them a few times.

4. Avoid second cuts, which are much tougher than first cuts. Second cuts are those biscuits that are made with the leftover dough after you've cut the dough with a round cutter. You gather all the scraps up and knead it to combine it, and pat it out and cut more biscuits. This second manipulation develops even MORE gluten, which results in tough biscuits. To avoid this, cut biscuits into squares, rather than rounds. I do this with my JUMBO pizza cutter, or a bench scraper (aka bench knife) will also do a good job.

-Grainlady

I use Big Daddy's recipe also - very good. In the South, we call yeast biscuits like Linda's recipe, Angel Biscuits - and they are to die for! Sometimes I make the entire recipe and bake until they are set and just about to turn brown, then I cool them, freeze them on a sheet, and package them up when they are frozen hard. I treat them like brown 'n serve rolls when I want to serve them. Light and delicious!

Teresa

My favorite recipe is the Biscuits Supreme from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar, and sugar; cut in shortening till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk all at once, stir only till dough follows fork around bowl. Turn out onto lightly floured surface; pat down, lightly sprinkle with flour and fold once so biscuits will open in the center (recipe says to knead gently 1/2 minute, but don't do it), pat down and roll to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Cut with biscuit cutter. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet in very hot oven (450 degrees) 10 to 12 minutes (I like 13 minutes). Makes about 12 biscuits.

I think the easiest and best are James Beard's Cream Biscuits. They are quick and easy and always delicious. Like this blogger i usually skip the melted butter but it does make them delicious. And I don't need any extra cream!

Here is a link that might be useful: James Beard's cream biscuits

I love biscuits for breakfast. Here is the recipe I use as my basic recipe and I add different seasonings to it depending on what I feel like.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Country Biscuits
================
Edited/November 2005

2 cups of flour
1 Tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, lard, crisco or butter (I use butter)
1 cup of milk (cream) or buttermilk
if using buttermilk add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda)

Optional. Add a little sugar if you prefer sweet rather than savory.

.
Mix the flour with the baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening until
it resembles coarse meal. Stir milk or cream in to flour mixture. Mix
quickly with fork until dough comes together. Using hands gently pat
the ingredients together. Do not over handle. Pat out to about 1/2 to
3/4 inch thick on a lightly floured board.
Cut with biscuit cutters and place on a parchment paper lined cookie
sheet and bake for approximately 12 to 15 minutes at 450°F.

If making cheese biscuits add the mustard and cayenne to the dry
ingredients and add the cheese after the shortening has been cut into
the flour.

(Note: to cut in shortening either use a pastry blender or put the dry
ingredients along with the shortening in a food processor and pulse
until the fat is the size of little peas. Do not over process. Pour the
mixture into a bowl and add the liquid stirring with a fork.)

(Options: For cheese biscuits, add cayenne pepper, dry mustard and some
shredded cheddar cheese) or add some fried ham and green onions with
the cheese)

Option for using Blue Cheese(s):

Add chopped green onion and Gloucestershire cheese or another type of
blue cheese. And black pepper to taste.

I have tried and tried to make biscuits... I've never gotten anything but bricks. Sometime last year, I made a post about it here, but I still made bricks even following the tips I gleaned. Bisquick works wonders for me... so now that is how I make biscuits and the cheddar biscuits like the ones found at Red Lobster. I don't like doing it because it doesn't *feel* homemade... You'll never find a box of cake mix or cookie mix or brownie mix in my cupboards, so I feel ike Bisquick is cheating. However, people would much rather eat something I made with Bisquick than a traditional biscuit recipe. Homemade is subjective anyway!

I've come to accept the fact that I will never make a good biscuit from scratch. Some people can, and some people can't! And, I'm OK with that!

I second the James Beard Cream Biscuits. I've never had much luck with biscuits before I tried these. They were easy to make and delicious. They were light and fluffy, exactly what you want in a biscuit! I actually used the America's Test Kitchen version, which they credit to James Beard. Basically the same recipe. Here's that version.

Cream Biscuits from America's Test Kitchen
Makes 8 (2 1/2-inch) biscuits

Bake the biscuits immediately after cutting them as letting them stand for any length of time can decrease the leavening power and prevent the biscuits from rising properly in the oven.

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Adjust the oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups cream and stir with wooden spoon until dough forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough from bowl to countertop, leaving all the dry, floury bits behind in the bowl. 1 tablespoon at a time, add up to 1/4 cup cream to dry bits in bowl, mixing with wooden spoon after each addition, until moistened. Add these moistened bits to rest of dough and knead by hand just until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Cut biscuits into rounds or wedges. Place rounds or wedges on the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Variations:

Cream Biscuits with Fresh Herbs
Using the herb of your choice, follow the recipe for Cream Biscuits, whisking 2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs into flour along with sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Cheddar Biscuits
Follow the recipe for Cream Biscuits, stirring 1/2 cup (2 ounces) sharp cheddar cheese cut into 1/4-inch pieces into flour along with the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Increase baking time to 18 minutes.

I will vouch for Ann's delicious Country Biscuits, the best I have ever made and eaten. They are the only biscuits I make now.

Teresa

Believe it or not I made Angel Biscuits today :) Youngest daughter wanted them, I prefer baking powder biscuits myself.

OK, put me on the list of those who don't make biscuits. But these recipes sound so good that I am saving the thread. It could be really dangerous.

Lee

I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread

I feel my waistline growing

helllpppp...

Bobby, I'd suggest you try the cream biscuits recipe, use light hands (ie, handle the dough as little as possible, and gently pat rather than roll hard). It's very similar to a recipe I've used for years, and given to lots of people who said they couldn't make biscuits- and they had success! My daughter could make them when she was about 8.

I think successful biscuit making is not so much the recipe, although that is important, as it is the technique. I've always heard and read that to use a light hand and not overworking the dough is important, but the advice given by Marion Cunningham in the cookbook "Baking With Julia" put it in a way that sunk into me. She says,

"To have a good biscuit hand is to have a light touch and restraint - a biscuit dough is so soft that it invites poking and prodding, kneading and mashing, when it should be just barely worked. The golden rule with biscuits is to stop doing whatever you're doing to them two beats before you have to. So, when you're rubbing the shortening and flour together and there are still some chubby chunks of shortening - stop. When you're tossing the flour and butter mixture with the milk and the dough looks only just moistened - stop. And when you turn the dough out onto the counter and knead it just to work it into a mass, count each knead, get to ten, and - stop."

Now she mentioned shortening, which I don't use, since I prefer butter, but the technique is the same. Actually what I do is something I believe Grainlady suggested either for pie or for biscuits, I don't remember which. I cut half the butter into the flower until it has small crumbles, then I cut or work with my fingers the rest of the butter, but leave it with larger chunks, more pea size. In any case, when I started following Marion Cunningham's advice about stopping before you think your finished mixing, before it looks like it's ready, my biscuits got a whole lot better.

Sally

Thanks mst for asking about biscuit recipes. I was determined to learn to make biscuits at the age of 53 after I retired in Dec '07 because I was so tired of hearing my Husband talk about how his deceased wife made the best biscuits in the world.
Don't get me wrong, he didn't mean any harm and I didn't take it the wrong way either but, you know how you would feel. I just wanted to give him good biscuits too.
I made them and He and my 14 year old Step-son scarfed them down like I have served them solid gold or something. But,
they weren't rising the way I knew they could and really should. They weren't bad but not great.
These tips are just what I needed. I will try them again today using all of these great tips and will let you know how it went. I had already bought all new flour,bp,bs,shortening,buttermilk,etc,etc, in case the problem was that my ingredients may have been old.
Thanks again.
Betty

My grandmother made wonderful biscuits twice a day, every day the way her grandmother taught her.

The flour makes a difference. You want "soft" flour, which has less protein than "hard" flour. Grandma used to use Red Band, which I think is not made anymore. I use White Lilly. The other thing that will make biscuits heavy is mixing and handling the dough too much.

My recipe looks almost exactly like Ann's. The only differences are a little less shortening -- I use 1/3 cup -- and that I don't need the added leavening since I use self-rising flour (probably more from habit than anything else -- growing up, I didn't know there was anything BUT SR flour.)

We always used whole buttermilk and never put sugar in a biscuit. When I was taught to make them, I was told that adding sugar and cream made them more of a scone than a biscuit.

I have used the Better Homes & Gardens recipe, James Beard's recipe, and several others, and the one thing I have found that improves my biscuits is to cut them, place them in the pan, and then refrigerate them for about 20 minutes. I don't know what it does, but they are invariably lighter and better than the ones I don't chill. I save the scraps from cutting round biscuits and use them, kneaded and rolled out, to top pot pies. A little "tension" in the crust of a pot pie isn't all that bad.

I just tried Pillsbury's frozen biscuits last night for the first time. Will never buy canned, or attempt homemade, again. They were really good!

I think those pillsbury biscuits are great. They have a soft top which I like.
I'd love to find a recipe that is like those but only uses butter. I don't use shortening unless I have to.
I have a tried a lot of biscuit recipes too.

I was trying to decide what to make for dinner tonight and this thread made me want breakfast for dinner so I made the cream biscuits. Here's a pic. The boys helped out with cutting so they aren't nearly as pretty as Ann T's buttermilk biscuits!

tracey_oh and ann_t ,

Tracy_oh, if they taste anything like they look you can stop blaming the kids about looks/taste, great!

ann_t , That picture just melted all the resistance I "thought" I had built up! Hell, I don't even have to ask how they taste!!, Lady, you are cruel, LOL.

Wow. What alot of responses. Thanks everyone for your advice and sharing your recipes. I think that one of my problems is that I handle the dough too much. Next time I'll try a lighter hand.