Southern buttermilk biscuits

Alton Brown’s reloaded Southern buttermilk biscuits are a light, flaky version of his grandmother’s recipe. His selected dough uses chilled leaf lard together with chilled unsalted butter and low-fat buttermilk.

All-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt are sifted together. The two chilled fats are rubbed into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Buttermilk brings the mixture into a sticky dough. After folds in the bowl, it moves to a floured surface for more gentle folding and turning before being pressed into a thick round.

A floured cutter presses straight down to form the biscuits. Scraps are gently re-formed, and the rounds sit shoulder to shoulder on a baking sheet before baking until tall and lightly golden.

The baked biscuits go into a towel-lined bowl and are covered to preserve their warmth and steam. Brown offers them plain or with a range of spreads and breakfast accompaniments, leaving the biscuit itself as the centre of this version.