LORETTA'S BUTTERY BISCUITS

Ingredients:
3 cups White Lilly self-rising flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp shortening (do not heap)
1 stick corn oil margarine
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients in flour sifter. Sift into mixing bowl and mix
thoroughly. Work in shortening with fingers until evenly distributed.
DO NOT ADD EXTRA SHORTENING! More shortening will result in crumbly
biscuits. Add buttermilk and stir till thoroughly wetted. The mixture
should be fairly wet, not a thick dough. Add small portions (2-3 Tbsp)
of buttermilk if dough appears to dry or thick. Wetter dough will result
in lighter and fluffier biscuits. Set dough aside (may be stored covered
in refrigerator overnite, in fact Loretta always made dough the night before).

Melt 1/2 stick of butter on a 10X15 cookie sheet (with sides) in the oven.
Be careful not to burn or scorch. Spread the butter evenly over the
surface of the baking sheet. Flour hands generously and take a handful
of dough slightly larger than an egg. Gently roll into a loose ball, then
flatten to around 3/4" to 1" in thickness. This is messy and will take a
little practice. Flour hands between each biscuit. The faint of heart can
roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and cut with a biscuit cutter.
Place the hand shaped biscuits on the buttered pan side by side. For crispier
biscuits, do not let the edges touch. Bake for 9-12 minutes at 450 degrees.

The tops of the biscuits should be brushed with the remaining half stick of
margarine after they brown and are removed from the oven. Using whipped
margarine (which contains water) will make the crust soggy. The butter in
the baking sheet will cause the bottom to brown rapidly, so do not bake on
lower oven racks.

This recipe will make 10-12 large biscuits or 16-18 medium biscuits.