Best Southern Style Biscuits Ever

Both sides of my family tree have deep Southern roots. I grew up not on southern cuisine, but on fairly upscale, sophisticated meals prepared in the tradition of Julia Child's American French cooking (my mother's culinary skills were impressive back in the day). But I'm pretty convinced that food preferences may well be genetic because as an adult, I discovered corn bread, grits and biscuits and felt like I'd found heaven.

I've been looking for a perfect biscuit recipe and I've finally come up with one that works really well for me. I hope it will work equally well for you - it's pretty easy to make, it's a great baking activity to involve your kids in, and it makes a delicious addition to breakfast or to soups for lunch or dinner.

Best Biscuits Ever
Preheat over to 425 degrees while you set up your ingredients

2 cups organic all purpose flour (I'm partial to Giusto's, but any high quality organic all purpose flour will work)
1 TBS aluminum-free baking powder (I use Rumford or Hain Featherweight)
1 tsp sea salt
2 TBS organic cane sugar
1/3 cup organic vegetable shortening (Spectrum's is non-hydrogenated, no trans fats)
1 cup organic milk (works great with fat free milk)

1. Preheat over to 425 degrees.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.

3. Add shortening and cut in (I mix by hand by just rubbing the flour and shortening together). The result should be the texture of coarse meal.

4. Gradually stir in the milk (use a utensil, it's too goopy to do by hand).

5. Knead by hand about 10 times on a floured board then roll out to 1" thick.

6. Using biscuit (cookie) cutter, cut out and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

7. Take the dough scraps, gather into ball, re-roll until dough is used up and all biscuits are on the cookie sheet(s).

8. Bake 13-15 minutes until golden brown.

These are best served hot out of the oven, but you can store them for a day in a paper bag to preserve crisp outer crust or in a sealed container. They'll get a bit softer when they're sealed but they're still delicious.

Tips:
-Start your oven pre-heating after you've set up your ingredients. Making the biscuits takes about as long as a 425 preheat.

-Use buttermilk for more depth of flavor.

-If you don't have buttermilk on hand, try adding 1 TBS of lemon juice to your milk before adding to your flour mix. The biscuits will not rise quite as high but they will have a bit more flavor and they'll be just as fluffy.

-To measure the shortening, get a 1 cup (or larger) measuring cup, add 2/3 cup of cold water then measure your shortening into the cup so the water line goes up to 1 cup. It's easier to get your shortening out of cold water than out of a standard measuring cup.

-Serve with these choices:
Soften butter and whip together with honey or maple syrup to taste.
Soften butter, add honey and a pinch of cayenne to add some zip.
Apple butter or other fruit conserve.