Heat oven to 425°.Mix the dry ingredients before cutting in the butter. I cut the butter in cold with my fingers, crumbling it until no pieces larger than a pea remain but there are still lots of nice little bits of butter. You can also use a pastry cutter or two knives.Pour in the buttermilk and mix with a wooden spoon until just well combined, no more, no less. At this point you can let your biscuit dough rest for 20 minutes if you desire. I personally rarely do this. But go for it if you’re feeling patient! It is said to result in higher biscuits.After mixing scrape your biscuit dough out onto a well floured work surface. Sprinkle lightly with flour and dust your hands with flour. Use as little as you can to keep it from sticking to everything.

Gently form it into a rectangle with the narrow end facing you. Roll this out to 1″ thick with a rolling pin. Roll from the center using a light bouncing motion. Don’t bulldoze the dough. A gentle touch is key. You can use your hands to pat it out instead of a rolling pin, but I prefer using a pin.

Fold it into thirds by folding the farthest end towards you then folding it again, like a business letter. Turn clockwise. Roll this back out to about 1 1/2″ thick and fold it in half. Turn clockwise once more, roll out, fold in half, and then form the dough into a nice round circle. Roll the circle out to about 1″ thick.

Cut biscuits using a floured biscuit cutter (tip: to get the flour to stick to the cutter I smear just a bit of biscuit dough on the inside of it and then flour it, reflouring after cutting each biscuit…and remember, don’t twist your biscuit cutter or you’ll seal the sides). Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Once cut you can let them rest again for 20 minutes. Or not. I don’t.

You can brush the tops of your biscuits with butter or cream if you want. I don’t, but I might if I were making them for others (my other half doesn’t count).

Bake for about 15 minutes for 3″ diameter biscuits. Cool slightly. (I never do. I eat them piping hot.) Peel back the tender, flaky layers. Slather with cinnamon-sugar butter. Or jam. Or nothing. Praise the Lord. Eat a biscuit.