Dawkins Biscuits

Source: Laura Dawkins
Time: 15 min with a food processor
Yield: about 15 biscuits

These were the bread staple of my great-grandmother Laura Dawkins' house in Mississippi. They were baked every day and eaten with the sugar topping for breakfast and used to sop up soup and bacon grease.  Laura lived on a farm and made her own butter and buttermilk. Living in the south, she would buy sugar syrup in large jars. My mom remembers having biscuits whenever she went to her grandma's and helped me recreate the recipe. 

Unlike typical biscuits, these are denser and more like scones, but still tender. I do not know if she used eggs, but since she called them "biscuits" and not "scones," I figure it's likely she didn't. Anyway it's easier if you don't have to deal with eggs, and she made these every day!

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup butter
7/8 cup buttermilk
Topping:
     2 parts sugar cane syrup (a.k.a. golden syrup or treacle) - this may be substituted by caramel sauce or honey
     1 part butter, room temperature

Set the oven to 425'F. Grease cookie sheets with vegetable oil or shortening. (Do not flour!) Turn on the oven fan as the hot oven may produce some smoke during baking. Thoroughly combine the flour and baking powder. Cut in the butter. Stir in the buttermilk using as few strokes as possible. 

(Alternately, you may do this in the food processor: Combine the flour, baking powder, and butter and blend thoroughly. Add the milk and blend just enough so that the batter forms one large lump on one side of the processor.) 

The batter should be like cookie dough. Pick off 1 - 1 1/2 in. pieces, roll into balls, and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes until golden. Mash butter into the sugar syrup until smooth and mash the biscuit into the syrup if desired. 

Variations:
Cranberry biscuits: Chop fresh cranberries in the food processor before everything else. Set aside. Add 1 Tbsp sugar to dry ingredients. Roll balls in cranberries and mix them in a little. Serve with sweetened marmalade.