(originally taken from this entry at HSL.)
Seriously, this is yet another time where I find it difficult to believe prepackaged mixes for these things exist---this is hands down one of the easiest, quickest things I've made outside of standard chocolate chip cookies. The odds are that they'll turn out brilliantly the very first time you make them, and you'll thusly have the recipe permanently embedded in your brain after having experienced such a rush (ahem). And then you'll want to share with all your friends, etc, etc.
TIME REQUIRED: Approximately 25 minutes. You could very easily throw these together at a moment's notice, provided you've got the ingredients in your house.
INGREDIENTS
* 2 c. all-purpose or cake flour (cake flour will make them lighter and fluffier, but all-purpose works well, too)
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 3 tsp. baking powder
* 4 tbsp. butter (you can use more or less as you like, but this is a pretty optimal amount)
* just under 1 c. buttermilk (you can easily find powdered buttermilk in the baking goods aisle of your local supermarket; this stuff is brilliant because you can keep it for nigh on forever in your fridge and mix up exactly the amount of buttermilk you need, whenever you need it!)
PREPARATION
Preheat your oven to 450ºF. Next, mix together all dry ingredients thoroughly. Cut butter into small pieces and add to dry ingredients; use your hands to work flour and butter in together until butter is thoroughly incorporated into flour mixture (this is similar to making a pie crust, actually).
Add buttermilk to mixture, stirring just until everything is mixed together pretty thoroughly. Form into a rough ball; the dough should be slightly sticky, but if it's too much so, add a tiny bit more flour. If it's too dry (which it won't be), add a tiny bit of water.
Plop that dough ball down on your chosen lightly-floured work surface (countertop, pastry board, etc.) and mush it down into a flat, semi-rectangular shape; do not handle more than is absolutely necessary so that biscuits will be light and fluffy. Stop when the dough reaches a thickness of approximately 3/4-1".
Use a biscuit cutter or handy drinking glass (or cookie cutter, if you'd like star-shapes, etc.) and cut out biscuits. Once you've gotten as many biscuits out of the dough as you can in its present shape, mush the remaining dough back together and continue cutting biscuits until there's no more dough left. Place biscuits on ungreased cookie sheet(s); there should be at least 10 of them, unless you've chosen to make them in a particularly gigantic shape.
Bake for 7-10 minutes (depending on your oven) , or until they've browned quite nicely. Serve and eat as soon as possible after baking for best taste; if you must store leftovers, I wouldn't advise refrigerating as they'll get quite hard.