2 cups self-rising flour (the key to great biscuits is the flour. If at all possible, chose a soft winter wheat flour like White Lily or Martha White)
1/4 cup All-Vegetable Shortening or Lard
1 cup buttermilk, or you can use whole milk
flour for kneading
melted butter for brushing on top of the biscuits

Here's what you need to do:

**In the pictures below, I doubled the recipe** 

Gather together everything you will need. Preheat your oven to 500° F. 

Combine the self-rising flour and shortening. 

Cut the shortening into the Self-Rising Flour with a pastry blender or fork or your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. 

Add the buttermilk. 

Mix dough with a fork just until incorporated. Do not mix it any more than necessary. The dough will be sticky. 

Turn dough out onto a heavily floured surface. 

Knead by gently by folding the dough over onto itself 6 to 8 times. 

Press or roll with a rolling pin into a circle that's 1 inch thick. 

Cut out the biscuits using a 2 or 3-inch cutter (I have a special glass that I like to use).

Be sure to push straight down through the dough. Do not twist the cutter until the dough has been cut all the way through. Twisting the cutter will cause the biscuits not to rise straight up. 

Re-form scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting out biscuits until all of the dough has been used. 

Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just barely touch. 

Using your index and middle finger, make a slight indentation into the center of each biscuit. 

Bake in the preheated 500° F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Brush with melted butter and ENJOY!

**For something a little extra special, try mixing a little honey in with the melted butter before brushing on the biscuits! 

If you like cheddar cheese biscuits, try adding 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, 1 Tablespoon of fresh chives and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder to the flour mixture just before adding the buttermilk and continue following the directions above.