From 1860 until the mid-20th century, it was not unusual for farm housewives and family cooks to bake at least one batch of biscuits every day.

Until sharp-edge cutters were invented, they used tin or wood circles to shape their dough. When someone got the bright idea of rolling cutters with circles, it was possible to stamp out more than one biscuit at a time.

The main thing to remember in making homemade biscuits is that you need a "good biscuit hand." Mix the ingredients lightly, and never over mix.

As food writer and cookbook author James Villas writes in The Glory of Southern Cooking (Wiley, 2007), "Never handle biscuit dough any longer than it takes to just mix the ingredients."

Too much mixing and handling and you'll end up with a hockey puck rather than a flaky, fluffy, crumbly biscuit that's worthy of any topping you want.

Whole-wheat flour gives these biscuits a delicious nutty flavor. Patting and folding the dough makes the biscuits flaky, too.

WHOLE-WHEAT BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

2 cups whole-wheat flour, divided

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, buttermilk, plus more if needed

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine 13/4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; whisk together. Add butter, toss with your fingers to coat with flour, and rapidly pinch and fluff butter into flour with your fingertips to make small flakes. Work quickly to keep butter firm.

Add buttermilk; stir well with a fork until the dough gathers into one large lump. Drizzle in additional droplets of buttermilk if necessary.

Scrape dough onto a flat surface sprinkled with remaining 1/4 cup flour. Roll dough to coat with flour. Pat dough into a rough rectangle about 1/2-inch-thick and fold it in thirds. Repeat the patting and folding. Pat dough into a thickness of 1 inch. Dip a 2-inch round cutter into flour and stamp out biscuits, coating the cutter with flour before each stamping. Place biscuits, top sides up, on a heavy ungreased baking sheet about 1 inch apart.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until biscuits are golden brown.

Makes 12 biscuits.

Recipe by Greg Patent.

NUTRITION Per biscuit: 130 calories, 6 grams fat, 4 grams protein, 16 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber and 270 milligrams sodium.

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