Greek Yogurt Biscuits from Still We Rise

"Yogurt does a lot of heavy lifting in my house. We use it as the base for sauces and spreads - but for biscuits? Absolutely. Yogurt isn't that different from today's commercial buttermilk, which is cultured to produce that acidic tang that yogurt also has. The yogurt activates the baking soda, helping these biscuits to rise and making them light and fluffy."

- Erika Council

I'm so excited to be able to share another delicious biscuit recipe with you from Still We Rise: Greek yogurt biscuits. My kids love biscuits, especially Noah, and I've often wondered if it's somehow genetic. I spent way too much time at Bojangles with my brother when I was younger, and making biscuits for/with my kids takes me back to those days.

Erika Council's Still We Rise has taught us how to make a variety of biscuits at home, using staples in our pantry and fridge. I hope you enjoy these Greek yogurt biscuits just as much as we do.

Make them the traditional way, or using the drop method for added convenience.

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Still We Rise

These Greek yogurt biscuits are from Still We Rise: A Love Letter to the Southern Biscuit with Over 70 Sweet and Savory Recipes by Erika Council.

Ebony magazine was a staple in a lot of Black American households. Granny kept them stacked on the table in the back room, by her favorite reading chair, and on the nightstand next to her bed. Sometimes she would cut out the recipe columns to be used at a later date.

When she passed away,my mom and I found lots of these recipe clippings in many separate places in Granny's house, some dating back to the early 50's. One of the recipes was credited to Freda DeKnight, who I learned was the first food editor of Ebony. DeKnight wrote a bestselling cookbook in the 1940s, originally titled A Date with a Dish: A Cook Book of American Negro Recipes.

There are several editions of this book, later rebranded as The Ebony Cookbook. However, the original 1948 edition includes a section called The Collector's Corner, featuring short bios of all the Black home cooks, chefs, and caterers wh inspired DeKnight. It is the most phenomenal part of the book and has been left out of all the subsequent editions, similar to how DeKnight herself is too often left out of conversations about food journalism.

Freda DeKnight was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1909 and grew up in South Dakota. Her cookbook and Cleora Butler's were the first that I'd seen written by African Americans that did not focus on Southern cooking. Her presence can be felt in all my best dishes, from my steak marinade to my hollandaise sauce over roasted cauliflower to, of course, my biscuits as well. There are nine biscuits recipes in A Date with a Dish. From southern yeast bisuits to lemon biscuits, they are all top tier.

How to Make Greek Yogurt Biscuits

Ingredients

• flour - grab your favorite all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• salt - kosher salt
• baking soda
• butter - cold, salted butter is recommended
• yogurt - you'll need Greek yogurt for these biscuits

Equipment

• prep bowls
• measuring spoons
• kitchen scale
• spatula
• paddle grater
• sheet pan or baking slab
• parchment paper
• biscuit cutter or mason jar

Combine the Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, & Baking Soda

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash your hands with soap and water. Use a kitchen scale to weigh the flour in a large bowl. Use measuring spoons to add the baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir to combine.

Grate the Butter Over the Bowl

Use a paddle grater to grate the butter over the bowl. Stir to coat the butter.

Add the Yogurt

Add the yogurt to the bowl. Use your hands to mix the ingredients together until you have a shaggy and sticky dough.

Roll Out the Dough

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Use floured hands to pat the dough into a rectangle that is ½-inch thick and about 11 x 16.

Fold the Dough 3 Times

Fold the top end and then the bottom end of the dough towards the center to create a trifold. Dust the top of the dough with flour. Pat the dough into a rectangle again and repeat the trifold process 2 more times for a total of 3 trifolds.

Cut Out the Biscuits

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pat the dough out to ½-inch thickness and use a biscuit cutter or mason jar to cut out the biscuits.

Erika says to press straight down and not twist when cutting out the biscuits. Transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet with an inch between them.

Bake for 15 to 18 Minutes

Gather any remaining dough and pat it out to ½-inch thick to cut out more biscuits. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Rotate the pan halfway through to ensure even baking. Turn off the oven when finished.