Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375°F.
Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt) in a large bowl and whisk together.
Add the cold lard into the dry ingredients and cut into the flour, using a pastry cutter or a fork, until it resembles coarse meal.
Add the cold buttermilk into the bowl and stir with a spoon or a rubber spatula JUST until combined. This should only take a few turns. The dough will be pretty wet and sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. With floured hands gently pat out (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick. Add a tiny bit of flour over top if needed and fold the dough over itself about 5 times, gently pressing down in between each fold. Gently pat the dough out to a 1 inch thick.
Use a round cutter to cut into rounds about 3 inch wide. You can go smaller for more biscuits.
Gently pat the scraps together to cut out the rest of your biscuits.
Place the biscuits in a cake pan or springform pan close together. Alternatively, you can use a sheet pan. Place in the oven and immediately turn the heat up to 450ºF.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Do not open the oven door for AT LEAST the first half of baking time. You want the steam to stay trapped in the oven to help with the rise. For smaller biscuits, you may not need to bake as long.
Brush biscuits with melted butter if desired.
Notes:
*If you do not have buttermilk on hand you can make "soured milk" by adding 1 TBSP of lemon juice or white vinegar to a measuring cup and adding enough regular milk to make 1 cup liquid. Combine and let it sit for about 5 minutes. You need to acid in this recipe from either the buttermilk or the soured milk to activate the baking soda.
*You can flavor these biscuits with herbs or spices by adding them in with the dry ingredients.