Maya Angelou's Buttermilk Biscuits

A few years ago, when my mom first asked me to make the bread side for Thanksgiving, I chose a biscuit recipe. I figured it would be quick and easy - just mix all the ingredients together and you don't have to wait for it to rise! Except it was a disaster: I was unfamiliar with how butter is supposed to be mixed into biscuit dough so, as I often do when I get frustrated, I had a bit of an emotional breakdown (Fortunately my mom was able to quickly run to the store and get some rolls).

I ended up getting a pastry cutter that year for Christmas (I had used knives, as often suggested for cutting in butter so that might've also been the problem?).

I have since discovered two things: 1) Thanks to Food Network, there's supposed to be dots of butter in biscuit dough as you cut it in (it'll all melt as the biscuits bake) and 2) yeast doughs are my strength. So for the last couple years I made yeast rolls for Thanksgiving. This year I decided to try biscuits again. A redemption of sorts. After searching through all my sources, I finally decided on the Buttermilk Biscuit recipe that People magazine posted shortly after Maya Angelou passed away in 2014 (apparently her cooking was as good as her writing and her heart).