Appalachian Baking: Gravy Horse & Ouita's Biscuits

We were driving around the NC mountains yesterday and I remembered I needed sorghum (aka sweet sorghum or sorghum molasses or sorghum syrup.) We stopped beside the road and bought some from a guy in camo and a pickup truck. I have a cookbook that I remember required sorghum for some of the desserts, but I didn't have all the other ingredients. I went looking online and found a recipe called "gravy horse." Since it is based on a foodlorist's research, I'd recommend going to the post on Bakepedia to read more, but I'm copying the recipe here.

Gravy Horse & Ouita’s Biscuits
Author: Ronni Lundy 
Makes: 6 biscuits

Ingredients

Ouita’s Biscuits:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled or frozen
• ¾ cup buttermilk

Gravy Horse:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons sorghum syrup

Instructions

1. For the Biscuits: In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Using a cheese grater, grate butter into dry ingredients and mix lightly with fingers until crumbly.
2. Add buttermilk and quickly work into flour mixture with a pastry cutter, wooden spoon, or by hand. Knead with a few quick strokes into a rounded mound and let rest 20 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
3. Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
4. Roll dough on a floured surface to a thickness of ½ inch. Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned and baked through.
5. For the Gravy Horse: Put the butter in a small bowl or saucer and let sit at room temperature until it is softened but not runny. Pour sorghum over the top and use the tines of a fork to first mash then gently whip together. You can use the fork to daub it onto hot biscuits, and this should be enough to grace a half-dozen of Ouita’s Biscuits.