Anytime you can use buttermilk instead of sweet milk in bread, the bread will rise lighter and fluffier. Never use liquid oil when making bread. You'll end up with hard, flat dough. A traditional bread in the Blue Ridge is spoon bread. When mountain cooks were in a hurry and just cooking for family, spoon bread fit the menu.
Spoon bread is essentially the same batter as biscuit, except that it is more moist.
Use self-rising flour, solid shortening and buttermilk. They are the only ingredients necessary. Put 3 cups flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a depression in the middle of the flour. Put a lump of shortening in it the size of a black walnut.