Place flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cream of tartar in a mixing bowl.
Work in the shortening with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture resembles and feels like cornmeal.
Pour milk into the flour mixture and mix well.
Knead the dough about 12 to 15 times.
Break the dough into ¼ to ⅓-cup size balls.
Roll or pat out dough balls to ½-inch thickness.
Place the dough pieces on a baking sheet and brush them with melted butter.
Bake at 450°F for 10 to 12 minutes.
While the biscuits are baking, pour the honey into the remainder of the butter and bring it to a boil.
Remove the honey butter from the heat and set aside.
When biscuits are done, remove them from the oven and immediately brush the tops with honey butter.
Recipe Tips
If you don't have vegetable shortening, you can substitute more butter into the recipe. Note the biscuits won't be as flaky with butter as they are with shortening.
Serve these biscuits for dinner with your favorite fried chicken or it makes a wonderful breakfast.