Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits
While I have been reading up on Buttermilk biscuits I discovered there are many different ways to make biscuits. Should you use butter versus shortening, all-purpose flour vs White Lily flour, different opinions on how to handle the dough, cutting vs dropping the dough and if you choose to cut the dough, how to cut. Not to mention the wide range in baking temperatures. Who knew biscuits were so controversial. In any case, I do know that it is important not to over-mix and to handle the dough as little as possible. Also using cold butter clumps makes sense to me since that is the way you get the wonderful flakiness in Wienerbrød. In this particular method I used here, I cut the dough ball in half and placed one half on top of the other, reshaped into ball and repeated this process 3 times. Did it make a big difference? I’m not really sure, but it didn’t hurt the dough. And so in conclusion, I love these Buttermilk biscuits. They are soft and buttery and flaky with a slight crunch to the bottom, which I like. There is nothing better than homemade, right-out-of-the-oven flaky Buttermilk biscuits!
Buttermilk Biscuits (makes 9-12 biscuits)
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold or frozen, grated (84 g)
2 cups all-purpose flour (265 g)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, cold (236 milliliter)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C), line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Use a box grater to grate cold butter, place grated butter in freezer while you prepare dry ingredients.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl. Place grated butter into flour. Using a pastry blender cut butter into pea size pieces. Add cold buttermilk, using a wooden spoon stir mixture just until dough comes together, do not overmix. Place dough onto a floured surface, gently pat dough into a ball. Cut dough ball into half, place one half on top of the other and gently press into a ball again. Repeat cutting the dough ball and placing one half on top of the other, shaping into a ball 3 more times.
Gently shape dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Cut dough into 9 or 12 squares, place dough onto prepared baking sheet 1 inch apart. Place baking sheet in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Transfer baking sheet directly from the refrigerator to the preheated oven, bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve while warm. Enjoy!
Buttermilk Biscuit
Source: slightly adapted from Girl versus Dough
