Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

You need a go-to biscuit recipe. Now, is it worth a little extra effort to ensure they melt in your lucky family and friend’s mouths? I would say yes. And, trust me, these babies are well worth the little extra. And I mean little. It’s not like they are a complex beef wellington or anything, but in the world of biscuits, I guess they are little more complex. I’ve tried many recipes and these are just the best.

Credit goes to Fine Cooking.

Flaky buttermilk biscuits

1¾ cups flour

¼ tsp baking soda

2 ¼ tsp baking powder

1 tbsp sugar

¾ tsp salt

¼ cup butter, very cold

¾ cup buttermilk, very cold

It is OK to have small chunks of butter in the dough

Heat oven to a whopping 500F. Prepare a large baking sheet with a layer of parchment paper. Set aside.

Whisk together dry ingredients. With minimal skin/butter contact, cut butter into tiny cubes (about ¼ inch). Add butter to dry ingredients, using your fingers to gently break apart the butter pieces.

Add buttermilk and use a spatula to stir it in, dampening all the dry ingredients, about one minute. Dump all of the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Lightly press the dough to ensure it is all together.

Dust the dough and your hands with flour. Press dough into a rectangle, about ¾ inches thick. Fold the dough into three sections on top of itself, like you would fold a letter. Re-dust with flour and press again to create a rectangle, ¾ inches think. Repeat procedure one more time, three times in total.

Fold dough into 3 like you would a letter, then press out.

After the third time, press the dough into a ½ inch oval. Using a lightly floured 2 (or so) inch round cookie cutter, press directly down, careful not to twist and turn, and cut biscuits out.  Place them about ½ inch apart on the baking sheet. You can roll up the scrap dough and cut more biscuits a total of two times before it really affects the results.

Turn the oven down to 450F and put the biscuits in. After 8 minutes, turn the pan 180 degrees. Bake for another 4-6 minutes until biscuits are golden brown and about doubled in height. Cool on pan for at least 3 minutes before serving them. They stay warm for about 20 minutes.

Serve and prepare to take your praise.