Buttermilk biscuits. The Kid calls them “tasty little bastards.” I should probably reign in his profanity, but he’s right -- they are tasty little bastards. Hot from the oven and slathered with butter & honey -- what more do you need on a Thursday night? Maybe ham.
Tips:
A food processor will cut both the time & work by half, taking a mere 5 minutes from bowl to oven.
Treat biscuits with kid gloves -- gently gathering, barely pressing, softly rolling. The lighter the hand, the lighter the biscuit.
Don’t over-bake: When doneness is in question, sacrifice one to the biscuit gods -- tear into it & give it a taste. If it’s a bit doughy, let them bake a bit longer. Biscuits like a blast of heat and a quick cooking time. They will also continue to cook a little more after being pulled from the oven, so take that into account when checking for doneness.
Oven temperatures: An oven temperature in the neighborhood of 350° will produce a lightly golden biscuit with a tender crust; a higher temperature will produce a browner biscuit with a crispier crust.
Make ahead of time: Cover unbaked rounds and store in the refrigerator for a few hours until ready to bake. Unbaked biscuits also freeze well -- place desired number of frozen biscuits on parchment-lined sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap and thaw in fridge until baking time.
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Nicole from Pinch My Salt has all the information you could ever need to make really great biscuits. After testing a handful of recipes, coworkers, purposeful lurkers & lucky passers-by rated hers (below) the best. Side note: a couple things were altered, but only because I was looking for a specific result.
Buttermilk Biscuits
Recipe from Pinch My Salt
makes 8 to 10
1-1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter
Preheat oven to 350°. Place flours, baking powder, soda & salt in bowl of food processor; blend.
Cut butter into small pieces; transfer to the flour mixture & toss to distribute well.
Pulse about 15 times (2 second pulses) to incorporate; butter should look like coarse crumbs, well distributed throughout flour mixture, but not so much that dough comes together.
Transfer butter/flour mixture to a large mixing bowl. Pour in buttermilk.
Gently stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until dough nearly comes together.
Dump out onto lightly floured counter top; bring dough together by gently kneading a few times.
Lightly roll dough to 1-inch thickness; cut into rounds with cookie cutter.
Transfer biscuits to parchment-lined baking sheet and brush tops with melted butter.
Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Serve hot with lots of butter and sorghum molasses or honey.
By Hand: The Old-Fashioned Method
Place dry ingredients in large bowl; whisk to blend. Cut butter into small pieces. Mix butter into the flour mixture with hands (or two knives or pastry cutter) until butter is fairly well distributed throughout flour mixture and look like coarse crumbs. Pour in buttermilk. Gently stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until dough nearly comes together. Dump out onto lightly floured counter top; bring dough together by gently kneading a few times. Lightly roll dough to 1-inch thickness; cut into rounds with cookie cutter. Transfer biscuits to parchment-lined baking sheet and brush tops with melted butter; bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
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