recipe: best buttermilk biscuits ever

One of my current goals is to make more things from dough. Even though I bake a ton, I actually tend to only make things from batter, not from dough, and the truth is I have a bit of dough fear. It doesn’t always turn out well for me, and I kind of hate sticky dough hands, and I really have an aversion to the whole genre. Yet, I want to be a person who makes pizzas and pies and breads and all those wonderful things.

So, I’m trying to get over my dough issues. Therefore today I am very proud and pleased to present: buttermilk biscuits! Taa-daaaa! These technically might be cheating a little bit on the dough thing because they’re a drop biscuit and really more like a batter, but they’re also like a bread in the end so what the heck.

My mom told me she has never been able to make a good biscuit, and I myself have had many flat and lackluster attempts. I finally came across this recipe and it was amazing so I thought I’d share it here, in case any of you are looking for a good biscuit, even if you don’t consider yourself a dough-maker.

If you’re trying to give up carbs or gluten or anything like that, just click away now. Nothing to see here! Noooo ma’am, you do not want to look at the buttery-biscuit goodness coming up next. Definitely not.

So! Let’s get started. First of all, this recipe is a dream because it’s super quick, it requires only one bowl, and no mixer or anything complicated like that. It starts by whisking all the dry ingredients in a bowl. (Note: I’m making a half batch in these photos, so the quantities of ingredients are going to look small.)

Then you chop up cold butter into small squares…

…and blend the butter into the flour by rubbing the butter and flour together in your hands. It’s really more of a smooshing than a rubbing, actually–just pick up clumps of butter between your fingers and sort of smear it into the flour; keep repeating till the butter is evenly distributed within the flour, which will result in a soft sandy texture.

At this point, I put the mixture into the fridge for 15 minutes or so. The recipe doesn’t specify to do this, but I think it helps the biscuits to keep their shape and not flatten if the butter is very cold, and of course it warms up a bit when you work it with your hands–so I think a little chill is a good thing to do here.

Next just add the buttermilk–both times I made this recipe, I had to add more buttermilk than was called for. I just drizzled in a little extra, enough to make the dough come together.

Once you add the liquid, just stir a few times with a spoon (no need to use your hands! No dreaded dough-sticky-hands!). This is where I had to add a little more buttermilk because the dough didn’t quite come together.

And there it is, once it did come together–a nice little wad of dough!

Next, scoop the batter out in 1/4 cup chunks and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Don’t worry about forming the dough neatly–messy clumps are good here. Also, note that half recipe only yields five biscuits, which I think is fantastic. I love baking recipes that make tiny batches.

Pop ‘em in the oven, and boom! Mine had to bake for a bit longer than the recipe said, but I just let them go until they were golden and beautiful.

And this is why you want to form the raw dough in a messy clump–all those craggy bits turn into wonderful crunchy bits once baked, which is just divine.

Ooooooh. These biscuits are seriously good. They’re light, and so tender on the inside, with a gorgeous crumbly crunch on the outside. There is nothing more satisfying than breaking off a warm, craggy chunk…

…except maybe slathering said craggy chunk with butter. YES PLEASE.

These guys are really off the charts with bacon and eggs (and quick enough that you can easily whip them up on a weekend morning, without angst). I love them with soup too. I love them with everything. I’ve had a bag of them in my freezer for a while now and there is nothing better than popping one in the oven for myself whenever I need a little extra something with my meal!

{FREEZING TIP}
These biscuits freeze beautifully–drop them in a large plastic bag and just throw them in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat one or more, take the biscuit out and wrap it in foil, then pop it in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until soft. Unwrap it from the foil and place the biscuit directly on the oven rack for another 3 minutes or so to crisp the exterior.

{SMALL-BATCH TIP}
This recipe divides in half very easily, for a tiny batch of only five biscuits!

{SPECIAL INGREDIENTS TIP}
Don’t you hate how buttermilk is one of those things that you have to buy in a big container, then you only use a little bit of it and you don’t know what to do with the rest? You can freeze it! Check out this post to read all about that. (I especially love the idea of keeping frozen buttermilk on hand so you can whip up these biscuits on spontaneous lazy weekend mornings.)

RECIPE: Buttermilk Biscuits
Originally printed in Bon Appetit, October 2000

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 cup buttermilk (I used a bit more; just enough for the dough to come together)

POSTED by Brett IN food ON Monday, February 18th, 2013 · 6 comments
Labels: baking, food, recipes