Ingredients:
2 cups All-Purpose Flour (White Lily or Martha White brands)
2 tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Baking Soda
½ tsp. Salt
¼ cup (1/2 stick) Butter; frozen
2 Tbsp. Butter; melted
2/3 to 3/4 cup *Buttermilk
*If you don’t want to buy buttermilk to make a batch of biscuits, add 1 Tbsp. of lemon
juice to one cup of whole milk. And let sit for 10 or 15 minutes before using.
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 500 Degrees. Place rack in center of oven.
Grate frozen¼cup of butter, and return to freezer.
Place buttermilk in freezer.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; twice. Add frozen butter to flour mixture and toss with a fork to coat and mix well. The mixture should look lumpy like cornmeal.
Make a well in center of flour mixture. Gradually add buttermilk, and using a fork,
gently, combine until dough comes together and pulls away from sides of bowl.
Turn the dough onto a well floured surface. Lightly flour top of dough and your hands.
Using only your finger tips, very gently press out dough to approximately a 1” thick
round. It should only take 5 or 6 presses to get it to the correct thickness. Touch the
dough as if it hurts you to touch it. The less you work the dough the higher and fluffier
the biscuits.
To cut out biscuits, use a well floured biscuit cutter and press straight down without
twisting the cutter. Twisting will seal the sides of the biscuit dough and result in biscuits
which do not rise well.
Place biscuits on greased baking pan touching each other for soft-sided and higher
rising biscuits.
Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter, and place in preheated oven. Bake for 8 to 12
minutes, until lightly brown on top.
For Cheddar Cheese Biscuits: Mix in 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese prior to adding
buttermilk.
Notes:
For biscuits and quick breads, you want to use a brand of flour which has a low
percentage of protein.
If you do not own a biscuit cutter you can make one from a soup can. You need to cut
one end of the can off. Punch a small hole in the side of the can where you can
comfortably cover the hole with a finger. You can make several sizes of cutters
depending on the size can you choose. I use a condensed soup can; I like this size for
biscuits.
When using the soup can cutter, press the cutter through the dough, and then cover the
hole with finger and lift straight up. Release finger and biscuit will drop from cutter if
you floured the cutter well. If it doesn’t pop out, gently shake the can.
I use a pastry cloth to turn the dough onto. I find that it helps a great deal when working
with dough. It is nothing more than a large piece of unbleached muslin. The trick is to
never wash it. Once you are finished making your biscuits, pie crust or etc. you brush off
the excess flour from the cloth, fold it up and put it away. It makes for easy cleanup too.
2 cups All-Purpose Flour (White Lily or Martha White brands)
2 tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Baking Soda
½ tsp. Salt
¼ cup (1/2 stick) Butter; frozen
2 Tbsp. Butter; melted
2/3 to 3/4 cup *Buttermilk
*If you don’t want to buy buttermilk to make a batch of biscuits, add 1 Tbsp. of lemon
juice to one cup of whole milk. And let sit for 10 or 15 minutes before using.
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 500 Degrees. Place rack in center of oven.
Grate frozen¼cup of butter, and return to freezer.
Place buttermilk in freezer.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; twice. Add frozen butter to flour mixture and toss with a fork to coat and mix well. The mixture should look lumpy like cornmeal.
Make a well in center of flour mixture. Gradually add buttermilk, and using a fork,
gently, combine until dough comes together and pulls away from sides of bowl.
Turn the dough onto a well floured surface. Lightly flour top of dough and your hands.
Using only your finger tips, very gently press out dough to approximately a 1” thick
round. It should only take 5 or 6 presses to get it to the correct thickness. Touch the
dough as if it hurts you to touch it. The less you work the dough the higher and fluffier
the biscuits.
To cut out biscuits, use a well floured biscuit cutter and press straight down without
twisting the cutter. Twisting will seal the sides of the biscuit dough and result in biscuits
which do not rise well.
Place biscuits on greased baking pan touching each other for soft-sided and higher
rising biscuits.
Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter, and place in preheated oven. Bake for 8 to 12
minutes, until lightly brown on top.
For Cheddar Cheese Biscuits: Mix in 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese prior to adding
buttermilk.
Notes:
For biscuits and quick breads, you want to use a brand of flour which has a low
percentage of protein.
If you do not own a biscuit cutter you can make one from a soup can. You need to cut
one end of the can off. Punch a small hole in the side of the can where you can
comfortably cover the hole with a finger. You can make several sizes of cutters
depending on the size can you choose. I use a condensed soup can; I like this size for
biscuits.
When using the soup can cutter, press the cutter through the dough, and then cover the
hole with finger and lift straight up. Release finger and biscuit will drop from cutter if
you floured the cutter well. If it doesn’t pop out, gently shake the can.
I use a pastry cloth to turn the dough onto. I find that it helps a great deal when working
with dough. It is nothing more than a large piece of unbleached muslin. The trick is to
never wash it. Once you are finished making your biscuits, pie crust or etc. you brush off
the excess flour from the cloth, fold it up and put it away. It makes for easy cleanup too.
