Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Total Time: 22 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 12 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board (if you can get lily flour, your biscuits will be even better)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder (use one without aluminum)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt or 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold
• 1 cup buttermilk (approx)

Recipe

• 1 preheat your oven to 450°f.
• 2 combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor.
• 3 cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal.
• 4 if using a food processor, just pulse a few times until this consistency is achieved.
• 5 add the buttermilk and mix just until combined.
• 6 if it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk. it should be very wet.
• 7 turn the dough out onto a floured board.
• 8 gently, gently pat (do not roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick. fold the dough about 5 times, gently press the dough down to a 1 inch thick.
• 9 use a round cutter to cut into rounds.
• 10 you can gently knead the scraps together and make a few more, but they will not be anywhere near as good as the first ones.
• 11 place the biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you like soft sides, put them touching each other.
• 12 if you like"crusty" sides, put them about 1 inch apart- these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.
• 13 bake for about 10-12 minutes- the biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.
• 14 do not overbake.
• 15 note: the key to real biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in the handling of the dough.
• 16 the dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.
• 17 i have found that a food processor produces superior biscuits, because the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of overmixing.
• 18 you also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly.
• 19 rolling with a rolling pin is a guaranteed way to overstimulate the gluten, resulting in a tougher biscuit.
• 20 note 2: you can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month.
• 21 when you want fresh biscuits, simply place them frozen on the cookie sheet and bake at 450°f for about 20 minutes.