Buttermilk Biscuits Made Easy…
When I set out to create a “Meatless Monday” menu this week, I decided I felt like something warm and healthy and not too filling. Soup, I decided was the way to go. I happily concocted my favorite Butternut Squash and Parsnip soup that fulfilled all of my requirements. Then, it occurred to me that we might all feel a little hungry after just a bowl of soup…and my mind turned to biscuits! It does tip the healthy balance in the other direction – possibly undoing all of the cardiovascular benefits gained through the lovely soup – but really, who can say no to a perfectly fluffy biscuit? In my defense, I also made salad part of the menu ( the healthy kind with nice dark greens!).
I have been struggling to create the perfect light and fluffy biscuit (see printer ready recipe at the bottom of this post). I have thrown away many failed attempts. I wanted my biscuits to look like the lovely, tall enticing photos that I collect on Pinterest – and of course I want them to taste as good as they look. That is actually easier said than done, in my case. I have always had to work harder at baking than any other kind of cooking, probably because I was never very good at chemistry, and baking is a lot of chemistry, and I don’t mean the good kind.
The secret, I have discovered (an many have discovered before me), is in keeping the dough cold and not overworking it with your hands. You don’t want to give the butter a chance to soften and melt – that makes for flat, somewhat tough biscuits. Also, layering the dough before cutting out the biscuits gives them height and fluff!
I have added a link below to my favorite biscuit making music. If you have this playing in the background, your biscuits are sure to be extra tasty, not to mention the lyrics are words to live by – because sometimes people should really “mind your own biscuits”… Happy Baking 🙂
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ tablespoons sugar
- ½ cup very cold butter
- ¾ cup very cold buttermilk
- Preheat the oven to 450
- In a large bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients
- Cut butter into ¼" pats and use pastry cutter to mix into dry ingredients
- It is important not to warm the mixture with your hands - you don't want the butter to start to soften and melt
- When you see pea size balls form, it is time to add the buttermilk
- Add buttermilk all at once and mix together to form a big dough ball
- Again, try not to work the dough too much with your hands
- If you have a marble pastry board it helps to keep the dough cold - turn out the ball of dough onto the board
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to about an 8" x 14" piece
- Cut the the piece into 3 even pieces and stack them up on top of each other
- Roll out dough gently to about 6" x 10" piece keeping the layers as much as possible
- The dough layers and the cold butter help keep the biscuits light and fluffy and rise in the oven
- It is important not to overwork the dough
- Take a 2" biscuit cutter and cut 10 biscuits - you may want to stretch them up a bit to help them grow higher in the oven
- if you can piece together the scraps of dough in layers they will make some less pretty but still good tasting biscuits
- Cook the biscuits for 10-12 minutes until golden brown on top
Mary says
HA! That is one of my favorite songs ever! I’m not very good at baking either. Every Thanksgiving I’m sent into a pie crust panic!