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buttermilk biscuits from serious eats

(recipe, Hank Sawtelle)

Introduction

Buttermilk Biscuits - makes 16 to 20 biscuits -

Ingredients

  1. 2¼ cups all-purpose flour (270g)
  2. 2¼ tsp. cornstarch (18g)
  3. 1 Tbsp. sugar (14g)
  4. 1 Tbsp. baking powder (14g)
  5. 1¾ tsp. salt (5g)
  6. ¼ tsp. baking soda
  7. 1 stick or ½ cup unsalted butter, cold (112g)
  8. 2 Tbsp. cream cheese, cold (56g)
  9. ½ to ¾ cup buttermilk, cold

Steps

  1. 1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a non-stick baking mat, or grease liberally with softened butter, and set aside.
  2. 2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine all of the dry ingredients. Pulse a few times to evenly distribute.
  3. 3. Add butter and pulse until butter is finely dispersed throughout dry ingredients, yielded a mixture with the texture of fine couscous.
  4. 4. Add cream cheese and pulse to distribute, leaving a few small, pea-sized pieces of cheese in tact. Turn mixture into a mixing bowl.
  5. 5. Drizzle in about a ⅓ cup of the buttermilk and toss gently with your hands to evenly distribute. Add more milk a tablespoon or so at a time until dough is just moist enough to come together without any dry crumbly bits.
  6. 6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust the surface of the dough lightly with more flour and pat the dough out to about ¾-inch thick.
  7. 7. Fold the dough back over on itself in thirds, like a business letter, and pat out to about ¾-inch thick again, flouring the surface lightly as needed to prevent the dough from sticking.
  8. 8. Fold the dough back over on itself in thirds again, then pat it out to a final thickness of about ½ inch.
  9. 9. Using a lightly floured 2¼-inch round cutter, cut the dough into rounds and place on prepared baking sheet, at least an inch apart. Scraps may be gently packed together, patted out to ½-inch thickness once more and cut.
  10. 10. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until biscuits are well-risen, pale golden on top and a deeper brown on their bottoms. Biscuits are best served within about 6 hours of baking, though a few minutes in the oven or a few seconds in the microwave will revive slightly older biscuits if eaten shortly thereafter.