Buttermilk Biscuits - homemade style!

I have tried to make biscuits once before, and they did not turn out! Because I failed the first time, I felt like I just didn't have the right touch and therefore wasn't meant to make biscuits. After watching a coworker throw together some biscuit batter in a matter of minutes and then throw it in the oven... only to watch her fail, made me feel like I needed to step up and find a recipe and bring it in and show my new employer that I will make their biscuits because I know how to! Everything with me is a competition, in case you didn't know. I mean I was ashamed of this woman's biscuits and I hope she never tries to feed them to anyone again!

So I went home and researched and found a recipe to try. I have a cookbook from America's Test Kitchen and I figured - how could a test kitchen get it wrong? Surely they have the perfect biscuit recipe... and sure enough, they do. I also learned a few tricks and added in a few things of my own so I could call them "my own" even though I totally stole the basic recipe.

So a few side notes to start you off..

If you don't have buttermilk on hand, shame on you.. but I used to not have that as a staple in my fridge, either... So to make your own soured milk, mix 1 1/4c milk with 1 T lemon juice or vinegar and let stand for 10 minutes.

And when cutting out biscuit rounds, stamp the round into the dough, DO NOT TWIST. If you twist the biscuit cutter, it pinches the dough and your biscuit will not rise properly. So just press the cutter down firmly and lift up.

When laying your biscuits out on a sheet pan, I tend to line them up so they're all touching, not leaving a space between them. I find that this helps the biscuits rise higher instead of falling out to the sides. I also take some melted butter or cream and brush the tops of the biscuits before baking... Just for some flavor and color.

Buttermilk Biscuits
adapted from America's Test Kitchens
yields 8 - 10

• 3 c unbleached all purpose flour, plus extra for the work surface and cutter
• 1 T sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces and chilled
• 4 T vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2" pieces and chilled
• 1 1/4 c buttermilk

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pulse the flour, sugar, salt, soda, baking powder, butter and shortening in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (If you do not have a food processor, you can combine these in a bowl and use a pastry blender to blend them together... or go really old school and use 2 knives.. anything that blends it together but you don't want to warm it up so that the butter gets softened) Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the buttermilk until combined (I used a fork).
2. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smooth. 8 to 10 kneads. (Dough will be very sticky, but will become easier to work with as you knead it). Pat the dough into a 9" circle, about 3/4" thick. Using a 3" biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds of dough and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. (I don't own a biscuit cutter, so i just found something round in my kitchen and used it to cut the dough. I honestly used the cap to my baking spray can! But it made like 2" biscuits because it was small. You could use an empty soup can or something of that nature). Gather remaining dough and pat into a 3/4" thick circle and cut out remaining biscuits. I still had enough dough after this to pat it out for a 3rd time.. but usually that last biscuit won't be as soft as the first ones since it's been overworked.. but hey - why throw it out? You should have roughly 8-10 biscuits.. or if you're like me and used the cap to a spray can, I had more like 14 biscuits!
3. Bake until the biscuits begin to rise, about 5 minutes, then rotate the pan and reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

Or serve warm with some fresh strawberry jam or butter and local honey! Oh so good.
I threw the rest of mine in the freezer to pull out for later enjoyment.

Enjoy!
Posted by Lauren