American Biscuits Food

THE BEST FLAKY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Rub 2 tablespoons of the cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until completely absorbed. Work the remaining 8 tablespoons of cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until pea-size bits of butter remain. Use a rubber spatula to stir the buttermilk into the flour until the mixture comes together into a shaggy dough. (Don't overmix the dough.)
• Lightly flour a cutting board or work surface, turn the dough out onto it and pat into a rectangle. Fold the dough in half and pat again into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Then fold the dough in thirds, as if folding a letter, and pat to an even thickness. Cut out biscuits with a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter and put on the prepared baking sheet. Press together the remaining scraps of dough. Pat out and fold the dough into thirds again and cut out more biscuits. Brush the biscuit tops with buttermilk.
• Bake until the tops are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Cool on the pan at least 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SOUTHERN BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.
• Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)
• Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

CHEF JOHN'S BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl.
• Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 5 minutes.
• Make a well in the center of butter and flour mixture. Pour in 3/4 cup buttermilk; stir until just combined.
• Turn dough onto a floured work surface, pat together into a rectangle.
• Fold the rectangle in thirds. Turn dough a half turn, gather any crumbs, and flatten back into a rectangle. Repeat twice more, folding and pressing dough a total of three times.
• Roll dough on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick.
• Cut out 12 biscuits using a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter.
• Transfer biscuits to the prepared baking sheet. Press an indent into the top of each biscuit with your thumb.
• Brush the tops of biscuits with 2 tablespoons buttermilk.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned, about 15 minutes.

AMERICAN BISCUITS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Tip the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and a good pinch of salt into a large bowl or food processor. Rub in the butter with your fingers or whizz in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Stir in the buttermilk until you get a moist dough.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, then knead once or twice to bring the mixture together. Pat out the dough with your hands until 1cm thick and roughly 20cm by 10cm. Cut in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 6 triangles, dipping your knife in flour before each cut to prevent it from sticking.
• Place on a baking sheet, arranging them about 5cm apart. Brush over the tops with milk or cream, then cook in the oven for 10-12 mins until risen and golden brown. Leave to cool a little before serving.

SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 450°F.
• Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor.
• Cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal.
• If using a food processor, just pulse a few times until this consistency is achieved.
• Add the buttermilk and mix JUST until combined.
• If it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk. It should be very wet.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured board.
• 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.
• Use a round cutter to cut into rounds.
• 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.
• Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you like soft sides, put them touching each other.
• If you like"crusty" sides, put them about 1 inch apart- these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.
• Bake for about 10-12 minutes- the biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.
• Do not overbake.
• Note: The key to real biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in the handling of the dough.
• The dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.
• I have found that a food processor produces superior biscuits, because the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of overmixing.
• You also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly.
• Rolling with a rolling pin is a guaranteed way to overstimulate the gluten, resulting in a tougher biscuit.
• Note 2: You can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month.
• When you want fresh biscuits, simply place them frozen on the cookie sheet and bake at 450°F for about 20 minutes.