Southern Buttermilk Biscuits Food

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.

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.

TEENA'S OVERNIGHT SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Sift together the flour and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening until the mixture has a fine crumb or cornmeal texture. Stir in the buttermilk with a fork until a soft dough forms.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, pulling off any pieces sticking inside the bowl. Gather dough into a ball and knead about 20 times, until smooth and elastic. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Working on a floured surface, roll or pat the dough out to 1 inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a 2 inch biscuit cutter, or the floured rim of a glass, by pressing straight down and up. Twisting the cutter will prevent the biscuits from rising as high. Place biscuits about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet, and allow to rest a few minutes.
• Bake in preheated oven until lightly brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm.

EXTRA-FLAKY SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450° (500° if using a convection oven).
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
• Cut cold butter or shortening into dry ingredients with a pastry blender.
• (Mixture will resemble coarse crumbs, with no large chunks of butter.) If butter gets very soft at this point, refrigerate mixture for 20 minutes.
• Add 1 3/4 cups buttermilk, stirring just to moisten all ingredients.
• Dough should be soft and moist; add remaining 1/4 cup as needed.
• Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and knead gently about 10 times, or just untl dough holds together.
• Roll or pat dough into a 14-by-10-inch rectangle.
• With short side nearest you, spread top two-thirds of dough with 3 tablespoons soft butter, leaving bottom third, closest to you, unbuttered.
• Fold dough into thirds (like you would fold a letter) by pulling bottom third up over center and then pulling top third over middle.
• Turn dough so short side faces you.
• Pat into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle.
• In same manner, spread again with 3 tablespoons soft butter and fold letter style.
• Turn once more in the same manner.
• Pat into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle; spread with remaining 3 tablespoons soft butter and fold up.
• Work quickly and gently so as not to overwork dough.
• Pat dough into rectangle 3/4-inch thick on floured surface.
• Cut into squares with a sharp chef's knife.
• Place on pan, 1 inch apart.
• Lightly brush tops with melted butter.
• Bake in center of hot oven about 20 minutes (about 12 minutes in convection), until golden brown and firm.
• Serve hot, warm or room temperature.

OUR FAVORITE BUTTERMILK BISCUIT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475°F. Grate frozen butter using large holes of a box grater. Toss together grated butter and flour in a medium bowl. Chill 10 minutes.
• Make a well in center of mixture. Add buttermilk, and stir 15 times. Dough will be sticky.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly sprinkle flour over top of dough. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough into a ¾-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). Fold dough in half so short ends meet. Repeat rolling and folding process 4 more times.
• Roll dough to ½-inch thickness. Cut with a 2 ½-inch floured round cutter, reshaping scraps and flouring as needed.
• Place dough rounds on a parchment paper-lined jelly-roll pan. Bake at 475°F for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter.

SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 and adjust oven rack to center position.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.
• Cut in chilled shortening and butter until you have pieces the size of small peas.
• Make a well in center of dry ingredients; pour in buttermilk. With a wooden spoon, gently blend dry ingredients into the buttermilk, just until mixture is clumping together. If necessary, add a few more teaspoons of buttermilk.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured board.
• Pat out in a circle about 8 inches in diameter and 1/2-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2 to 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out and place on ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake on center oven rack for about 10 to 12 minutes, until tops are browned.

SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3-4 times. Pat or lightly roll to 3/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. , Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 425° until golden brown, 11-13 minutes. Brush tops with butter. Serve warm.