Biscuits New York Times Recipes

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
• Using a pastry cutter or fork, quickly cut butter into flour mixture until it forms pea-size crumbs and is uniformly mixed. (For flaky biscuits, you want the butter to remain cold.) Make a well in center of mixture and pour in buttermilk. Stir together until it just forms a moist, slightly tacky dough.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 2 or 3 times, then pat out into a 3/4-inch-thick round. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut the biscuits. Do not twist the cutter; doing so prevents proper rising. To prevent sticking, dip the cutter lightly in flour between biscuits. Also, do not reroll scraps, but pat them together and cut into rounds. Transfer biscuits to baking sheet.
• Whisk egg and milk together with a fork. Generously brush egg wash on top of each biscuit. Bake until brown, 15 minutes. Serve hot.

EDNA LEWIS'S BISCUITS

Steps:

• Take a large bowl, sift into it the measured flour, salt, soda and baking powder. Add the lard, and blend together with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture has the texture of cornmeal.
• Add the milk all at once by scattering it over the dough. Stir vigorously with a stout wooden spoon. The dough will be very soft in the beginning but will stiffen in 2 or 3 minutes. Continue to stir a few minutes longer.
• After the dough has stiffened, scrape from sides of bowl into a ball, and spoon onto a lightly floured surface for rolling. Dust over lightly with about a tablespoon of flour as the dough will be a bit sticky. Flatten the dough out gently with your hands into a thick, round cake, and knead for a minute by folding the outer edge of the dough into the center of the circle, giving a light knead as you fold the sides in overlapping each other.
• Turn the folded side face down and dust lightly if needed, being careful not to use too much flour and cause the dough to become too stiff. Dust the rolling pin and the rolling surface well. Roll the dough out evenly to a 1/2-inch thickness or a bit less. Pierce the surface of the dough with a table fork. (It was said piercing the dough released the air while baking.)
• Dust the biscuit cutter in flour first; this will prevent the dough sticking to the cutter and ruining the shape of the biscuit. Dust the cutter as often as needed. An added feature to your light, tender biscuits will be their straight sides. This can be achieved by not wiggling the cutter. Press the cutter into the dough and lift up with a sharp quickness without a wiggle. Cut the biscuits very close together to avoid having big pieces of dough left in between each biscuit. Trying to piece together and rerolling leftover dough will change the texture of the biscuits.
• Place the biscuits 1/2 inch or more apart on a heavy cookie sheet or baking pan, preferably one with a bright surface. The biscuits brown more beautifully on a bright, shining pan than on a dull one, and a thick bottom helps to keep them from browning too much on the bottom. Set to bake in a preheated 450-degree oven for 13 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let them rest for 3 to 4 minutes. Serve hot.

DROP BISCUITS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is the texture of coarse meal with some pea-size pieces.
• Using a fork, stir in the milk until just evenly moistened, adding up to 2 more tablespoons, if necessary, but stopping before the dough gets too wet. Scoop the dough into 8 rough mounds (about 1/3-cup each) and place them on the prepared sheets. Bake the biscuits until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

ALL-PURPOSE BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a food processor. Cut butter into pats and add to flour, then pulse 5 or 6 times until the mixture resembles rough crumbs. (Alternatively, cut butter into flour in the mixing bowl using a fork or a pastry cutter.) Return dough to bowl, add milk and stir with a fork until it forms a rough ball.
• Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and pat it down into a rough rectangle, about an inch thick. Fold it over and gently pat it down again. Repeat. Cover the dough loosely with a kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
• Gently pat out the dough some more, so that the rectangle is roughly 10 inches by 6 inches. Cut dough into biscuits using a floured glass or biscuit cutter. Do not twist cutter when cutting; this crimps the edges of the biscuit and impedes its rise.
• Place biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

CLASSIC BUTTERMILK BISCUITS (NYTIMES)

Steps:

• Set rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 500°F.
• Sift together in bowl cream of tartar and baking soda to make baking powder. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter. Working quickly, rub it between your fingertips until half is coarsely blended and remaining pieces are 3/4" thick.
• Make a well in the center of the flour. Add all the buttermilk and stir mixture QUICKLY, just until it has blended and a sticky dough forms. (Add 1-2 tbsp.more buttermilk if dough appears too dry.).
• Immediately turn the dough onto a floured surface. Using floured hands, briskly knead about 10 times until a ball forms. Gently flatten the dough, and using a flouring rolling pin, roll to 3/4" thick. Prick dough with flour dipped fork at 1/2 " intervals.
• Flour a 2-3" biscuit cutter and stamp out rounds. Arrange on a heavy, parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake only until golden--10-12 minutes.
• Remove and brush with the melted butter. Serve hot.
• NOTE: Great for breaksfast right out of the oven with butter and honey. We eat biscuit leftovers reheated and cracked in half with a creamed vegetable/chicken mixture. (Tastes like mini potpies).

SMALL-BATCH BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt to combine. Add the cold cubed butter, and toss until each cube is well coated with flour. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
• Make a well in the center of the bowl, and pour in the buttermilk. Use your hands or a silicone spatula to mix the ingredients together until they form a homogenous dough. (It will look quite shaggy.) If the dough is not coming together, add more buttermilk by tablespoons.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Toward the end of chilling, heat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Butter a 9-inch square baking pan, a 9-inch round cake pan, an oven-safe skillet or a baking sheet.
• On a lightly floured surface and using floured hands, pat the dough into a rectangle 1/2-inch thick. Fold the dough in quarters. Using floured hands, pat the dough out again to a square about 1 1/4-inch thick.
• Cut the square of biscuit dough into four even pieces. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared pan in a cluster, with about 1/2 inch of space between each biscuit.
• In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the egg wash over the surface of the biscuits, and bake until deeply golden brown on top, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool at least 10 minutes before carefully separating and serving.