Country Buttermilk Biscuits Recipes

COUNTRY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• 1. In mixing bowl, thoroughly sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add buttermilk all at once. Stir with fork until just moist. Turn out onto well-floured surface. Knead *gently* 10-12 times, folding the dough over onto itself as you work. (This makes the biscuits have all those flaky layers you love!) Roll or pat dough to 1/2 inch thickness and cut out with floured biscuit cutter. Be sure that you DO NOT twist the biscuit cutter!! If you do, it will seal the sides of the biscuits and they won't rise as well. Grease cookie sheet or iron skillet. (I like to bake mine in my iron skillet.) Bake at 450F for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
• 2. TIPS: for the softest biscuits, handle the dough as little as possible. The more you handle it, the tougher the biscuits will turn out! Also, lard in place of shortening truly makes the flakiest, most flavorful result.

SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper.
• Grate 8 tablespoons of the butter or dice it very small and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes. Add the buttermilk to the freezer during this time as well.
• In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add the butter.
• Cut it in with a pastry cutter or you can use two forks. The mixture should appear crumbly with no larger than pea-sized pieces of butter.
• Pour in ¾ cup of buttermilk (if any of the buttermilk started to freeze, just break it up with a fork). Stir until combined, mixture will be crumbly, with some of the flour not fully mixing in.
• Lightly dust a clean work surface with more flour. Pour out the dough mixture and work it with your hands to form a ball.
• Roll the dough out into ½ inch thick rectangle.
• Fold ⅓ of one side over the center. Fold the other ⅓ on top. Roll it out into a ½ inch rectangle again and fold the same way. Repeat 1 more time.
• Do the tri-fold one last time but this time roll out the dough into a 1-inch thickness.
• Using a 2 ½ inch biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits. DO NOT TWIST THE BISCUIT CUTTER. Place the biscuits slightly touching onto the parchment-lined sheet tray.
• Roll the scraps back into a ball and roll it out again to cut more biscuits. Keep doing this until you have 8 biscuits.
• Brush the tops of the biscuits with the remaining 1 tablespoon of buttermilk. Bake for 13-15 minutes until puffed up and the tops are golden brown.
• While the biscuits are cooking, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
• Immediately brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter. Let cool slightly and serve.

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.