Swoon-Inducing Buttermilk Biscuits

I think I've done it...I've finally found a Buttermilk Biscuit recipe that's worthy of passing down to future generations.  With this recipe, Dorie Greenspan creates a flaky, swoon-inducing biscuit that has a wonderfully scrumptious taste.

There's something about homemade-from-scratch buttermilk biscuits that just makes me happy.  They are comforting, easy to make and are guaranteed to make any meal better, if you ask me.  Maybe it's the memories that going through the motions of patting out the dough and cutting the biscuits brings back for me.  When I was little, my grandmother would ask me to cut the biscuits using an upside-down glass as a cutter.  That was always so much fun.

First of all, buttermilk biscuits don't require fancy ingredients, and I bet you already have everything you need sitting in your kitchen.  Don't have buttermilk??  No problem at all...just substitute the buttermilk for regular milk in this recipe and remove the baking soda from the ingredients list.  You'll end up with Dorie's recipe for "Basic Biscuits" which is also fabulous!  

Second, they take no time at all to put together.  You basically put your dry ingredients into a bowl, cut in the butter with a pastry blender, add the buttermilk, and voila!  You've got yourself some delicious dough to work with.

And lastly, this recipe makes about 10-12 biscuits, so unless you're cooking for a large family you'll end up with extras.  There's no problem there either.  The solution?  Simply put the extra biscuits (before baking!) onto a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer.  As soon as they are frozen, seal them up in a plastic bag and keep stored in the freezer.  When you are ready to bake a few more, simply pop them into the oven...still frozen...and add 1-2 minutes onto the normal baking time.  That way, you'll always have biscuits fresh from the oven, because we all know that those right-out-of-the-oven flaky layers just aren't so flaky when reheated the next day.

Click Here for some great biscuit-making tips from Dorie Greenspan!

Bon Appetit, my friends!

Buttermilk Biscuits

Adapted from:  Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (preferably White Lily brand)

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp COLD unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces

3/4 cup cold buttermilk

Directions:Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a bowl. Drop in butter and using fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Using fingertips or pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into dry ingredients until mixture is pebbly. You'll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces of everything in between - and that's just right.

Pour the buttermilk over the dry ingredients, grab a fork and toss and gently turn the ingredients until you've got a nice soft dough. Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick gentle kneading - 3 or 4 turns should be enough to bring everything together.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour and pat the dough out with your hand or roll it until 1/2 inch high. Don't worry if its not completely even. Light touch is more important than accuracy.

Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can. Try to cut the biscuits close to one another so you get the most you can out of this first round. By hand or with a small spatula, transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Gather together the scraps, working as little as possible, pat to a 1/2 inch thickness and cut as many additional biscuits as you can; transfer them to the sheet.

Bake the biscuits for 14 to 18 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden brown. Transfer to a serving basket.