Ad Hoc's Buttermilk Biscuits

As a Southern girl born and raised in Alabama, I naturally gravitated straight to the Buttermilk Biscuit recipe in Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home. Actually, it was the first recipe I tried out of this awesome cookbook. Everyone...I repeat, Everyone...needs a great Buttermilk Biscuit recipe in their arsenal...whether you are Southern, or not!

These particular biscuits are perfectly buttery, comforting, and scrumptious! They go wonderfully with jam, of course. Thomas Keller also recommends serving them with a sprinkling of fleur de sel or as a strawberry shortcake biscuit for dessert.

I have to warn you, though...These are NOT in any form or fashion diet biscuits...Hah. After all, what great biscuits are, right? These do have a lot of butter in them, but they wouldn't be the same without it.

Be careful not to overwork your dough. That will make your biscuits tough. Also, be sure to press the dough cutter straight down, without turning the cutter. If you turn it while cutting, your biscuits may not rise as high.

Bon Appetit!***

Ingredients:
2 cups cake flour

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp + 1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 cubes and chilled
1-1/2 cups buttermilk + 1 to 2 tbsp for brushing
2 to 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, for brushing

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In bowl of food processor, combine two flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Pulse several times to blend. Add the chilled butter and pulse several times, until the pieces of butter are no bigger than small peas. Don't overprocess or let dough come together.

Transfer flour mixture to large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour in 1-1/2 cups buttermilk. Stir and lift mixture with wooden spoon, gently working flour into buttermilk. Dough should begin to come together but not form solid mass or biscuits may be tough.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Pat into 3/4-inch rectangle, about 9 inches by 13 inches.

Using 2-1/2-inch round cutter (or bottom of glass), cut out biscuits. If the cutter sticks to the dough, dip the cutter in flour before cutting. The dough trimmings can be gently pushed together, patted out and cut one more time; do not overwork the dough.

Place biscuits, 1-inch apart, on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush tops with the remaining 2 tablespoons of buttermilk.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until a rich golden brown. As soon as you remove the biscuits from the oven, brush with melted butter. Serve warm.

Makes 12 biscuits.