It’s a bit embarrassing how happy these biscuits make me. I love them so much and their outside cragginess, inside pillowy-softness. They are heavenly slathered in fresh, creamy butter and are simply ridiculous when topped with a bit of (Eddie Huber-made) jam.
We usually make a full batch of these even though there’s only two of us. The unbaked extras freeze beautifully and then are even easier to make the next weekend morning. For some reason, I always thought biscuits were difficult, but they are actually super easy. In fact, the less you handle them, the less tough/dense they’ll be. So basically less work makes these biscuits the best.
TIP: If you want a video tutorial on how to fold the dough, check out the link here which gives a great visual description.
BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
- Inspired by Chef John
- Yields: 8-10 biscuits
Ingredients:
- 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 7 Tbsp. unsalted butter, super-cold/chilled
- 3/4 cup super-cold buttermilk (I usually put it in the freezer for a five-ish minutes right before I use it) + 2 Tbsp. buttermilk for brushing the tops of the biscuits
Directions (for non-frozen biscuits):
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil sprayed with non-stick spray (or use parchment paper).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda). Using a pastry blender, cut in all the cold butter to the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles course crumbs. It takes about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Make a well in the middle of the bowl and pour in your ice-cold buttermilk. Stir VERY GENTLY (just use the tip of your spatula) until just combined. DO NOT OVER MIX or your biscuits will be tough.
- (See video link above, if needed) Handling the dough as little as possible, turn it out onto a floured surface and pat together into a rectangle. Fold the rectangle in thirds. Turn the dough halfway, gather any straggling dough, and flatten back into a rectangle. Repeat this two more times…you’re essentially making the flaky layers of biscuit in this step.
- Roll the dough one inch think and cut 8-10 biscuits out using a biscuit or round cookie cutter.
- Put the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet and make a gentle indent into the top of each biscuit with your thumb. *If you’re freezing some of the biscuits, stop here. Freeze biscuits in a single layer first. Once fully-frozen, transfer to a Ziploc bag.
- Brush the tops with your 2 Tbsp. of buttermilk and bake for 12-15 minutes until nicely browned. Serve with softened butter, jam and/or honey.
Directions (for frozen biscuits):
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil sprayed with non-stick spray (or use parchment paper).
- Remove your biscuits from the freezer and brush the tops with a bit of buttermilk. Bake for 8 minutes and then turn the oven off. They’ll look half-baked and that’s okay. Continue baking in the off, but still-hot oven for another 5-8 minutes until fully-done and the tops are lightly browned.