Sunday, January 31, 2010

An exceptional batch of biscuits


The secret to a very good biscuit, versus a good biscuit, is to cook them on a high temperature. It makes them slightly crusty on the outside and deliciously moist on the inside.

However, there are some other things that make a batch of biscuits rise to higher levels of excellence in taste and texture.

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup, plus 1 Tablespoon butter, cut into pieces
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat to 500 degrees.

Whisk dry ingredients and cut cold butter into the flour. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add all the buttermilk at once. Now here's another trick, do not over mix the dough, just stir until incorporated, the dough should be sticky. ( If not add more buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time). Pour onto floured surface, knead briskly but gently about 8 times then roll with floured roller to 3/4 inch thickness. Prick the dough with fork tine and cut. Place on baking sheet and bake in hot oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

The bottoms should be brown, but we like our biscuits with the slightest touch of golden glow on top. ( I bake mine 8 minutes).

I fed yesterday morning's leftover biscuits to the neighborhood kids when they came in to get warm from the cold weather. They gobbled them up, absolutely no jelly, honey or butter was necessary!

5 comments:

Karen said...

Oh my goodness, they look amazing! I have a good recipe for biscuits, but always on the lookout for a better one. I copied this and am trying them this week. Thanks for the recipe and tips.

crochet lady said...

There is nothing better than hot biscuits with pools of butter and golden honey!

The dB family said...

Delicious!!

Blessings!
Deborah

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

I am going to try your recipe. I have made a couple of batches recently but they just were not as "Exceptional" as I would have liked.

I am on a quest to perfect biscuit making and this sounds like a good place to begin!

Cathy said...

LDH

You will not be disappointed. My six year old Charlotte is my biscuit making helper. I have found this recipe to be rather consistent when I heed those little "extras".

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