Momentously Good Buttermilk Biscuits
by James Norton
As featured on Flak Radio, Episode 20:
Please enjoy in moderation.
Yields about 10 2.75-inch biscuits or 18 2-inch biscuits.
8 oz. (1 3/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more as needed for shaping the dough
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
4 oz. (8 Tbs. / 1 stick) very cold unsalted butter
3/4 cup very cold buttermilk
Heat the oven to 500 degrees F and position a rack in the center of
the oven. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Put the flour,
sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl and
stir with a whisk to distribute the ingredients evenly.
1. CUT THE BUTTER INTO SMALL BITS AND TOSS WITH THE FLOUR.
With a sharp knife, cut the cold butter crosswise into 1/4 thick
slices. Stack 3 or 4 slices and cut them into three even strips.
Rotate the stack a quarter turn and cut the strips in half. You should
create six bits of butter per slice.
Toss the butter bits into the bowl with the flour mixture. Continue
cutting all the butter in the same manner and adding it to the flour
mixture.
When all the butter is in the bowl with the flour, use your fingers to
separate the butter bits, coat all the butter pieces with flour, and
evenly distribute them throughout the mixture. Don't rub the butter
too hard with your fingertips -- you're trying to break the butter
pieces apart, not blend the butter into the flour.
2. GIVE IT A LITTLE STIR.
When all the butter is evenly distributed, add the cold buttermilk and
stir with a large spoon until all or most of the flour is absorbed by
the buttermilk and the dough forms a coarse lump, about 1 minute.
3. PAT AND FOLD THE DOUGH.
Dust a work surface with flour and dump the dough onto the floured
surface, cleaning out the bowl with a spatula or dough scraper. Dust
the top of the dough and your hands with flour, and press the dough
into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle.
Sprinkle a bit of extra flour on the top of the dough. Fold the dough
over on itself in three sections, as if folding a letter. With a bench
knife or metal spatula, lift the dough off the counter and dust under
it with flour to prevent sticking, if needed. Dust the top with flour
and press the dough out again into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle and
repeat the tri-fold. Repeat this procedure one more time (three times
in all).
4. CUT THE BISCUITS AND BAKE.
After the third tri-fold, dust under and on top of the dough, if
needed, and roll or press the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick oval. Dip a
biscuit cutter (or a glass, whatever) into flour and start cutting
biscuits, dipping the cutter in flour between each biscuit.
Transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet, spacing them about 1/2 inch
apart. Gather any scraps of dough, roll 'em out again, and keep
pressing biscuits until you're done. Note that each additional roll
out makes warmer / sloppier biscuit rounds, which will slump more than
their ancestors. They will still be delicious.
Put the baking sheet in the oven and reduce the heat to 450 degrees F.
Bake for 8 minutes; rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for 4-6 more
minutes -- you're going for biscuits that have doubled in height and
have rich golden brown tops and bottoms. Flaky layers should be
revealed on the sides of the biscuits. It's OK if some butter seeps
from the biscuits. That means they're buttery!
Remove the pan from the oven, and set it on a cooling rack, leaving
the biscuits on the pan. Cool them for at least 3 minutes, and serve
hot or warm (they tend to stay warm for about 20 minutes.)
5. CONSUME. CONSUME. CONSUME.
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