Dorie Greenspan's BUTTERMILK BISCUITS (slightly adapted)
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1½ tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
¾ cup cold buttermilk
MAKE THE BISCUITS:
Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
Add the flour, baking powder, soda, sugar, and salt together in a bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter to the bowl and pulse 12-15 times, until the butter looks like crumbs, some flakes and some the size of baby peas. (Alternatively , you can combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, whisk to combine and then drop the butter in the bowl. With your fingers or a pastry blender, rub it into the flour until you’ve got crumbs—some the size of flakes, some like baby peas.)
Dump the butter/flour mix into a bowl. Add the buttermilk and stir, the mixture will be very sticky. Reach into the bowl and knead the dough gently 3 or 4 times. Turn it onto a floured surface and roll or pat it into a circle about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can; ( don't twist the cutter) gather the scraps, re-roll, and cut out more biscuits.
Transfer the biscuits to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake 15 to 18 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool 5 minutes. Serve split with lots of butter and maybe some jam.
Makes about 10 biscuits. YUM!!
LESSONS Learned:
1. Make sure the butter and the buttermilk are COLD.
2. DON'T over process the flour/ butter mixture. You want pea size pieces of butter that will melt in the oven and create those flakey layers.
3. DON"T TWIST the cutter. Twisting will seal the edges and they won't rise as well.
4. EAT THEM while they're still WARM from the oven. So time your baking to end when the rest of your meal is ready. If there any leftovers, THEY FREEZE GREAT!
5. DON'T HAVE BUTTERMILK? on hand, you can MAKE YOUR OWN. Just stir one Tablespoon of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice into one cup of 2% or whole milk ( skim won't work), and let sit for 5 minutes.
