Sunday, May 2, 2010

Biscuits

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder (use one without aluminum)
1 teaspoon kosher salt or salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold
3/4 cup buttermilk (approx) I used almost 3/4c milk and about 1 tsp vinegar
Directions
1Preheat your oven to 450°F.
2Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor.
3Cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal.
4If using a food processor, just pulse a few times until this consistency is achieved.
5Add the buttermilk and mix JUST until combined.
6If it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk.
7Turn the dough out onto a floured board.
8Gently, gently PAT (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick.
9Use a round cutter to cut into rounds.
10You can gently knead the scraps together and make a few more, but they will not be anywhere near as good as the first ones.
11Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you like soft sides, put them touching each other.
12If you like"crusty" sides, put them about 1 inch apart- these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.
13Bake for about 10-12 minutes- the biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.
14Do not overbake.
15Note: The key to real biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in the handling of the dough.
16The dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.
17I have found that a food processor produces superior biscuits, because the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of overmixing.
18You also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly.
19Rolling with a rolling pin is a guaranteed way to overstimulate the gluten, resulting in a tougher biscuit.
20Note 2: You can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month.
21When you want fresh biscuits, simply place them frozen on the cookie sheet and bake at 450°F for about 20 minutes.

Recipe Found Here

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