Buttermilk Biscuits

I could make this biscuit recipe for the rest of my life and never feel the need to change. As someone who constantly tinkers with recipes, that is saying something. I have found ‘the one’. No new techniques, Instagram teasing images, or young, attractive recipes are going to make me stray. These biscuits are just as great slopping up baked beans and barbecue as they are smothered with berries and whipped cream. They are perfect.

That said, this recipe can require a few tries to get the technique down, to achieve that show-stopping accordion puffiness. But no one will mind eating your trial batches, trust me.

Buttermilk can be replicated with certain substitutes. For one cup of milk, add 1 Tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice or distilled vinegar. Allow the mixture to sit for 5-10 minutes and stir. However, the substitution is never as good as proper buttermilk. When buttermilk is meant to be the star of the show, as in these biscuits, the substitute pales in comparison. If you really don’t like purchasing a quart of buttermilk which will inevitably go bad in your fridge, consider a buttermilk powder, which is shelf stable, lasts for 6 months, and just needs to be ‘re-hydrated’. Leftover buttermilk also freezes well in ice cube trays for future use.

I have noted unsalted butter in the biscuits. If you have salted butter, that is fine, but cut back on the salt to 1 1/2 tsp.

Prefer round, evenly shaped biscuits? Feel free to shape these with 2″ biscuit cutters.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Adapted, Alison Roman, Dining In
Makes 10 biscuits

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces, chilled
1 1/4 cup buttermilk, plus more for brushing
flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, 2 forks, or your hands, smash the butter into the flour mixture. The butter should be relatively incorporated into the flour, with only small bits of butter remaining, like pie dough.

Drizzle the buttermilk over all the dry ingredients and, using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix everything until it comes together in a sort of ball. Kneed the mixture a few times in the bowl, making sure to get any of those dry bits at the bottom up into the mix.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead another two or three times.

Pat or roll the dough into a 1 1/2 inch thick rectangle, about 12 inches long and 6 inches wide, with the short side facing you. Fold the dough like an envelope, folding the top 1/3 of the dough over itself, followed by the bottom 1/3 of the dough. Roll the dough into another 12″ x 6″ rectangle, approximately 1 1/2 inch thick, and repeat the folding. Roll the dough out a third time, into a 12″ x 6″ rectangle, approximately 1 1/2 inch thick. Cut in half lengthwise, and then crosswise into 5 pieces (resulting in 10 biscuits).

Place the biscuits on the parchment-lined baking sheet and brush the tops with buttermilk, letting some drip down the sides. Sprinkle the tops with flaky sea salt, if you’re feeling fancy.

Bake, rotating once, until the biscuits are deeply golden brown on the bottom and tops, and the sides have puffed up like an accordion, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Make ahead note: The biscuits are best consumed the day of. However, biscuit dough can be made 2 weeks ahead, wrapped, frozen. The biscuits can also be prepared to the point of baking and flash frozen. Bake them from frozen- just add 5-8 minutes to the baking time.