Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

What these biscuits lack in lamination they make up for in fluffy tenderness. In the past, I’d always assumed biscuits just had a horribly short shelf-life, but these heat back up beautifully in a toaster oven at 350F.

Cast iron ensures that biscuits bake up wonderfully crisp on the bottom, so don’t expect the same results with another metal. Placing biscuits close together minimizes spreading, so if you don’t have cast iron, a cake pan is preferable to a baking sheet. If the pan is larger than that, and you don’t scale up the recipe, they will spread out a bit.

If your all-purpose flour has a higher protein content than gold medal (eg. King Arthur brand), use 6 oz AP flour and 3 oz pastry flour.

If you want to get fancy, you can use Anson Mills flour, at a ratio of 60% pastry to 40% cake flour. They come out even fluffier and with a rich honey-wheat aroma.

Recipe sourced from the Bravetart cookbook. Makes six biscuits.

Ingredients

  • 9 ounces all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (see notes)

  • 1 tablespoon baking powder

  • 2 teaspoons sugar

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt (half as much if iodized)

  • 4 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

  • 6 3/4 ounces cultured low-fat buttermilk, straight from the fridge

Equipment

  • 8 inch cast iron skillet. Scale recipe up by 1.5x if using a 12-inch skillet.

Directions

  • Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 400°F.

  • Sift flour into a medium bowl.

  • Whisk in baking powder, sugar, and salt.

  • Add butter, toss to break up the pieces, and smash each cube into a thin sheet.

  • Continue smashing and rubbing until the butter has mostly disappeared into a floury mix, although a few larger Cheerios-sized pieces may remain.

  • If you like, the mix can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks in an airtight container.

  • Stir in buttermilk with a flexible spatula, stopping as soon as the dough comes together in a sticky ball.

  • Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, sprinkle more flour on top, and gently pat into a 6-inch square (no need to be overly precise), then fold in half; repeat twice for a total of 3 folds, dusting with flour again between each fold.

  • Pat the dough out 3/4 inch thick and cut out as many 2 1/2 inch rounds as you can. Arrange close together in a cast-iron skillet.

  • Gather scraps into a ball, pat out and fold once, then cut out another few biscuits.

  • Bake until golden brown on top and along the sides, about 35 minutes.