Buttermilk biscuits
Tall, flaky American biscuits made by cutting cold butter into flour and folding the dough like a letter to build up the layers.
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 220°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- 2
Whisk the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.
- 3
Cut the cold butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the largest pieces are the size of peas.
- 4
Pour in the buttermilk and stir with a fork until a shaggy dough forms and no dry flour is left at the bottom.
- 5
Tip the dough onto a floured surface and pat it into a rectangle about 2 cm thick.
- 6
Fold it in three like a letter, turn it a quarter turn and pat it out again. Repeat the fold twice more.
- 7
Pat the dough out to 2.5 cm thick and cut out rounds, pressing the cutter straight down without twisting.
- 8
Set the biscuits on the tray just touching each other, then press the scraps together once and cut a few more.
- 9
Chill the tray so the butter firms up again.
- 10
Brush the tops with half the melted butter and bake until tall and deep golden.
- 11
Brush with the rest of the butter as they come out of the oven and serve warm.
Notes
- Cold butter is the source of the flakes. If the dough feels greasy or soft at any point, chill it for 10 minutes.
- Twisting the cutter seals the edges and stops the biscuits rising evenly.
- Unbaked biscuits freeze well on the tray. Bake them from frozen, adding 3 to 4 minutes.
Equipment
Large mixing bowl, Pastry cutter or fork, 6 cm round cutter, Baking tray, Baking paper, Pastry brush